Mind reading, thought transmission, prophecy, miracle slate routines, and other "psychic" effects are among the most impressive tricks in any magician's repertoire. Their power to amaze and dumbfound an audience is unparalleled in the domain of stage magic. In this volume, one of the greatest of all mental magicians reveals the secrets behind nearly 200 astonishing feats of mental magic. The routines encompass 12 major Effects with Billets and Pellets; Envelope Necromancy; Publicity Effects; Miracle Slate Routines; Dead or Alive; Money Mentalism; Book Tests; Blindfold Reading; Thought Foretold; Mentalism with Cards; Miscellaneous Mental Masterpieces; and Psychic Codes. Theodore Annemann, through his own performances and editorship of Jinx magazine, probably did more than anyone else to popularize this branch of entertainment. Now, his extensive knowledge, experience, and know-how are at your fingertips in this comprehensive collection. Here are the closely guarded tricks of the trade behind such astonishing effects as Pseudo-Psychometry , one of the greatest one-man psychic effects ever achieved; Who Killed Mr. X? — a classic routine that combines both magic and mind reading with a triple mystery and a novel presentation; and The Swami Test , a demonstration of prophecy first popularized around 1920. Annemann himself came up with some 16 variations on this popular and much-practiced effect. My Own Swami Test is one of his best. These and scores of other crowd-pleasers are here, each thoroughly explained and diagrammed, with insiders' tips on techniques, staging, patter, plants and confederates, diversions — everything you need to make any trick a foolproof success. No special equipment is required; just traditional magic props and a willingness to learn from one of magic's legendary figures. Although written for professional magicians, the step-by-step detail, clarity and inclusiveness of this collection, along with the author's intimate knowledge of the stage performer's needs, make this a volume that will benefit magicians at every level of expertise.
A book which is absolutely packed to bursting with hundreds of methods and routines of mental magic.
It's inevitably dated, as entertainment trends age rapidly, but the principles and methods are pure gold. There's nothing in this book that I - as a practising magical performer today - would perform 'as is'. But I have lifted plenty of material from it to incorporate into new, fresh routines of my own devising, which have blown people away, and I have bookmarked many more for future adaptation.
It may be a bit long in the tooth now to be a 'pick up and go' book, but it's an absolute gold mine of method and idea for the creative performer, and that's a much more satisfying thing.
Un libro eccellente ma si avverte la vecchiaia sull’applicazione di molti effetti, ma rimane una grandiosa fonte di conoscenza e di arricchimento culturale magico.
It's excellent and from what I gather, one if the classics in this field. It was a little difficult to read on the kindle and I think it would be more useful (or at least interesting) to have a physical copy so you can flip back and forth through it or simply browse. Some of the effects, methods and patter are dated but a surprising amount is still relevant and I can see why so many people refer to this as one of the bibles in mentalism, from which a lot of modern effects have been derived.
In some respects this classic of mental magic is dated. But it is still great value for money & it still has plenty to offer both in the way of general advice & in the way of usable effects. This plus Karl Fulves Self Working Mental Magic provide an excellent foundation for anyone interested in learning about mentalism.
Many of these classic illusions can easily be adapted and updated to fit modern audiences. I would suggest that anyone involved in paranormal research (ESP, psychics, etc.) read this book (and 13 Steps to Mentalism) before jumping to any conclusions.