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Matador Review - Los Angeles One on One Training

November 4, 2009 by Blitz  
Filed under Featured Articles, One-on-One Reviews

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Los Angeles Personal Training, Oct 31 through NOV 3

You guys get ready for this! Do not waste your time reading my post…unless of course your interested in skipping levels&being called a cheater for training with the community’s best pick up artist (Besides Mystery). You will get really good really fast within the first day! (If you apply,focus,listen, and push.) You will be shocked at the end results! However, Matador can only train you as much as you allow him. I didn’t have any boundaries as far as holding myself back so he went all out in training me.

He picked me up from my hotel in L.A then we left for breakfast at a local diner…told him if he had 4days to turn me into a master pick up artist how will he do it..? (Inside I was confident, if it couldn’t be done then i was going to be the closest one to achieve it! Didn’t say it though) So he looked at me&chuckled. Handed me a notebook with a pen and told me to write down everything he says. (No i will not post any material or core concepts he taught me sorry) So the brain transfusion began. I was a sponge in water…A student seeking out answers to questions i have continuously asked…Matador had the answers. (game applies in every convo not just pick up so I learned a life tool!)

o.k so after training all day, got dressed, its Friday night, its game time! Matador’s bodyguard is waiting for us at the red carpet in front of club Social on sunset. Matador’s cool hot girlfriend rolls with us. (she speaks fluent Italian, an actress whose been in Italian movies, &used to model) she showed me her modeling pics their hot! So were in the the v.i.p room inside the club, its Halloween, & almost every girl is hot!!! There were porn stars! (we’ll talk about that in a sec) Matador shows me how to do his “Mayhem Technique” &makes out with this 3set! His girlfriend tells me to go bring some girls to our table, so I go open, attract, and bring a 3set. Isolated my target, then realized she wasn’t my type. So opened&after a little game, made out with this other girl. Matador&I took over! We opened every set, everyone was at our table or trying to get there…Told Matador I am stepping outside for a sec&I’ll be back. When I did, noticed one of the hottest porn stars at the club was out for a quick breather! This was it! Now or never…this was…my chance! It was all on me.

No hesitation I open, negged, non verbal false time constraint, used a DHV I learned that day(along with some other things he taught me) then everything started making sense It was all coming together now, its easy to run game…She was jumping through my hoops&the convo escalated through the stages.(Open, Attraction, Qualification, Comfort) Dude inside i was like WHOA! (applying matadors concepts was key though) So i rolled off at an high attraction point (lethal) then went inside the club found and opened another set. The porn star follows me! And COCK BLOCKS the 3set of girls i had just opened! So i look at her…she looks at me…I smile…then total make out! I spot Matador close by looking at me like, your a quick learner, good job bro! (I think he had expected that from me though.) He was in proximity & giving me briefs on how to play it, which was a good way for the girl&I to get the chance to get to know each other better, didn’t know any other way considering how many times she was getting hit on… So thats how i played it, then rolled off again… So shes chasing me through the club, &the camera crew is chasing her for pictures! Finally i give up, she was just too persistent lol she tells me she’s tired of people touching her&taking pics&wants to leave now.

Matador tells me to meet him at this 24hr restaurant close by. So i left&got a head start with my girl. We get there and waitress tells me there is an hour wait! Matador is stuck in traffic, (horrible on sunset during wknds) &unfortunately for me, my girl is so hot i get AMOG’D by Mystery’s stunt double…(its Halloween) but i disarm him&3 of his friends with some Matador AMOG tactics (genius). One of the guys was desperate and tried a last attempt by telling me he wants to show me a magic trick…I looked at my target and tell her “look honey dinner&a movie” she laughed I did 2…(it was our moment) Then I txt Matador to tell him whats going on…He txt back “Be there in a minute”

So the alpha guy of the group starts threatening me he’ll bring Tyler Durden to take my girl. So i tell my target to walk away she does, then I looked at the guy&tell him im Matador’s student where the hell are your girls?! (no disrespect to Tyler Durden) anyways the guy doesn’t believe me…Then Matador jumps out the car! This dudes jaw drops! And doesn’t say a word. We go inside the restaurant where my target&I built more comfort. And lets just say…the rest…is whatever your imagination wants it to be (just dnt get weird lol) &no i wont say the porn stars name, we still talk…

On Saturday Matador critiqued my game and we discussed new topics. By night time i felt like a full grown Bull around a bunch of calves! We went to a different club from the one on Friday&I hooked a 3set that ended up being a 6set! My target, a exotic Australian dancer! Who was on tour with her friends..Matador had already hooked in 2-2set’s&was on the third. Our table had too many girls, it was getting irritating though because i just wanted to get to know my target. So after befriending her group was able to isolate. Guys she was tough! I ran 3dhv’s with a combination of other things, she liked me just wont let me kino escalate…So Matador says roll off&fire a jealousy plot line(taught me a gd way to do it, never fails) So i did…But she didn’t like it because she was getting really jealous! So after a while looked at her, smiled, and asked if she’ll behave…She responds with a make out (i guess thats a yes) and then we bounced to matador’s gd friend’s mansion…whose now my friend as well. Lets just…say…the rest…is for your imagination as well…

Sunday we worked on more game. Then we went shopping&put together a custom avatar for my identity! Looked really good plus i kept getting opened by different girls. That night we went to Neil Strauss’s house, where he hosted a pick up artist party! Which i cant discuss (respect to Neil&Matador) what happens inside stays inside…but it was Freakin FUN!!!

Monday he went over any questions&we reviewed everything i learned that night. (not 2brag but call it how it is) Matador&I took over the whole floor (He took us to a club-lounge which gets PACKED on Monday) I stole a 2set from these 2 guys (nothing to be proud of) and Matador got lost in a crowd of 7 girls (so jealous) &then bounced these 2 cool Russian girls to a restaurant…then Matador wanted to go home&chill with his girlfriend, I don’t blame him. (Respect) So i had to hold down court with the 2set. Lets just say…the rest…hmm actually!…you know what…yea…for your imagination!

The following morning my flight departed back to Houston,Texas. Overall I think you should do the 1 on 1 training if you don’t mind going back home seeing other people be envious of your new power. &some guys would misuse this knowledge for their selfish purposes. (Its not cool to hurt a girl, we are men&should protect them at any cost from creeps!) If your not a bad guy then what are you waiting for?! You got to create your lifestyle nobody will hand it to you. Make it happen! Matador you changed my life by sharing with me your wisdom. Which allowed me to achieve a higher intuition level&even a greater level of awareness. And for that…not only do I appreciate…..but would like to take a moment…and Thank You! Was fun being their, as friend, student, and protege….Ttyl brother

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Mystery, Matador, Lovedrop & Discovery Review by Dyyz

September 23, 2009 by Blitz  
Filed under Dating Advice and Tips, Featured Articles

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This should have been titled “All Instructors in LA Bootcamp.” Everyone was there except Hawaii that I have read about either from reviews or the forums. I mean, Kosmo and Joe D. from Season 1 of the Pickup Artist and Simeon, Greg and Brian from Season 2 were all there to help out, both in the classroom setting, as well as in-field. There was something to be learned from each and every one of them, and they are all very good.

The Classroom:

In the classroom settings you get two sessions with each instructor, Mystery, Matador, and Lovedrop; one one each day. The guys always run over the alloted time but that’s just because they have so much to teach and there isn’t nearly enough time for it all. At one point Mystery asked one of the other guys “are we making a schedule or running a bootcamp?” They want to make sure that they can instill every piece of knowledge possible in the time they have. I will do my best to touch on the ideas without saying too much, you have to see these guys explain it. It’s the difference from reading it to seeing it done.

Mystery’s classroom sessions included an indepth overview of the process and then an expanded session on the qualification step of the method. Mystery has so much information in his head that he cannot stop teaching. His teachings are thorough and very easy follow. He teaches the basic method that most everyone out there uses as the foundation for other methods or styles. Which is not entirely basic but it is easiest for an AFC to follow.

Lovedrop’s classroom experience is interesting as well because he openly admits that he knows he has to take most of the people in the classroom out that very same night and he teaches what will have the biggest impact on the students the quickest. That’s not to say that he isn’t thorough, it’s just that through experience, he’s learned what has the fastest results from the classroom to the in-field experience. I have also read where people are comming down on Lovedrop because he says “Mystery would say…” that’s because the process is so internalized for all of the instructors that in order to teach it, they have to actively think about what they do and what is the best way to teach it. As as I just said, the “basic” method that Mystery teaches is the one that gets the best results from the students the quickest. Lovedrop covers the inner game as well as kino escalation. The biggest thing I took away from his sessions is the ability to help control approach anxiety.

Matador’s classroom time was entirely different. He explains early on that he uses a different process than the other guys. He also explains that he goes through all of the method’s steps from A1 to C1 in a matter of seconds. It’s just all in how he calibrates and executes. His biggest topic is attraction. The so-called Matador Mayhem is based around sexual tension and is amazing. This guy has a way of breaking down what he does and how it works so that even an AFC could at least, attempt to do what he does.

Discovery dosn’t spend too much time with the students in the classroom. He is the one who debriefs with the students and he help fine tune what he saw in-field. He has a charisma about he that he passes on to the students in the delivery of the material. I wish we had more time with this guy, because he has a lot to offer the community.

The Pickup Artist guys all came in and joined us when it was time to breakup into smaller groups to practice the material and delivery. They are exponentially better than they were even at the end of the TV show. They help you with the details, from body language to vocal tonality and they can help out a lot because they have all been where all of us were before.

All of these guys have a way of explaining and breaking down things so that you not only know what to do, but know why it works so that you can apply it to yourself and your avatar and lifestyle. These guys tell you that the canned material they give you should only be used about 6 weeks then you should be able to come up with your own material. This is why the way that they teach is so effective.

In-Field:

I’m not sure I can explain the in-field experience better than anyone else, so I’ll just give a quick recap of what I experienced. First off, the first night they got us into the VIP room of the hottest club in LA. Now this was no easy task, there were over 20 guys and maybe 4 women in the group, so they pulled some strings to make that happen,a nd it was worth it. There were celebrities, reality TV personalities and prettymuch, you had to be somebody to be there, and we got to practice in that atmosphere. MikeyVegas was dead on when he said we owned the club, and that every guy wanted to be us and every girl wanted to be with us.

Mystery was working his game and it was amazing to watch. The instructors told us that is we see them do something and want to know how they did it, to go up to them and just ask and they will reverse engineer it for us, because just about everything they do is internallized and so it is an unconsious process most of the time for them.

Matador was amazing. He would grab some strange, beautiful girl and simply say, “Here let me introduce you to my friend,” to the girl then pass her off on to the students. Set open. Now don’t get me wrong, it didn’t always work with every girl but I was still in awe of what could be done with practice.
Lovedrop has a style his own in the club. There’s not a funnier guy to watch. He was just himself, but by being himself he demonstrated qualities that women respond to. And he teaches the students how to do the same. He helped me out several times, one especially where I got in my own headspace, he helped me get back to normal and begin opening sets again.

The pivots are phenominal. It’s hard not to look good when Kacey and Erica and the other girls are there with you. They have been doing this for a long time and know exactly when to DHV you and when you whisper in your ear infront of your set. They can do it all. When I wasn’t in set, I went back to find one of the pivots to get my head straight and they would help me open a set. I can’t say enough about the girls.
The Pickup Artist guys were also out there to help out. I’ll be honest, Kosmo is the man. He would drag me into set after set and he was amazing. It was great to hear some of the same lines that I had just learned, used by him and see that they work and what reaction you will get with them. Greg, from season 2 was also an all-star in-field. He seemed to always know just when to join me in a 2 set to help me isolate, and he knew just how to do it also. I spent a little time with all of the guys, but Kosmo and Greg were the two that really took me under their wing.

I hate to admit but I didn’t see Discovery too much in-field. I would have liked to have seen him at work a bit more. What I did see looked amazing, he was always in set and seemed to always isolate quickly. When I did speak to him, he was very good about fine tuning what he had seen me do. So he was paying attention to me and saw me more than I saw him, because he was always spot on with the advice.

Like I said much earlier in this review. Mystery never stops teaching. On our way out of the clubs, he was breaking down a set he worked, or a set he saw us in, or what we can do next time to make a set work for us. He is a machine. A fountain of knowledge, and all you have to do is listen and pay attention and he will teach you.

Breakout Sessions:

This will be a quick one. The breakout sessions are like Grad school for college. I attended all of them and they fine tune what you ahve spent the pervious two days learning. It’s like specializing in each field. Each instructor has an area where they excell and this is the time for them to teach you how and why.
Matador said it best at the end of the bootcamp. “I’ve taught you everything I know. Now it’s your turn to go out there and apply it and make it yours.”

This was an experience that I will never forget and learned an immense amount from. I can garuntee that I will be practicing what they have taught us and will utilize it in all aspects of my life, not just for picking up women. I know this was a lengthy review and if you’ve read it this far, I thank you. Again, like MikeyVegas, I did this review as much for myself as I did for the readers. I built a bond with the other guys in the camp as well as the instructors. And I know this may be too detailed a post, so if it need be ammended by an administrator, then please feel free. I got my thought out and thats a huge step towards internalizing the material. Thanks everyone for everything, and if you were there, please let me know if this is similar to your experience, or different, because I want to know everything I missed.

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Matador Interviewed at brobible.com

June 19, 2009 by Blitz  
Filed under Featured Articles, Interviews

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In 2007, when the “The Pick-Up Artist” premiered on VH1, the world met James Matador, the faithful wingman of the show’s host, Mystery. The Matador is a master pickup artist, a co-author of the book “Revelation,” and one of the founding partners of the the Venusian Arts, for which he leads seminars and boot camps throughout the world on the art of seduction. A computer science graduate of Depaul University and former national-champion martial artist, Matador is also an actor, an entrepreneur, and amateur bodybuilder. According to his official bio, he is most known for his “Matador Mayhem” technique, “a process in which he allows himself to be chased by multiple women simultaneously by hugging, kissing, and making out with many women at the same time, causing all the women involved to feel jealous of one another and compete for his attention.”

So when BroBible met the Matador at Marquee in New York a while back, we asked if he’d be up for an interview. He was down, so after a few months of telephone and email tag, we finally caught up with him recently for an hour-long interview that we present today and tomorrow in two parts. We learned right off the bat that although a third season of “The Pick-Up Artist” is not in the cards, a different show with a new angle is indeed in the works. The Matador didn’t want to reveal too many details just yet, but we got him to open up about plenty more.

BroBible: Our readers are big fans of you and Mystery and the rest of the “PUA” crew, and are always curious about what kind of trouble you guys are getting yourselves into. Any recent epic or funny stories that you can share?

James Matador: Sure, I was just taking a flight from Las Vegas to L.A., and I met a girl on the plane, and we started talking and one thing led to another and we ended up fooling around on the plane. And then we ended up fooling around in between when we got off the plane and got to the baggage claim, and to my dismay at baggage claim, she’s like, “O.K., we have to stop,” and I said “Why?” And she said, “Because my boyfriend is picking me up and I don’t want him to see.” I was kind of shocked, because this was something that she failed to mention to me. It’s not my greatest adventure, but it’s definitely a funny one that comes to the mind immediately.

It’s hard to imagine you not slaying every time you go out, but do you have any really embarrassing stories?

When I was just starting off and practicing, and I remember I was testing the whole cocky-funny paradigm, and going out and trying to be cocky-funny, or trying to do cocky-funny repeatings or gambits, as we call it. So one thing that came to mind, at the time — and I see the inappropriateness of it now — but at the time I though it would be cocky and funny to go up to a girl and playfully pat her on the behind as the opener. Well, hey, I thought it was funny, cocky-funny, what’s the problem, right? Slap in the face, getting thrown out of a couple clubs. I quickly figured out that that’s not working. Those were not one of my finer moments.

A lot of our users, when they fall in love, they fall hard. And if their girl cheats on them, or they have a bad breakup, they don’t know how to get themselves back in the game. Do you have any advice for them?

When you fall hard and you have a bad breakup, the world it seems like is coming down on you. And I think that a lot of times you’re going to think, “This is only happening to me, the universe is collapsing on me.” Well guess what, this is exactly how everybody who has a breakup feels. Your body, your emotions are ubiquitous, and we all operate pretty much the same way, with some anomalies. And I think that, first of all, there are girls that I see and girls that I ended up having strong feelings for, and there comes a time when it has to end sometime. And yes, I do go through that feeling of loss, that feeling of sadness, but it’s a state of mind, and it’s how you want to look at it. You can either look at it as a door closing permanently forever, or you can look at it as a door opening and the sun shining through and beyond that door lay all these new adventures, and new beautiful women that you’re going to meet. And new good times to be had. For me, it gives me a sense of optimism to get off my ass or stop smoking cigarettes and wallowing. It’s almost this very normal and understandable feeling of sadness and get out and do something proactive and start creating some happy moments again and start being positive again. And it is tough and it’s kind of like quitting smoking. It’s not to meant to feel good, and it’s O.K. to feel bad but it’s pretty much what kind of man you want to be. Do you want sit there for weeks upon weeks upon weeks or do you want to get up and do something and change the current situation that you’re in? And it’s going to take some discipline and it’s going to take overriding what your emotions are telling you but I guarantee it’s the best course of action. I’m not saying it’s easy, it’s something that has to be done. But I would say that it’s just one out of many instances in life — let’s say something happens to your business where you take a big hit that year. Are you going to run, are you going to hide, you gonna wallow in self-pity or are you going to use all of your resources, whatever they may be, to get up and fucking recover? That’s the way to look at it. You have to fucking recover. And know this: most of the time, when you do go out and you do meet a new girl who makes you happy, who you’re spending time with, most of the time the moment that happens, you immediately ameliorate all the negative emotions you had previously. And I’m not saying jump into another relationship, by the way, but it is healthy to start dating again, to start spending time with other women right away.

And this is no disrespect to women, but I think we live in a culture where love, so many notions of love have been mystified and it’s this mystical thing where we’re not supposed to understand it, that it just happens. But most of the time that when you have a lot of options in your life, two things happen: you start demanding better for yourself, you start realizing that a lot of these girls that you were going out with weren’t as special as you thought they were. Meaning they’re negative personalities, or unacceptable behavior, and I’m not saying all women are like this, I’m just saying that sometimes you need peace in the home and she just won’t stop nagging you. And you overlook it in the name of love. And when you start dating other women, you’re like, “Holy shit, I was pretty understanding, and this was why I had to break up with her because she wouldn’t stop fucking nagging me.” And you’re able to call women out on the stuff that is really not cool, and not O.K. But when you’re afraid that you’re not going to be able to get another girlfriend quickly or the next relationship’s going to come in a year from now, you get that feeling of, O.K., man, do I leave this vessel that I’m on right now? Do I leave what I have right now? I don’t know what’s going to happen. That can be a scary moment. I think the man who has options is in a position to make the most purest choice. Which is more pure: Being there because you want to be there or being there because you don’t have any other places to go?

What’s the best way to leave the girl the next morning and not be a total asshole? How can you do it with some class?

I guess what you’re saying is how to prevent resentful feelings and anger feelings in a relationship. Let’s look at what this is caused by. Anger is caused by a letdown in expectations. What are expectations caused by? Expectations are caused by telling people false statements or allowing them to believe things that aren’t true. So let me say this, that as a good pickup artist, you’re gonna be willing to lose the girl in order to get the girl. And if you have any egotistical thoughts in your head that I can pick up any woman, that’s not a healthy thing to do because it limits you and quite frankly it’s not fucking true and quite frankly you wouldn’t want to. So my point is this: When your skills are at a certain level, you can start screening for the type of women that you want in your life. So what are the type of women that I want in my life? Well as of right at this moment, well, yeah, I want to hang out with women who are beautiful, who have a good personality, who aren’t so emotionally hollow to where they need to latch onto the first guy that they see and their whole life revolves around me after that. And I am very upfront that I am seeing other people, that I do enjoy your company but don’t start asking me where am I going all the time? It’s not appropriate for you asking me those questions — who am I spending time with? Basically, lay down the expectations, the parameters of the relationship up front and center. What happens is people dodge these or aren’t capable of confronting those issues right off the front, so the other person is led to believe other things, aka, having expectations that aren’t accurate. And that’s when you get these really angry, rageful type feelings for the other person, where they call you an asshole and they start bad-mouthing you to your friends, but make no mistake, I never make statements or expectations, like I never say “I’m going to marry you,” “This is going to last forever,” if I don’t mean them, that is. “I’m not seeing anyone else.” I don’t bring these things up necessarily, but I never — I’m not a perfect person and I never claim to be — but to the best of my ability, I never try to be disingenuous in that way, does that make sense?

Totally. That’s the best way, that way they’re not going around bad-mouthing you and you can have fun with them.

It’s not only that. Fear of retaliation, that’s one motivator, but just in general you can still be, if you work on your way of being — and it’s also in our book, “Revelation” — and you understand what you want your personality, your lifestyle, and your identity to look like, you can still weave in characterstics in such a way that you do not have to be an untruthful person. We all tell little white lies when girls ask, “Does this dress make me look fat?” We withhold information at points to protect her feelings but at the same time I do believe you can be a pick-up artist and be a good guy and be an ethical person. There’s nothing unethical that happens naturally.

Another one, this is something that plagues a lot of guys now, the question of text messaging. How long should you wait? Is it a pussy move? What are your thoughts on text messaging?

There’s a whole school of thought on text messaging. I do think that when you are waiting to the point where you’ve already met and separated, now you’re trying to play the game going forward via text messaging, I think most of that work should have been done earlier. I’m not a text-messaging expert. Basically, here’s how all my text messages go. By the time it gets to the phone call or the text message, the girl and I really like each other and it’s a normal part of the process. The text message or the phone call isn’t scary because I’m going to know ahead of time whether it’s a flaky number or it’s a number I got because just for getting for lack of time in the moment or something like that. In terms of contacting the girl right away, I’m not saying being stalky or being needy, but remember at this point, if you know our model in “Revelation,” at this point it was supposed to have been already understood that the girl likes you and you the like the girl. And phone numbers are asked for or contact information is exchanged during comfort building, and what is that? That’s having a normal conversation, that’s having good conversation rapport, that’s vibing, that’s building connections, that’s building trust. And if you have a person in your life like that, a text message or a phone call is the most trivial thing. It’s basically the most obvious of things to start setting up the next time you guys are going to meet up. In terms of timing, right away: “Hey, get home safe, call me tomorrow.” In terms of the three-day rule or six-day rule, yeah, that’s old school, I know it was in that movie “Swingers,” but that’s just not something that we do.

What about as far as making plans? Is it a cop-out to just text her or do you actually have to call her up?

Either/or, it depends, because of the projects I have on my plate, I’d text more than I’d be calling, but if I want to give details… or talk or something I usually call.

Can you describe your perfect wingman?

I think anyone can be a good winger provided that you synchronize with the same strategy, if you will. And if you both respect the boundaries and you both have discipline, and I’m not saying that I do, or Mystery does all the time, especially when we’ve been drinking, but ideally when we see a girl…. Or for example, if I see a girl, and she’s attracted to me, she’s going to be throwing IOIs [indicators of interest] to my friend as well. Now my friend, he can misinterpret that as the girl coming on to him or he can understand because we both follow the same structure that this is normal, that her throwing IOIs to my friend is her attempt to get to know her because she wants to get to know me and my friends and my crew and my social circle. So don’t take this the wrong way to start escalating not isolating with her because that puts me into a position of having to be reactive and chase her, which lowers my value. I wouldn’t be in this fucking problem if you played your role right. And it requires someone willing to do that and most of all knowing how to do that, because I know a lot of good guys out there who are completely annoying to hell and they’re good people, doctors, police officers, but they haven’t taken the time to fully understand. When you really understand the game and the psychology aspect and you understand what your body and mind is doing to you, a lot of the time, I’m not saying all the time, but a lot of the time, you realize why you’re saying this, why you’re getting offensive, when your ego’s talking, when your ego is not talking. And a lot of time, most non-PUA people, they start saying and doing things that they have no clue why they’re fucking doing it. They just think it’s magically all happening. And your sitting there yourself saying, you’re not mad at this person but this person is inconvenient in the moment right now. It’s not that I’m not going to hang out with this person, it’s just that right now, if I go out, let’s say we get a table and I go out I’m usually the guy that a lot of my friends, I’m really into pickup and I’ve studied it for a number of years now, and that’s why a lot of friends will call me up because they’ll get the table, but then there will just be like all guys at the table and then I end up being the guy who goes out onto the floor, grabbing girls, bringing them the back. And if I go out and grab let’s say a three-set and I break them back. One guy starts creeping out one of the girls, guess what, the other two girls are going to want to leave. And I put in 20 minutes or if I really like the girl and we have a connection going, guess what, she’s going home that night and it’s because of him, and he’ll probably deny it the whole way home, and you’ve got to ask yourself, “Who the hell am I? I’m just some other guy? I’m in no position to educate somebody who doesn’t want my help or to give unsolicited advice?” But at the same time, if I pick up the phone to decide who I’m going out with the next night, it’s not going to be that person. That doesn’t mean to say I’m not going to go play a game of pickup basketball with him the next day or anything like that, but you’ve got to know people’s strengths and weaknesses, and what they’re good at and what they’re not good at.

Do you have a go-to pickup line?

Yeah, you know I used to be Mr. Routine. Mr. Pick-Up Line. But there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is I’m not the person to go talk to about like all the best routines in the world, but the good news is because after a certain point, these routines all fall under patterns of mine and what happens is when you start talking this way, doing these things, it starts integrating into your personality naturally so you can spot these things on the fly. You can be dynamically humorous, dynamically intelligent without having a set of routines that are funny or a set of routines that are interesting. So this is the most truthful answer at this moment: At this moment I don’t really use any openers. I go up and I say hello. Or if there is any one opener that I do use it’s a non-verbal body opener; I’ll go up and look at the girl and I’ll do this very overdramaticized rolling my eyes look like a girl’s mannerisms, or do the “Whatever” hand in your face gesture, which usually creates instant laughter. And then I turn around and I’m normal again and introduce myself and immediately start talking and start owning the conversation.

Warm them up with some humor.

Think about it. You have eight emotional dimensions, you know? There’s a fear dimension, you have a love dimension, and then each dimension there are shades of that primary emotion. For example, discomfort would be a shade of fear. Agreed?

Yep.

And happiness would be a shade of love, so most of the time you can look at a person and know what emotion that they’re on with a great deal of accuracy. If you need routines, it’s like in one to three seconds, you’ve got to take her out of discomfort and put her into happiness. An outward sign of happiness is laughter. Now that she’s in happiness and you’re the cause of it, you’re the stimulus, she’s going to be willing to talk to you for another couple minutes, and then if you can keep those core characteristics coming, because you should be working on your personality all the time, she’s going to deduce that you are this type of person. And not to sound cocky but I’ve had people make all kinds of weird statements to me: “Are you this funny? Are you this interesting? Are you this cool? Because you’ve cultivated your personality to where you can be interesting for a good amount of the time or be humorous a good amount of the time on end. And you can keep those characteristics coming to where there is nobody else in her environment or where she’s at that can surpass you. I’ll give you an example. If you’ve ever gone to a comedy show, and you’ve seen a good comic. Have you ever honestly laughed for an hour straight?

No.

Well, I have. I saw this one guy in Chicago and I laughed for an hour straight. It’s a very profound experience, and if you can make somebody laugh 10 times in a row, whether it’s a premeditated routine or if it’s just through your ability to be dynamically humorous, that is going to separate you from basically every other guy in the club. Maybe she’s bored, maybe she’s irritated of all the guys hitting on her, and then you come around and you’re the guy that within three minutes she’s laughed 10 times. You mean to say that you’re not the most emotionally relevant person in the world? Even if her friends want to go, she’s going to want to turn around and ask, “Do we really have to go?” Does that make sense?

Routines are good. I still endorse them for people who are new. However, what you want to do is, every routine, every routine causes some type of emotion to occur. Try to now understand a routine, the pattern of it, and start implementing those patterns without that routine into your personality to where you’re actually evolving into something better, and it happens quicker than you think. Now you take one month out of your life and dedicate it to the art form of humor, and in that one month you’re going to be, and I’m not saying you’re going to be Chris Rock, but in one month you are going to be a marginally more funny human being and be able to give people the gift of laughter better than you were at the beginning of the month. And just imagine doing that for years now. It’s like stand-up comics. You don’t think stand up comics have their routines? Chris Rock — I read a biography of him — he would specifically take his routine to try em out night after night after night. His pacing, his timing, his rhythm, all the stuff is planned and timed. It’s well thought through before he did the show. And it’s worth it. You see him here on HBO, for the last show he did, I think it’s called “Kill the Messenger,” it was some funny, man.

And it was three concerts filmed in three different cities and it was the same routine.

Yeah yeah yeah, exactly, it was a montage. One in London, one in South Africa, and one in new York.

On the topic of New York, South Africa… You’re out in L.A., based out there? We’re sure you travel to cities all over the country and all over the world? Do the girls change at all between city and city and do you adjust your technique at all when you’re in some place new?

Here’s the only barrier that at a certain point things that stop you usually are things that are out of your control like logistical things. For example, unless I proactively smile, or unless I dress in a way that conveys playfulness, personality, a girl — I’m not going to say she’ll find me unattractive, but she’ll definitely be on guard because do I look like a man who is capable of protecting or capable of danger? She just doesn’t know yet. So unless most of the time I can quickly convey my personality, but if there is a language barrier she doesn’t understand the language, it can sometimes thwart the process. So for example, if she’s speaking Japanese, I have to basically alter my — I still stay in set as long as I can take it and sometimes it’s work — but you have to speak in a way that’s a combination of body language and sub-communications and using a lot of facial…. Basically you’re communicating pure emotions, she doesn’t logically understand what you’re saying whatsoever, that can be one problem.

In terms of like Miami versus New York, there may be subtle differences, but some things I’m just oblivious to. Maybe if I really think about it, but I just don’t pay attention to these things. All I know is that when I do go down there to any one of those cities, I have the best time.

Do you have favorite city to party in? What city has the best girls?

On face value, Miami will appear to have the hottest girls. L.A. on face value will appear to have the hottest. And they do have very beautiful girls in both cities. Las Vegas as well, but in Las Vegas, everybody is a transient, meaning they’re coming and going. It’s not like you meet a girl at the Hard Rock, chances are she’s from Wisconsin or L.A. or someplace other than Las Vegas. I have a cousin in Vegas, if you ever spend time in Vegas, it’s a very blue-collar town, it’s not as exciting as the Strip. But what I realized is that in New York, if you know the right people, and you know the right venues to go to, there is a sea of beautiful women in New York. We’re talking really tall, classy, high heels, 5′11″ Ukrainian model hot girl in New York. You wont see them walking down 34th and 8th, you wont see them walking down to Starbucks, you know? It’s like an underworld that exists. It’s not an underworld, but it’s a world where you have to know the right people and the right venues and the right places to go to, but there is a horde of beautiful women up there.

It’s true. That’s why we live here.

I used to not like New York, because I hate the weather. The summertime is beautiful. I didn’t spend that much time where I had any quality friends in New York. But once I got to know the city and got to know the right people, just beautiful women in New York.

Are you spending more time in New York?

I’ll be spending time here and there, maybe Miami. We’re doing a boot camp in Australia, Mystery is leading that one. Didn’t want to go. Sometimes you’ve got a toss up between the work you have on your plate and…. Boot camps are very exhausting. They’ll derail you for four days, because you’re up all night.

Two last questions: Any other advice for our users or words of wisdom?

I would say this: It’s O.K. to be sexual. It’s O.K. to be looking for a girl or a girlfriend or girlfriends, but if you’re not doing it right, then at least be humble enough to know that you don’t know everything and go seek out that knowledge. When I was born, I didn’t know anything about anything. From different people I started acquiring knowledge in different areas. But if you’re willing to learn and put down your cockiness and go to somebody that does it better than you. And I guarantee you that all that effort and time and all that money that you spend on whatever cologne you think is going to work or whatever your shirt you think is cool or whatever bottle service you get because you think some girls are going to be attractive, all that are just things to supplement your core personality, because if that ain’t there, then all of it’s for not. I’ve seen a lot of my clients, my classes aren’t cheap, they’re like 3 or 4 thousand dollars, so the typical student I get went to college and has a job and has a business. These are successful men. So it’s testament to the fact that money alone hasn’t solved his problems for him. So if you want to invest in anything, really look at your personality, your lifestyle, your identity. And treat like that a piece of art and work on it because without that… the most important thing you can invest in is your personality.

Tell me anybody who’s ever made history he’s had a very magnificent, charismatic, powerful personality. Norman Schwarzkopf, Persian Gulf 1, he was the commanding general and he said, “On the subject of leadership, if I had to choose between character and ability, I would choose character because even if you don’t know how to load a tank or shoot a machine gun, but you can command a group of men to do those very important and dangerous tasks for you, they have to want to listen to you and respect you.” So even if you don’t have the technical skill yourself, but if you have the character that other men will follow you, your aggregate power increases. So invest in your personality. And it’s not something that’s handed to you and it’s not subject to change. You can be a better person and the reason I say “better,” it’s not because i want to make a feel good moment, I think being attractive is synonymous with typically that which is the best of humanity. Things like being humorous, being intelligent, being ambitious, being successful, and I’m not saying being fat and being lazy can get a girl, I’ll tell you to go be fat and lazy. It just doesn’t happen. So you’re going to find that if you want to invest in yourself that way, two things are going to happen, you’re going to end up attractive to women and you are going to be a better person. So what’s a better of spending your time than doing that?

Absolutely. And lastly, a lot of people find themselves in situations where they see the most beautiful girl and just want to talk to her, but they don’t just have the balls to do it. What kind of advice do you have for that situation?

Well, there’s a reason for that in a couple areas. The primary area I believe is the ego, you have to understand your ego. Because you’ve created this prisoner of your own device. In some way shape or for, the approval or rejection that you’re about to receive from this woman has some bearing on your own self-image as a successful man, as an attractive man. I don’t have that thought process. If that happens to me, cocky or not, I have the audacity to allow myself to believe, what’s wrong with her? Now some people say what’s wrong with me? Maybe she’s having a bad day. Move on, it doesn’t phase me. The whole buildup of the initial reaction is just not there, I come in and I’m not too friendly, I’m not too standoffish, I’m not 100% normal, at least from my perception, and it’s exactly what they want.

There’s a set of belief systems also that I teach and one of them is kind of counter-intuitive actually but it’s very helpful, is you’re talking to a girl, the last thing you want to think about is picking her up. Because your thoughts will show in your outward actions and your emotions and the things you say and the things you do. You go up to the girl, don’t even care about if you pick her up, don’t even want it, don’t even think it. Just focus on the process in the moment right now. That’s all you can do anyway. But to the guy who’s nervous about approaching the girl, yeah, you’re not the only one. Everyone gets nervous, you have to understand what causes that and don’t let it rule you. Have some control over it. You’ve got to do this in life with many other things: I don’t really ever feel like working out. I know it’s good for me so i motivate myself to get out of bed and do it. I didn’t feel like studying in college, in fact I hated studying in college, but I decided that now’s the time and I went and did it no matter what. I always ended up feeling sleepy or wanted to go have a cigarette or something, but you’ve got to sit down and fucking do it. This is no different. You’ve got to understand, okay, this is what’s happening. This is not an emotion that I’m going to relish in right now, I’m going to override it and plow forward.

Excerpted from http://www.brobible.com/. View full article here.

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Pickuplabs.com - Mystery congratulates Pick Up Artist winner Simeon

December 4, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 8 Extras

December 3, 2008 by Blitz  
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Dear Mystery… Episode 8

Farewell Matt

Hosts talk Final Decision

Simeon, the Winner

The Final Two Prepare

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Review: ‘The Pick-Up Artist’ on VH1

November 26, 2008 by Blitz  
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Review: ‘The Pick-Up Artist’ on VH1

Every week, "The Pick-Up Artist" begins with a group hug. The contestant who narrowly escaped elimination in the previous episode returns to the rest of the survivors and is fully embraced by them, in a combination of brotherhood and desperation.

There is much to loathe about "The Pick-Up Artist" (VH1, Sundays at 10 p.m.), from its astonishingly callous disregard for women to its sometimes laughable protagonists, but this moment is unfailingly genuine. There are nominal alliances and friendships between certain players, all socially awkward young men badly in need of a confidence boost and a personal shopper, but mainly each sees himself in the others. A victory for any one is, by extension, a victory for all.

From week to week on this show, you can watch these men being nourished, with transformations no less revelatory than those on "The Biggest Loser." Their tour guide into the world of human interaction is Mystery, a well-known leader in the "seduction community" (their term, not mine), who plies the noble trade of instructing the hapless on how to be less so, particularly in regard to women. He speaks deliberately, is irritatingly sure of himself and dresses ridiculously (last week, he paired what appeared to be shiny vinyl pants with a furry top hat; tonight he sports goggles similar to those Snoopy wears when fighting the Red Baron). It should come as little shock that in his previous life, Mystery was a magician.

And here, magic — shaking off the past and giving one’s personality a complete reboot — is what Mystery sells. This season’s contestants, a predictable assortment of virgins, dweebs and eccentrics, badly need the help. They are given haircuts, piercings and the wardrobe of the average unbearable Hollywood nightclub denizen. Then they are brainwashed with a series of tricks on how to chat up women that are largely designed to destabilize and recalibrate the interaction so that the man remains in control. Each week, they are sent into the field, generally a club, to practice their game.

Mystery says things like, "The contestant who kino-escalates" — that’s "kino," as in touch, and escalates, as in successfully — "to a kiss, while preserving comfort in the target, will win the field test." Sexy, right?

Mystery is accompanied by two wings, or assistants: the stoic and flamboyant Matador, who is the show’s secret star, and Tara, a young woman of great empathy and curvature. (Last season’s second male wing, the creepy J-Dog, is nowhere to be found.) Tara, who helped with some challenges in the first season, lends an imprimatur of female approval to the show, a necessary corrective that would be welcome if it weren’t so ridiculous.

Women, of course, are only objects here — targets, marks, penny stocks to be acquired and dumped. When these men are sent out on field tests to demonstrate their acquired aptitude in all things pickup, there’s no discussion of the sort of woman they might be seeking or what, if the first encounter is a success, the second one might look like.

Only the right sex organs matter. In tonight’s episode, Matt attempts to get the phone number of a bikini model but fails. Moments later, Simeon succeeds at the same task. We never so much as get her name.

There is a crude elegance to this strategy: For someone who has, say, never kissed a woman before, depersonalizing might be a useful means to overcoming fear. But as a life strategy, it is repellent.

There is little pride in getting shot down, though, as many of these men invariably are. To see these transactions laid bare is demoralizing, for both parties.

Mystery’s playbook is changing a bit. One of the techniques that last year’s show emphasized was peacocking, or dressing flamboyantly in order to attract attention. Strangely, Alex, the first contestant eliminated this season, was also the most natural peacock, with his semi-trendy glasses and fake gold chain. Why Mystery made him trash the latter is never fully explained. Maybe he didn’t see any voyeuristic potential in it.

Some of this show’s most amusing moments come from watching Mystery’s reactions to watching his charges in the field via hidden camera. Sometimes he’s stern. Sometimes he’s incredulous. Sometimes he realizes a particular student is taking to the teachings perhaps a bit too easily.

"Wow, look at that," he says, watching Brian approach a table full of models in tonight’s episode. "He has no fear," echoes Matador.

They both snicker a bit: They’ve created a monster.

Caramanica is a freelance writer.

calendar@latimes.com

Excerpted from www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-monitor9-2008nov09,0,3772483.story

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Pickuplabs.com - Talk show SCUM, Mormons, and Porn Stars (oh my)

November 26, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 8

November 25, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 7 Extras

November 25, 2008 by Blitz  
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Dear Mystery… Episode 7

Farewell Greg

Lessons from Friends

On the Road With Mystery

Hosts Talk About Greg

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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 7

November 25, 2008 by Blitz  
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Mystery on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

November 20, 2008 by Blitz  
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Video courtesy of pickuptara.com

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Pickuplabs.com - Wingmen mount up!

November 20, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 6 Extras

November 18, 2008 by Blitz  
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Dear Mystery… Episode 6

Farewell Rian

Wingmen At Home

Matador’s Vocab Lesson, Part 2

Hosts Talk About Rian

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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 6!

November 18, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 5 Extras

November 18, 2008 by Blitz  
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Dear Mystery… Episode 5

Farewell Brian

Brian’s Best Moments

Practice Makes Perfect

Matt and the Older Woman

Hosts Talk About Brian

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Pickuplabs.com - Put On Your Red Shoes…

November 12, 2008 by Blitz  
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Pickuplabs.com - Kiss and Tell

November 7, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 5!

November 7, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 4 Extras

November 6, 2008 by Blitz  
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Dear Mystery… Episode 4

 

Farewell Todd

 

Kissing A Mannequin

 

PUA Mansion Tour

 

Hosts Talk About Todd

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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 4!

November 6, 2008 by Blitz  
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Pickuplabs.com - Mystery explains “Peacocking” origin

October 30, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 3 Extras

October 29, 2008 by Blitz  
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Dear Mystery… Episode 3

 

Farewell Karl

 

Body Language Lesson

 

Kosmo’s Pep Talk

 

Kosmo Tells All

 

Hosts Talk About Karl

 

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“The “Mystery” of Picking Up Chicks…” on YoungHollywood.com

October 27, 2008 by Blitz  
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Mystery, Matador, and Lovedrop back to tell Young Hollywood their secrets to scoring women. We join them at their viewing party for VH1’s “The Pick-up Artist” at Neil Strauss’ house. The guys take us inside the party to view Season 2 of their show and give some pick up advice along the way. Hosted by Mystery.

From www.younghollywood.com/

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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 3!

October 26, 2008 by Blitz  
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Pickuplabs.com - Do Mystery & Rejected VH1 Contestant Reconcile?

October 23, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 2 Extras

October 20, 2008 by Blitz  
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Dear Mystery… Episode 2

Farewell, Kevin

Bonding at Home

Approaching Sets

Matador’s Vocab Lesson 1

Hosts Talk about Kevin

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Mystery and Matador in Star Magazine!

October 20, 2008 by Blitz  
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Not every guy’s got game when it comes to the opposite sex.  That’s why ladies’ man extraordinaire Mystery is back with a second season of The Pickup Artist.  On the reality competition, he schools nine would-be Romeos in the art of seduction and takes them to meet women as hidden cameras follow their progress.  The pupil who learns Mystery’s moves best will bag $50,000, which he could use to start a love pad of his own. 

So how does the expert school the love-challenged?  In one training exercise, the socially awkward contestants - including a 21-year-old who’s never kissed a girl - mingle with a group of elderly women, removing sexual attraction from the equation.  "Then when they go to a nightclub, they have that no-pressure experience to fall back on and can think, ‘I have to be the way i was with the old ladies,’" says Mystery, 37. 

Here are Mystery’s three keys for a guy to be a successful pickup artist.  he’s not worried if they get out, because, as he says "You can reveal everything about the pickup to women, and it will still work!"

1. PLAY UP TO A GIRL’S PALS.

A practiced pickup artist doesn’t just chat up the pretty girl he’s been scoping out in a bar.  He also gets in good with her friends!  "Women of beauty are rarely alone; they’re usually in a group," says Mystery.  "A guy must go in and talk to everybody…without ruffling the feathers of guys or making the girls feel uncomfortable."

2. SHOW NO FEAR.

Guys should act confident - even if they don’t feel confident - when getting to know a hottie.  "You can be scared, but don’t show it," says Mystery.  "It’s like having a pebble in your shoe.  If you don’t walk with a limp, no one would know."

3. NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST.

Mystery’s students are taught to make sure the ladies they’re interested in know that they are nice guys, not players - even if they’re a bit of both.  Says Mystery, "As long as you’re a good person and you can convey it, you’re going to trigger attraction mechanisms that are hardwired into women’s brains."

Now you know!

Excerpted from Star! Magazine

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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 2!

October 15, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 1 Extras

October 15, 2008 by Blitz  
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Dear Mystery: Episode 1

 

Farewell!

Getting to Know Each Other

Mystery and Matador Hard At Work

I Need Help

The Wings

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The Pickup Artist 2, Episode 1!

October 15, 2008 by Blitz  
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Watch the Pick-Up Artist Season 2 Supertrailer now!

October 14, 2008 by Blitz  
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The Pick-Up Artist 2 Reviewed In The Wall Street Journal

October 10, 2008 by Blitz  
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A second season of “The Pickup Artist” begins on VH1 Sunday (10-11 p.m. ) and no hour of TV this week can be more joyfully spent. Ostensibly, this is a show about how to attract women, following the “scientific method” developed by a professional picker-upper known as Mystery (aka Erik von Markovic). Its wider appeal is as pure theater, where a colorful cast does the oldest dance on earth.

With his ponytail, piercings, dark-painted fingernails and outlandish clothing, Mystery is not every woman’s cup of tea. Nature did not even endow him with a deep, manly voice. Yet as he and legions of devotees seem to have discovered, almost any guy can get into the game with just a few simple gambits. Like it or not, the basic strategy is sound: Make the beautiful girls feel insecure (they will respect you for it because most guys drool over them) and make all the others feel safe.

The real point, though, is to make men feel confident. On stage for training by Mystery, and as entertainment for us, are an assortment of young men so inept and unappealing, so geekish and freakish, that they seem beyond hope. Even after hair and apparel makeovers to erase the worst of their self-inflicted flaws, the essential nerdiness of these guys is verging on tragic, even as we laugh at them like the mean girls surely did in high school.

Perhaps their neediness is exaggerated for the show, but not entirely. When Mystery tells his charges that after training with him, they will one day be able to teach their sons the same skills. The looks on those suddenly hopeful faces could not easily be faked: Our sons! We will indeed become men!

Mystery is not the only instructor on the show, giving tips on dressing for success: “Do you look like the type of men that are sexually active?” There is wingman Matador, who appears to have raided the costume archive of “The Quest for Fire.” The mind boggles as we see (via hidden camera) women in a bar lining up to stroke his fur vest and nuzzle this 21st century hunter-gatherer.

“It’s like watching lions in a shepherd’s den!” an excited trainee exclaims approvingly. As wingwoman Tara certainly knows, however, the sheep can take care of themselves.

Excerpted from wjg.com. View entire article here.

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Mystery’s Back For Another Round Of The Pickup Artist

October 6, 2008 by Blitz  
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Mystery’s Back For Another Round Of The Pickup Artist

Hot off the press! New season debuts Sunday, Oct. 12 at 10/9c on VH1!

Based on the tremendous viewer response to the series The Pickup Artist, VH1 has once again teamed up with world renowned pickup guru Mystery to help guide nine new socially awkward students overcome their biggest fears - meeting women. As we saw last season, Mystery has developed a foolproof formula for these men to follow, whether they’re in a bar, club or coffee shop. Through his various teachings and in-the-field tests, Mystery will prepare these men with the skills they need to overcome their shyness and confidence issues in the real world. The Pickup Artist 2 premieres on VH1 on Sunday, October 12 at 10:00 PM.

The Pickup Artist 2 brings a new twist to the show, as Mystery and Season 1 wing-man and fellow pickup artist Matador are joined by new wing-girl Tara. Viewers may remember Tara as Season 1’s kissing coach. In this second season she will expand her role by adding a female perspective. Tara will serve as full time wing-girl to Mystery and act as a confidant for the contestants.

This season, The Pickup Artist 2 moves to Phoenix, AZ, as the guys sample the local night life in hopes of perfecting their skills and winning the title of Master Pickup Artist. In each episode, one contestant will be declared the winner of a challenge and granted immunity from elimination, while the loser will be sent packing. The challenges this season are even more intense and personal. The dating neophytes will be tested in a local supermarket, a charity auction and various area nightclubs outfitted with hidden cameras that capture women?s real responses to the contestants’ come-ons.

“It’s certainly no mystery why we’ve partnered again with Mystery. He already had a legion of followers from his book when we launched The Pickup Artist series last year, and now he’s grown into a pop culture phenomenon. He’s even been parodied on Saturday Night Live, a true indicator of water cooler buzz.” said Jeff Olde, Executive Vice President, Original Programming & Production.

?This series is so much more than just how to pick up a woman. It’s about instilling confidence in these young men. As each week goes by, you cheer on this crew of socially awkward men who ultimately flourish with some hard observations of themselves, gut-wrenching experiences in the field and even a little TLC.?

In the end, only one guy will remain and be worthy of the title Pick-Up Artist. Whoever claims this title will also win the cash prize of $50,000 to use towards his new social life. Catch The Pickup Artist 2 on VH1, premiering Sunday, October 12 at 10:00 PM*

Excerpted from VH1.com

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Mystery Parodied on Ugly Betty

August 7, 2008 by Blitz  
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Ugly Betty pays homage to Mystery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsGYKGyuZzU  (start this clip 2 minutes in)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElrggJs3a4Y

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Mystery in People Magazine - June 30th, 2008 Issue

July 1, 2008 by Blitz  
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Program Review for Lovedrop and Kosmo, by Pashin, Seattle Bootcamp, May 08

June 3, 2008 by Blitz  
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Just back from the Seattle bootcamp. I had an awsome time!

LoveDrop and Kosmo gave tonnes of value and energy. The best part is that it was smaller group and it was possible to get very personalized advice and questions answered directly from the coaches. All of the students there were totally cool as well! (What up guys )

Getting one-on-one feedback from the coaches is amazing, this is what really helped my game the most. Getting feedback from professionals with experience really sets your calibration.

Being that there is no VH1 in Canada, I was so impressed by the energy that Kosmo delivers. It is infectious and something I will imitate in field.

 

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Program Review for Mystery and Lovedrop, by l1ndo, United Kingdom Bootcamp, May 08

May 31, 2008 by Blitz  
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That’s right guys, lindo’s been hanging out with Mystery & Lovedrop yo!

“You know how we role in the Two Double O 8” – aki

Haha

My heads still in turmoil and excitement from such a crazy rollercoaster of a weekend.

I wont be writing on everything that happened otherwise id be here all day typing so I’ll cover the highlights plus I’ve just about got some feeling in my fingers but more on that in awhile (did I just do a multiple thread mmmm lol)

So where to begin hey? Well I guess it all started when I started hanging out with my good buddy Discovery (the latest member of the VA team based in the UK).

He had just come from the states after doing a VA boot camp and impressed the shit out of Mystery and co. Pulling girls left right and centre so they decided to invite him back over to instruct in the USA where he had a girl every night. He quickly became good friends with them and they all decided to do the VA seminar & boot camp over in Birmingham. Discovery loved my energy and told me to come on board and be an approach coach. At first I kinda shit a brick thinking theirs no way I could do that since
1) my game was nothing compared to his or the VA masters
2) I haven’t ran a structured game mindset in over a year.

But thought why not since it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet Mystery & I needed something to rekindle my love for the game (hence me not posting anymore and just getting wasted on the weekends).

Aaaaywayz….. so the week starts of by me get ripped apart by a dog. It’s a American pitbull that fucks up my legs and hand and im thinking theirs no way I’ll be able to do a workshop but I decide either through sickness or in health im gonna do it so on Tuesday I go to Discoverys house where the infamous Lovedrop (Mysterys right hand man) will be teaching the approach coaches on what is needed on the weekend.

I thought this was cool since the talk wasn’t about game but on how to instruct students. There was Caddy, Cheeky, G and myself as the approach coaches. The talk had a lot of value.

So Thursday roles around and my man Cheeky & I decide to meet Lovedrop & Discovery in Birmingham town just to chill out. We all chit chat over a meal and it was funny as fuck listening to Lovedrop. The guy’s one down to earth dude, who’s unbelievably funny and easy to get along with,.

Now it’s Friday. The big day and I get my lazy ass out of bed and stroll down to the Malmaison hotel where the seminar is. Im not even in the headspace of whats going to happen and just in my own world. I open the door to the seminar room and theirs around 20 guys plus the coaches and fuckin MYSTERY doing his talk! My heart starts to beat fast and I can’t believe what im witnessing. Mystery, live, in real time, in a room with me! After 4 years of watching this guys videos and reading his stuff, the guys in the same room as me. A very exciting time indeed. But I just sit in the back and begin to soak up the knowledge. Lovedrops doing his talk now which is kickass by the way! It was interesting since they’ve moved away from 100% structured model and he talked about their new book which covers a lot of vibing, being uncreative and in the moment stuff alongside realistic principle on how to use routines. Stuff like how guys get baffled and just run routine stacks when really it’s all about the vibe and adding to it than killing the vibe. Very interesting and I learned a lot.

Funny thing was that throughout the talks, and if your like me who’s read and watched everything on pickup, it was similar to what I already know, but something about being in the room when they explained their topics, made so much sense. It was like you could FEEL what they were saying which I could never have gotten from watching a video or reading abook. It finally made sense.

After a looong day of theory, the night roles around and each approach coach gets their students and we all head to a bar named Apres. To be honest (and that’s all I ever am these days? ) my hearts pounding am im feeling some major anxiety. Not like your normal anxiety though. This was different. I had to teach some students (who looked up to me in awe), open some sets myself & prove my value to the VA team. It was a first for me and in the two hours I was feeling the AA but ploughing through. I helped the students open a few sets and corrected them on where they did right and wrong. I got some great feedback from them. Nice.

We headed over to Mechu which was just kickass. I’m going cockeyed, as one eye is on my students and the other is marvelling Discovery, Lovedrop and Mystery do their thing. Dicovery and Mystery are TEARING UP the club! They’ve opened the hottest girls and hooked, locked in, holding court and now got proximity from other women. Mystery was so cool. He has this very playful smile on, and just strolls through the club saying Hi. Hooks everytime. If I had to describe him, it’s basically everything you already thinking. He is larger than life. Physically and energy wise.

The students are doing awesome too. Some of them are already in the VIP area of the club with women. Mystery and Discovery and running kino demos and routines. Funny thing is, these guys practise what they preach. It isn’t like they’ll teach a few stories and gambits and not show you. The guys are ACTUALY USING them in field which really impressed me cos I learned its all about how you deliver and way you say it. Good stuff.

Long, looong, veeery long story short…….. Mystery and Discovery mange to bounce 2 legs11 strippers and 1 FHM/Maxim model back to the penthouse suit (Discoverys room) at the Malmaison. Okay, bye students, L1ndos off to the after party.

What a night!. In the room we have some of the hottest girls ive seen around. People would call them super HB10s but ill call em Dolly girls cos they look like blown up versions of Barbie and Sindy.

Theirs also Discoverys female pivot who’s a stunner in the room. I don’t exactly know everything that happened that night since we all got wasted but the highlights were, these dolly girls trying to compete for attention off Discovery & Mystery in their weird little girl ways and hitting on Cheeky and myself just so they could get a reaction from Mystery and co.

TBH, I wasn’t even in the headspace of laying these chicks since in my mind…. Firstly I dint pull them so there Mysterys and Discoverys even though there’s plenty of hotties to go around, and all I wanted to establish was talking to Mystery on a 1 on 1 level, and did I forget to mention I was WAAASTED!. That’s right, Mystery and I got wasted together. Nice ?
The guy was cool though, since he made time for me and answered questions that id be meaning to ask him like, what happened in the game, he’s views on the the whole PU community, how he made it to where he is today, business related issues, personal stuff, all he’s beefs etc, etc. The guys a cool cat. Showing off magic tricks and an insight to his game.

At one point I was taking a piss in the urinal and when I turned around their was Mystery getting a blowjob off the female pivot. LOL. I saw Mysterys cock yo!. HAHAHA Funny shit. “May I cut in” is what I said. Gotta love soundbites. Cheeky and Discovery have been taking the mick out of me all week and before anyone starts busting my balls, I know its gay and corney but funny nontheless. LOL

It’s like 10:00am now and its only Discovery and I with the 2 dolly birds. These girls are nuts. So high maintenance. They argue one second then “kiss” n makeup the next. I tried getting into their conversation cos it was some random excitement but Discovery tells me to not interfere and carry on talking amongst ourselves. He said their like little girls wanting attention and if you get sucked in. you lose your power. So we chatted about our own shit since it was our reality and the girls were part of it no matter how hot they were. 2mins later the girls are both in to us again. Its little things like this that you learn out in the field and im glad he pointed it out. So I leave about 10:00am while Discovery has a 3some with 2 of the hottest girls ive seen. He deserved it since he has done a lot for the night. Good stuff bruv.

Its now Saturday and everyone’s feeling wrecked from the night before. Some more seminar time and then were back out in the field. We head up to Oceana since it’s a good place for the students to learn. Plenty of women and different bars for them to practise on. All I can say is, ive never seen anyone OWN a club before. We had the VIP room booked and everyone including the students had swarms of women coming in and out of this room. I got to watch Mystery do his thing text book style. He opens, negs, hooks, qualifys etc, etc. It was a beautiful sight.

The most amazing part of this night was when he says “Right, Lindo. We shall head off to the Ice Room just you and I” “Oookay” I say.
I’m getting nervous since it’s like a 1 on 1 with this guy. By the way, the ice room is the LOUDEST room in the venue where everyone’s drunk and going caveman on women. Mystery walks in followed by myself. This 6foot skinny white boy in a room full of asian and black guys. EVERY guy and girl just stopped and looked at him. He strolls through the room with a nice big smile, eyeballing everyone saying hi. Everyone he sees smiles and says hello back. Even the meanest rough looking guys. He’s always pointing out and talking game and goes into how everyone’s a social robot and how no ones a special snowflake since we all have the same emotional circuitry. Lol. He points out a 10 set and tells me to go in. Im like “WTF”. But their all small, ugly girls (the ones Cheeky normally goes for). And from past experience, there the hardest to open since their so bitchy.

But I go in and guess what…. BOOM… I get blown the fuck out. Mystery comes over and says well done. My problem was I sat down to quickly. “Now let me show you how its done ? “ In 1minute and 30 secs, these girls that were super feisty are all over his shit. He just talks he’s talk and makes her drinking straw disappear. She wont let him leave. Amazing. Other women see this and all line up around us. I now know what proximity is. I mean REALY know. Then he strolls through the club and spots the club dancer girls dancing in their little booth. I tell him Discovery pulled one. He loves challenges and goes over. He looks at her, smiles and does a pinky hold with his little finger and she complies and comes of stage. He then roles off and talks to me for 10secs while she stares at him waiting for him to talk and as he moves in to talk to her again, she gets groped by some drunk dudes and runs off. So close.

Some bouncers keep stopping him about taking of his hat. This is like the 10th bouncer and Mystery kinda gets alittle irritated. The guy leans into the bouncer and tells him off. That’s right, he cusses the bouncer. He’s eyes all go all massive like their gonna pop out his socket. The bouncer doesn’t doesn’t know what to do (I think this a first for him). The bouncer apologises and I see the other bouncers in the background laugh. The impression that I got was, he’s like a really cool guy but don not fuck him. Sorta like Joe Pesci from godfellas.

The guys like a super star where he has women around him at all times and girls come up to me and ask “is the famous. Who is he”. Then theirs guys and girls who were approaching him all weekend recognising him from the show “the pickup artist” & the seduction community. He makes time for everyone.

Everywhere we went that weekend; it was like we were Super Stars. Bouncers that normally wouldn’t let me in, would kiss my ass. Women were all asking about us. I told everyone, we were the VH1 show team, and we’re checking out the clubs in the UK for filming our next show. All the students were camera crew etc. (I had to make something up. How else do you explain 20 students in a club macking the ladies).

Okay, that’s enough typing, and im not gonna go into Sunday or Monday except it was cool just to go out with the VA team (instructors and approach coaches) without no students. Good times.

If you asked me a week ago if id pay to go a MM bootcamp and role with Mystery for £3000 or whatever it is, the answer would be HELL NO…. but I gotta tell ya, today if you’d ask me the answer would be a HELL YES!. This is aint no bullshit. The guys the real deal. Everything he talks about he demos. As he put it….. his method isn’t the right way, just he’s method. The “Mystery Method” and its what works for him so he teaches it. He has a lot of love for all the different coaches and training schools out there.

I just wana to say, THANK YOU to my boy Discovery for giving me the chance to be part of the team. If it wernt for him, then non of it would be possible. Im sure this aint the last time I’ll run into the VA team again and I feel its gonna kickoff pretty big in the UK. I just need to get my game “up to speed” as Mystery would say.

Next stop will have to be Hollywood and the playboy mansion (sorry guys, cant help adding some DHV spikes) HAHAHAHAHA

There’s a lot more to add and I could be here for days but im cutting it short.

Thanks for reading.

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Mystery Awarded “Best PUA in the World” at the PUA Summit

May 27, 2008 by Blitz  
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Program Review for Mystery, Matador, Lovedrop, Kosmo, and Joe D, by Elias, Los Angeles Super Conference, Mar 08

May 9, 2008 by Blitz  
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I went from just getting shut out and hanging in the corner like a dork fly on the wallpaper to being able to talk to girls and have some of them hang onto my arm, smile while being chatty, laughing, or just sometimes want to keep talking for a little while..

No full lipaction but I’m getting girls to show me their more private tattoos (in a restaurant) lean in alot and have many women hang right around where I am, and I like it already….I just need to relax more and get into more practice in conversations, definitely getting them used to kino and me being a touchy-feely-fun guy.

If you talk about a NERRRrrrdddd/dork you would look me up until I was probably 15. It’s not that I was terribly fat or ugly but man social, whoah I was more like clueless.

THE INSTRUCTORS AND GUYS THAT WORK AT VA ARE THE FUCKING MAN DUDE. They will hang out with you, they hang out with each other and answer your questions when they could be at the hotel hanging in a jacuzzi, mackin women, being crazy around LA. They really try to get you comfortable and impact a huge amount of information and stuff into your head and go out of their way to reach out to you when you’re there in the club sweating your balls off thinking holy shit dude I’m going to crash here, they are there to help you through it.

I have a longer version that tells you all they did for me personally and what I got for my money’s worth from the three days. Check it out below this post.

 

So like a lot of guys I started off a month ago just
being kind of intimidated by women pretty easily and
vaguely random girlfriend-shows-up-in-my-life
relationships.

At the end of the bootcamp it’s like huge pieces of a
Jenga jumble of my old belief system just come
crashing down, I mean all the field experiences I had
with Hawaii were really eye opening let alone what the
others presented..and I found myself realizing HOW I
had gotten some girls really interested the few times
I did or they opened me whereas when I was trying the
old job interview boring ass shit they hear all the
time, it won’t.

First off we have Mystery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWnPH-kXeZM

, now there’s a ton about the man that you won’t even
realize at first except that he’s real open and a fun
thinking guy you’d love to be the friend of. I had
trouble keeping up after I was prepped watching
several spaced hours of his teaching footage, paying
careful close attention to what he says in The Game
especially when he’s revealing things to Neil, and how
he really treats you like you’re a full cool-capable
human being who could add to
society if he just knew how and could be made happier
-

or if you see how he talks about multiple threading, I
mean when he talks about switching between
different subjects not just in canned material but
other things he’s thought of or situational
openers/gambits that he’s using. He will use the
google earth opener that requires a lot of careful
attention to words and delivery, have a 5 questions
game going be laughing and making a comment off
another girl, I mean when you see him click it’s
insane. Then he’ll just be kinoing and letting them
talk and talk him/themselves up while he goes and bam
starts integrating sets especially with other
wings/buddies who can share in the spoils of good
conversation.

YOU COULD WRITE 200 PAGES ABOUT WHAT HE PRESENTED IN
THAT TIME AND IT WOULD STILL BE A WEAK
IMITATION because so much was asked and there were so
many detailed and subtle parts to it, and even
after all the prep work I did before this seminar I
STILL had 3 pages of self made notes as well as things
I thought of since then based on the material he
presented.
What’s not to like about the guy??

Matador can be best described as a guy who also didn’t
understand why he wasn’t having a huge amount
of fun despite his goals and then totally transformed
himself in and out. When he’s telling everyone to
GET ORGANIZED AND BE THE MAN YOU WANT TO BE and he
kicks the fucking chair away he’s saying
our avatar has to be congruent with the person we plan
and work to be, period. How and why he is getting
as much body language congruency and power is because
he is his own boss, James Matador, period, and
the last three years have given him more than the last
twenty before, and if you saw as many hot girls
hanging around him as I did you won’t have any silly
questions whether "does it really work" "are girls
wanting guys" "can I really get there" YES YOU CAN but
you cannot be a pussy and you have to work for it it
is not a free lunch ladies and gentlemen. And thank
you for the fashion tip the chain didn’t fit my day3
outfit.

Lovedrop, what can you say, he has a real thought out
approach I mean I think if you talk about words having
power he was a guy who you realize gets girls to think
in a different way and he just made things like
kino escalation make a lot more sense even to the
introspective kid that can sometimes come out in any
one of us. And he’s like not sure…then try it or do
what you’re already doing and see if that works…no,
go DO IT. And in terms of concrete snippets, facts,
observations about my own approach I made the most
paper notes during his talk out of anyone else’s and
that tells me that this boy has done his homework.
(The Game isn’t about catching butterflies with a net
it is being the Bright Light that everything gets
attracted to)
(As social animals we can share emotional information
not just numbers or facts..which one is more related
to our species development anyway? HOW DO WOMEN OFTEN
COMMUNICATE?)
(lots of other stuff…)

I thought Kosmo’s speech was really good and I was
pissed off that I didn’t get him so much at first
until I went out and tried it and then thought of what
I had seen the other guys do and WHAT WORKED. GIRLS
RESPOND TO ENERGY NOT ROBOTS ACTING POSSESSIVE OR
WEIRD. They just like us (or some of us!!!@@) WANT
TO HAVE FUN. They are not wired on what time did you
file that report oh yeah we have a meeting at 11:35
and there were 5 pens there and I had 10 emails from
management pile up and SHUT UP you need to be kind of
like a kid you know you love a girl that cracks you up
or forces you out of your head too so BE THAT GUY life
is supposed to be fun before people make it so
complicated and self centered bring out some joy share
it with girls too because they’re people not just your
friends. They happen to have a pussy and may decide to
gladly share it with a funny, fresh, cool guy who
doesn’t need them and enjoys meeting people and adding
value!@

Wow dude Discovery was an amazing dude too he had two
separate presentations and I almost felt like a bozo
when I complimented him on his badass outfits because
he like stood back and was thinking wow is that all
this guy took away from me talking he must be not
listening to a goddamn thing I’m saying.
He had scary good verbal and kino/body language
openers just basically had girls doing stuff you’d
kind of think was porno movie except he’s really just
a fiesty English/Irish sounding fella who does not
give a shit he knows he’s the baddest ass freak that
girl’s ever going to talk to and THEY RESPOND TO HIM
THAT WAY.
When he talked about the color/trait presentation and
observing others I know he was talking about how to go
about making fast decisions based on BL and the kinds
of routines/way you interact with a mixed set. There
were three separate guys who witnessed some approaches
and although his energy is also really attention
getting he, like the rest of VA, wants everyone to do
well and has done amazingly few approaches considering
his aggressive style and success rate but the cat is
smooth, bro. And you feel it you know when he moves
through the crowd they will notice Him and not the
other way around. Him and Kosmo made me realize that
yes it is really possible to be fun and forceful in
different ways yet be totally sincere and have a great
time.

I was also glad to be able to meet Joe D. who totally
is the fun talkative guy I AM WITH MY FRIENDS and such
a great warm character who was open and awesome, he
totally hung with the VA crew and would talk to any of
the students/people who came up and wanted to ask
questions or even just be with us, and he WASN’T EVEN
OFFICIALLY PRESENTING his ass could’ve been home
talking to girls kicking back in the jacuzzi or
something
man.

and last but not least….HAWAII

OMG dude that kid has mad respect from me he took us
Chewie Everett and myself out to several different
venues through seating changes and time changes and
targets/parties switching locations and all throughout
demoing for us correcting us helping us get our sets
in asking "What’s going on" "Where are you getting
stuck" "DO THIS OPENER PLEASE follow up with this get
in there man make it happen" "Here bro I’ll go in no
reason to be worried guys just watch
close" then afterwards "Did you see how it hooked how
the bodylanguage was different SAME WORDS" and all
this kinda stuff it really helped wow I realized how
it was possible and I felt like something really
changed like I *could* do this if six months ago he
was not the badass asian kid who was cooler than
anyone in there and just had NO FEAR you could also
tell the man was congruent inside and out he wasn’t
taking shit from a girl and if she was being boring or
uncompliant, NEXT!@ Because he knew how to be playful
and fun and GET IN THERE……I had gotten a call one
night after I went home for going out again but I
think my phone was off then I was like AHHHHHHHHH I
would so have paid $$$ to get that night back with my
bro Hawaii man he really cared about the three of us
to get experience in the field. GLAD WE GOT THAT
SECOND COOL PIC BRO hehe nice. I thought to myself
drunk one evening yo I wonder if that kid played
Starcraft ever I’d so be a good wing to him but I
guess I’ll just buy him a drink sometime once I get
field experience and see the cool cats at VA man. Dude
send my warm happy cool fuzzies for the other bros
that were out there and could’ve done other shit WISH
I HAD MORE TIME AND WAS LESS STRESSED BEING OUT IN THE
NIGHT enjoyed all the conversation and hanging out
with those cats too man.

All these guys really cared. They stayed late, they
stayed for a lot of each other’s stuff, they tried to
joke around and help us through what was or wants to
be a great transitional period for us guys out there,
and I felt there was a certain real effort being taken
to get to everyone they could. Every VA guy in that
room even some of the other kids Jorg and Freddy and
several more that were hanging out with students and
people helping each other too.

I’m also happy got some numbers of dudes in the
northeast and we’re making it happen now! THANK YOU
ALL Viva Los Angeles!!@

- Mike

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Program Review for Mystery and Matador, by slick786, Dallas Bootcamp, May 08

May 8, 2008 by Blitz  
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This has been my second bootcamp with Mystery. I especially liked this one because it was a small group of 7 or 8 and I got alot of personal attention from both Mystery and Matador. My sticking point has been mostly in comfort building, and Mystery really gave some good advice on story telling and comfort routines. He also taught us a couple magic tricks on the side. By the third night, I could easily open girls, and carried on conversation with them for 45min inside a loud club. Mystery also helped me form my Identity which was a sticking point for me. All in all it opened my eyes, I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone man as a life changing event …

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Program Review for Mystery, Matador, Lovedrop, Kosmo, and Joe D, by JaCaz, Los Angeles Super Conference, Mar 08

April 11, 2008 by Blitz  
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Hey guys,

Let me begin by saying that I definitely enjoyed myself during the weekend of the LA Super Conference. And in the end, I’m glad I did it, for many reasons - meeting other PUA-hopefuls, meeting Mystery, Matador, Lovedrop, Discovery et al and generally getting some advice from those guys.

It’s also worth mentioning that I own the Mind of Mystery DVD course and had reviewed it thoroughly before the course, so the CONCEPTS of Mystery-style pickup were familiar to me. It was merely the PRACTICE and PERSONAL GUIDANCE that comes with hands-on instruction that was lacking for me.

This is the PRIMARY reason I signed on for the course.

The SECONDARY (but nearly equally important) reason I’d signed on for the course was the in-field DEMONSTRATIONS. Demonstrations that I somewhat expected to marvel at, but more so, expected to LEARN FROM, as I tend to learn the most through observation, particularly with something that cannot be taught through a book, something as finely tuned as pick-up.

Highly valuable stuff for anyone who’s never seen the art of pick-up live, and had a chance to wrap their brains around it (like me). And based on all the reviews I’d read of previous conferences, laden with comments on how amazing it was to watch the instructors in action in the field and how supportive and useful it was to be instructed through sets by them, I’d come to expect that I would literally be witnessing pick-up in action, AND ALSO, be well in the hands of doting instructors.

So, naturally, I signed on for the Mystery level of instruction - the most expensive level - because, to put it bluntly, I wasn’t f%&king around, and wanted personal guidance from the best - namely Mystery, Matador, Lovedrop et al.

Also worthy of note, I greatly appreciate and somewhat require VISUAL demonstration following an explanation. For me, it just cements a concept perfectly.

SO, CUTTING RIGHT TO THE CHASE for those who will not read a lengthy review, my overall grade for the conference was, disappointingly, a B-minus.

Unfortunately, in the end, I did not feel like I got my money’s worth based on my reasons and expectations for going. It was worth some majority portion of what I paid, but definitely not the full amount.

$3000-plus for a pick-up conference is a LOT of money for me (very hard-earned money!). I’m a very big value-for-dollar kind of guy and also a highly organized type of brain, so I was constantly evaluating my experience based on whether I thought I was getting more for my money than I already had gotten from the disks, books and generally off the Internet.

There were a lot of ways that the instructors and organizers could have delivered more value in this conference. Here’s where the conference experience went great and where it fell short:

DAY ZERO (the very day before day 1)
1) I received the seemingly important prep packet via email. Twenty-two pages of helpful notes, info and some space to evaluate yourself and where you are now with pick-up. Had absolutely NO time to read this before the beginning of the conference. Would have been great if it were sent to me a week before, because I would have been able to prepare and practice some of the material for use in the field. There’s really very little time to do this once the conference is underway, especially if you’re living away from the hotel.

DAY ONE
1) We start the conference 2 hours later than origi