Prism The Color Series of Mentalism by Max Maven - Book

by Max Maven aka Phil Goldstein

Genres: Magic

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Jake Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am honored to be the first person ever to have a written review for this book. It was good. I took one thing from it and put it in my show and that's all you can ask for.

[Edgar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prism by Max Maven holds a special place for me because it’s the very first mentalism book I ever sat down and truly studied. It didn’t just teach me effects—it reshaped how I think about performance. At least five pieces from this book have earned permanent spots in my stage show and close-up arsenal, and they continue to hit just as hard as the day I first read them. The material feels timeless, practical, and deceptively simple, yet devastating in the right hands.

What Prism makes clear—better than almost any book—is that the hardest part of mentalism isn’t sleight of hand. It’s people. You have to be tuned into human behavior, language, pacing, and emotion. You need strong communication skills and the confidence to let silence do some of the work. With almost no props—sometimes literally just a pencil and paper—you can create moments that feel like real miracles. Max Maven was a legend, and this book is proof of it. I’m deeply grateful he chose to publish some of his best thinking and share it with the rest of us.