Psychological Subtleties

by Banachek

Psychological Subtleties by Banachek Banachek, first came to national prominence as one of two teen-age "psychics" validated by the Parapsychology Department at Washington University as part of Randi's "Project Alpha" experiment. Since then he has been buried alive on national television, caught bullets in his teeth (using his own technique, which he has since shared with Penn & Teller) and become one of the most sought-after performers in the college and corporate arenas. In this long-awaited new book, Banachek reveals the true secrets of his psychological subtleties that transform "mental magic" into "psychic entertainment." Most of the effects require no advance preparation and may be performed at a moment's notice. Those who have Banachek's earlier monographs will not hesitate to add this to their libraries. From the introduction by "BANACHEK IS BRILLIANT at subtle deceptions. My partner Penn and I have repeatedly called upon his vast knowledge, diabolical ingenuity, and remarkable imagination, and have never been disappointed. This man has the goods, and now you do, too. But be careful. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS BOOK. In the wrong hands, these subtle, deeply devious methods could be used to convince audiences that the performer is not an artist, but a supernatural being. .." 212 - Hardbound with Dust Jacket

Genres: Magic, Psychology, Nonfiction

115 pages, Hardbound

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[David Groves · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've ever read and at the same time one of the worst.

The good in this book comes from its subject matter. No mentalist has become more associated with subtle psychological methods than Banachek, a Texas corporate magician. He didn't invent psychological subtleties, for sure, but he is the one who decided to collect them into book format.

If you're not a magician, you don't know what I mean, and that's good. You shouldn't be reading this, anyway, so go away. If you are a magician, though, you know that you can get a lot of mileage out of this ploy. It doesn't constitute an entire show, to be certain, but it can enhance it a lot. Sometimes, it's a trick that people remember forever. I used one of these ploys yesterday in walkaround mentalism, and there is truly no explanation for it.

Okay, great. Now someone has helped solidify a new category of effect.

But really now, this book is a big effin mess. Start with the prose, because that's the heart of any book. It's serviceable, but I wish he'd write in complete thoughts. I wish he'd cover the waterfront. I wish he'd give me a complete idea of what he's learned rather than just skimming the surface and tracing an outline of everything.

I've recently been reading Tommy Wonder's books, and those are thoughtful treatises on a particular subject, delving deeply into the art of magic and all of its subtleties. Yesterday, I read a chapter about how well and often aquitments should be made. He came up with some general principles and warnings. Banachek would never do that. He's brief, brief, and brief.

And look at the size of the book. He's split it all into three volumes and you have to pay for each one, but if he'd put them all in one volume, it would have been only an average-sized book.

But it's in the production values that this book is most wanting. Look at that cover. The Vitruvian Man is a white blob and there is no style at all. Look inside and it's even worse. Fonts are changed to bold or italics with no apparent rhyme or reason. There are no diagrams to illustrate what the author is describing in words. Why in the world did Scott Hollingsworth get involved in the project if he weren't going to take care of the production values?

[Brad Bevers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Psychology and magic are two of my favorite genres, and this book combines both of them. Banachek is a really interesting performer. He first became famous by infiltrating a group that had 'proved' people were psychic. He faked his way into the group and eventually he was able to get on to television where they were promoting him, and he told everyone it was fake and how it was done. This was when he was in high school.

This is a book that I would recommend to very few people because the subject matter is so narrow, but if you have already read a lot of books on psychology and are curious about how it can be applied in the real world, this book shows you how performers and mentalists have used techniques to build careers.

[Henry Fosdike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book that provides insight into ‘psychological subtleties’, the methods used by mentalists on stage to give the impression of reading your mind. From knowing probabilities through to basic informed, it’s a great read for magicians and no doubt very interesting to anyone interested in psychology.

[Daniel H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book full of very useful information, especially for mentalism (which is what the book is aimed at). Would recommend to anyone who want's to become a mentalist.

[Kuba Łagowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graal mentalizmu.
Dla doświadczonych mentalistów przeczytanie i wykorzystanie wszystkich wskazówek z tej książki wystarczy, żeby zrobić wielką karierę. Kopalnia

[Oliver Ho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting material--I can see returning to this book several times.