Thought Prints

Dia Shepardson · August 15, 2006

"Going postal takes on a whole new meaning in Thought Prints, starring the bumbling yet incredibly charming Torkova. This mentalist reveals his story of how he developed E.S.P. while stamping packages at your local post office. But rather than crack under the pressure, he pursues his new found gifts and wows the customers by guessing the destination zip codes on their packages, without looking of course.

Torkova relays his tale while performing a myriad of tricks with audience participation. However, I'm hesitant to use the word tricks, as it is not magic, but more like John Edward's Crossing Over without the dead people. From guessing numbers to dream intuition to naming audience members' childhood pals, Torkova amazes with his power of the mind. I myself was a little dumbstruck when he performed a little whammie on me. My husband still doesn't believe me.

Skeptic or not, the show has a sweet quality due to Torkova's genuine nature. He is more self-deprecating than slick. The evening is homey with rough edges to boot. Torkova, who also wrote the script, is much more endearing and entertaining when he veers from the page and relates to the audience as his personal self. His desire to tell his story is rounded out by his belief that we all have a power within us to intuit the unknown.

His gracious encouragement intensifies his appeal as he leads the audience through "A Test in E.S.P." for themselves. Rather than strut around the stage getting off on ooohs and ahhs, he truly wants to connect with his audience. Mind you, he does like the accolades, who wouldn't, but he seems sincerely pleased and relieved when he "channels" the information correctly.

Many of us in the audience were curious if Torkova could predict Lotto numbers and he says he's working on it. In the meantime, his quirky charm and convincing talents should at least get him a spot on Letterman."