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A Thought Well Stolen
by (Benny) Ben Harris

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A Thought Well Stolen by (Benny) Ben Harris

A Thought Well Stolen combines two of magic's great card effects - Any Card At Any Number, and Paul Curry's Out Of This World - into a wicked hybrid; morphing them into a mind-blowing frenzy. Can you even imagine what this resultant offspring would look like?

As in Any Card At Any Number, the performer reveals the identity of a freely though-of card - and its position in a deck - without asking a single question. Seriously, this is solid and gripping mentalism; there is no force, the card is a free mental selection and no questions are asked. Having read his spectator's mind, discerning his card and its position in the deck, the performer follows with a visual display rivaling the wonderful separation of colors in Out Of This World. Your audience is left reeling by:

  1. Your amazing ability to read minds.
  2. Your insane skill with a deck of cards.
The combination of effects is mind-boggling and capable of closing any show - be it one-on-one, at a party, on T.V., or in a theatre of hundreds. U.K. card expert Michael Vincent has chosen to perform A Thought Well Stolen during his "Champions Of Magic" season at the Jersey Opera House. That's how strong A Thought Well Stolen is. Here's what Michael has to say:

"As someone who has built a reputation on hard core sleight of hand, I am always ready to welcome an effect into my program at the opposite end of the technical spectrum. A Thought Well Stolen is that sort of effect, it fits perfectly into my modus operandi of mixing up my methods - an effect like this can steal your show."

In the ebook's introduction, the author sets out his goal clearly:

A quest of mine - lasting decades - has been the search for a perfectly rendered illusion of mind-reading with a deck of cards. As a close-up performer - who loves cards and mentalism - this effect would be something where the performer identifies a freely thought-of card without any questions; without the spectator uttering a single word. Achieving this, or even getting close to it, creates a profound effect on the spectator. It's also one that ripples through your entire audience, no matter what its size.

A Thought Well Stolen is 100% pure as regards its intention: the identification of any freely thought-of card without any questions; without any prodding, probing, dual reality or ambiguity. And, without any limiting procedures. None at all. The result is a selection process about as fair as it can get:

'Do you have a favourite playing card?' the performer asks.
'Yes, yes I do,' the spectator replies.
'Okay, that's great,' the performer confirms. 'Don't tell me. Keep the identity of your card secret, okay?'"

Is there an approach any more fair? I don't think so.

The author fully explores the effect(s) in a detailed and friendly manner. Even a beginner can master A Thought Well Stolen because it requires nothing more than "basic card skills." Advanced versions are discussed in the various appendices, but if you can do a single False Cut, or a False Shuffle, then you are in business; ready to astound audiences of any size.

A Thought Well Stolen requires the use of no gaffs or gimmicks of any kind, just regular playing cards. The ebook runs 40 pages of detailed text covering the simple and beautiful series of almost self-working procedures that bring about the amazing results.

"I think you might just have created the Holy Grail of Card Magic! As a magician this is the perfect routine to show off any card skills without actually having any, and for a mentalist it's the perfect routine where you don't need to do any of the skilled work. Perfect for both worlds." - Paul Romhany, Editor - VANISH Magazine.

"...an effect like this can steal your show." - Michael Vincent

"Self-working routines rarely pack as much punch as this. The way you describe it is so captivating!" - Andi Gladwin - Vanishing Inc.

"This is written in such a way that you can almost feel the effect performed as you read..." - Jeff Sanders.

"The merging of the two effects creates an amazing experience, and the effect is practically self-working...I like this one and it can be a great addition and even closer to your show." - Wayne Kawamoto

1st edition 2015, 40 pages.
word count: 8782 which is equivalent to 35 standard pages of text