Self-Working Mental Magic: 67 Foolproof Mind-Reading Tricks

by Karl Fulves

Sixty-seven sure-fire mental feats to delight and mystify: mind reading with cards, instant ESP, identifying the owners of objects given to you in random order, number prediction, magically reproducing drawings on slates, book tests, handwriting tricks, mind-reading done from a room away, much more. 73 illustrations.

Genres: Magic, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1979

Reviews

[Nicholas Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of simple mentalist tricks across several different genres (card tricks, bill reading, confederates, remote viewing and finally the apex of mentalism, the cold read).

Part of the reason the review loses a star is some of the tricks are now necessarily dated - there are tricks that rely on speaking to a telephone operator, and a whole chapter on magic using slates (a real pity, because one of the slate tricks is phenomenally clever). Also some doubtful ones (arranging for someone in a different house to call a phone for you to synchronise with them with split second precision several times comes across as optimistically ambitious, to say the least...

But skip those few and you still have a solid 50+ worth a read. Some lend themselves to newer adaptations or incorporations into existing concepts and routines as well. Now, if I could only figure out how to modernise that slate trick...

[Sodom Hussein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the tricks seem to involve complex sleight of hand to the point that you'd need a lot of practice to really pull them off. But the author's style of introducing each trick first from the intended perspective of the audience before revealing the secret behind it is interesting and provides some insight into the stage magician mindset.

[William-Henri Turgeon-Dupuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

mentalisme très utile

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the basic starting point for anyone with an interest in mentalism. It also has several real winners in it, that any amateur or professional will find are real crowd pleaser's.
Mentalism is very much a performance art. So despite the self working title, it will require a little effort on your part to achieve even the most basic level of this variation of magic, but it is worth it.
Karl's self working series of books are consistently recommended & referred to on magic sites & for a VERY good reason. These books are not just the perfect beginners book, they are also a valuable part of many professionals library too.
Do not under estimate these books, just because they are self working illusions & just because these books are such good beginners books.
Mentalism, unlike say card magic relies upon the performer & the performance, not on props. There is an old saying in mentalism that every time you pick up a prop your value goes down. Many mentalist illusions can be performed any where, any time, with nothing but the mind & skill of the mentalist & in this book Karl gives a good basic grounding in illusions that lead in that direction, but which are still usable by those who like props & magic tricks.

[Brandon Baggett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, there are only a handful of tricks that I would even consider performing because most of it requires too much hands-on technique on the part of the performer. I don't like it when the performer controls many things of an effect especially in mentalism. It is a good place for those who have no experience in mentalism, just make note that you will have to go through a lot of effects that you might not like to perform so you will have to sift through that.