Mentalism & Spiritism

Methods and presentations for blindfolds, or 'sightless vision'.

Amongst the most sensational of magical effects, is the ability of the magician to do things blindfolded, which would normally require the use of his full vision. Like escapes, a blindfold drive is an excellent publicity stunt, in which you can involve the police department, the local medical and municipal authorities, the town council, the local newspapers and TV, and half the town people. It is one effect that can be performed under any conditions, drawing room, stage, club, arena, or across a town or state. And it is probably...

During his last years, Basil Horwitz recorded a set of new routines on audio tape. When he passed away his wife Heidi sent these tapes to Martin Breese to turn into a new book. Martin worked on it for a good while together with the help of Clifford Card and Mike Vance. They were almost finished but also Martin passed away before he could publish the book. Having purchased Martin's business I took over this project which I can finally present to you.

• Foreword
• Body Language, Heads or Tails
• Mental Hypnotic Suggestion
• ESP Body Language
• Lesson in Body Language
• Challenge, ESP, Body Language
• Three Experiments...

The Final Straw - a very clever mentalism effect. Five different colored straws in a cocktail glass. One straw contains a rolled-up gift voucher for the holiday of a lifetime and a year's supply of cocktails. All the others contain a note which says 'you lost!' Spectators select any 4 colored straws (no forcing) the contents of each straw is pushed out ... and they all lose. The remaining straw has the winning gift voucher. This is so clever and virtually self-working. You'll need to buy some straws - you should have everything else you need. As usual with Graham's effects, they are easy to...

An expose of routines, apparatus and deceptions resorted to by mediums, clairvoyants, fortune tellers and crystal gazers in deluding the public.

Excerpt from the introduction:

• DEDICATION
• INTRODUCTION
• ROPE TIES
• BLINDFOLDS
• SEALED ENVELOPE READING
  • Alcohol Method
  • Wax Pads
  • Back Of House Steal
  • Switching In Audience
  • Changing Bag ...

This ebook features 28 of Mel's mentalism ideas, each of which is commercial and entertaining.

It also has an interesting essay on getting the basics right as well as three further pages of great one-liners to use in your act. Mel's methods are practical and uncomplicated - he has a real gift for getting directly to the nub of what is needed to created any desired effect - and so there will be many ideas that you will soon be including in your repertoire.

• Introduction
• Svengali Postcards
• Any Time Impromptu Book Test
• My Drink Prediction
• Blackout Gag
• Minor Miracle with M&Ms
• The Magic...

Perform some amazing close-up routines with 15 dominoes with ESP symbols. These dominoes are not included with the ebook but they are fairly simple to make yourself.

This manuscript gives you the basic principles and presentations for a variety of possible effects. The principles involved are self-working in nature, and have been explained in sufficient detail to enable you to create your own amazing routines with these attractive and intriguing props.

• The Psychic Dominoes
• Psychic Stacking
• Choice or Fate
• Unique Match
• Desire and Destiny

1st edition 2004, 16 pages; PDF 15 pages.

Gregg teaches two methods for the same trick. The question this trick tries to answer is who was the famous author of The Expert at the Card Table? This trick will probably not provide any deep insights into this question but it may produce laughing, weeping, protesting, or other human emotions because the subject of Erdnase can evoke some very strong ones.

One method is based on equivoque, the other uses a Himber wallet.

1st edition 2022, PDF 3 pages.

Techniques and routines for the Himber Wallet.

The Himber Wallet is a change device for flat card and paper items, like currency notes or bills, playing or visiting cards, pay envelopes, paper slips etc., which is an understatement, like saying "The Rolls Royce is just an automobile". When the Himber Wallet is correctly handled, it is far superior to other change wallets, card boxes, or devices that serve the same function.

Some wallets allow one to subtly prove no change has been made, when in fact it has. The contents of one side of the wallet can change, while the contents of the opposite...

Here's a cool mentalism effect where you force a series of Scrabble pieces in the fairest of ways. The effect can be performed in close-up or standup situations. A bag of Scrabble pieces is shown in a paper bag - spectators can freely select any pieces - they are all mixed - just like in a normal game of Scrabble. The performer reveals that he knew how many points their Scrabble tiles would add up to, plus which word would be made, in a novel way. This is easy to do and easy to make. All you need is a couple of paper bags ... and the gimmick is so easy, you can make a pile of them at the same...

Bending Minds Vol. 3 ends the collection of effects centered on the principle of the binary system, according to a new and innovative vision. In this third volume, not only playing cards will be used to tell our magical stories, but also tickets or some business cards.

You will find 4 new effects and an extra bonus one, using cards or just some tickets, with a number of elements varying from 3 to 7. Throughout the course of the effect, the cards are subject to a dynamic, the positions are constantly changing, each time in a different way. Even more than in the first two volumes you will...

The Magic of Turin is a stage or living room mentalism effect, and if desired - with the appropriate modifications - it can also be proposed over the phone, with only the audio connection.

The proposed solution (for the effect in presence) also allows repetition of the performance, one after the other, since it uses tools and methods that allow this eventuality.

Two spectators are invited onto the stage: one of the two will be the mentalist's collaborator and will have to mentally suggest to the performer the place to direct the other spectator. The other person - in this example, a...

All the great masters of magic and illusionism recommend two essential points in their meetings:

• simplify the effects as much as possible, remove everything that is not strictly necessary,
• build a patter, a story that is worth telling, that excites the listeners, that contributes to the creation of the perfect climax for the ending, to amaze your listeners.

The patter and the story justify and accompany the performer in carrying out the effect, and are always important, regardless of the method and technique used; in card magic, both in sleight-of-hand and in automatic or mathematical...

Here's a fantastic method for predicting virtually anything. The gimmick is simple and all you need to make it is two common items you might already have. The gimmick enables you to create feature effects that play huge.

The Washing Line: 8 items are hanging on a line - 7 are clean, and one needs washing again. The audience freely eliminates them one at a time until one remains - it's the one that has a large 'stain' on the back. Includes full routine. So easy to do, yet so clever. No force, no stooges - just a brilliant 'slap-your-forehead' method.

Predict-a-Star: Several DVDs are shown....

The mentalist shows some Alphabet flashcards to the participants. The cards are mixed and distributed. The participants are asked to form a word using the letters they have received, from which the mentalist will be able to divine all of them.

• Uses an ordinary object.
• Self-working.
• Not process heavy.
• If needed, the effect can be repeated with a different result.
• The effect can be adjusted to be able to perform to a smaller group.

Bonus Effect: The Missing Link

Each participant exchanges cards after they were mixed and distributed, and yet the mentalist is able to identify which...

I love the mentalism effects on the phone, and I often use them in close-up and sometimes - appropriately modified - stage performances. I have collected more than 100, in the last 2 years and, slowly, I am proposing them with these publications. Some draw inspiration from real "pearls" of great artists, which I allowed myself to face, with extreme humility, developing them with a new setting, sometimes adding some interesting details. Others are a little older, even centuries, maybe even well known, but they are often "disruptive" as never before! Still, others are mine or, better said, by...

EFFECT: Any three people take ordinary watches the performer provides to a far corner of the room and set them to any hour and minute. They in turn each wrap their watch in a small opaque paper bag. These are placed anywhere and you can divine the exact hour and minute on each watch. No gimmicked watches or electronics are used. At the end, everything can be fully examined and nothing will be found amiss.

1st edition 2022, PDF 7 pages.

Thought Shadows is a dramatic and visual piece of mentalism. It uses a novel presentational concept that even our thoughts can have shadows and based on those shadows a skilled mind reader can read the thoughts behind the shadows.

Everything happens in the mind of the participant and on the mobile phone of the participant. Nothing is ever spoken or written down. The participant just needs to have a phone with Google search on it. No special apps are needed on the phone. And the one piece of paper which is required to complete the routine is carried by the performer in his wallet or pocket....

Six Sharpies are placed under 6 numbered, identical paper cups. While the performer turns away, a spectator removes a Sharpie from any cup and writes down the number of the cup they selected. They place the paper in their pocket and replace the Sharpie back under the cup. The magician can instantly reveal which number cup they took the Sharpie from. 100% self-working. Nothing is marked. A simple gimmick you may already have does the trick.

Also included is The Pencil Case Mystery which is a brilliant variation on the above routine. 6 pencil cases each contain a different colored Sharpie....

Manosutra in Sanskrit means 'Mind Principle'. This is a stunning piece that you can include in any of your performance sets. Using just a few blank business cards, you can impossibly read the minds of your participants. The reactions will please your heart and boost your ego. Everything happens in the mind of the participant and yet the performer is able to divine the thought of the participant in the most direct manner.

There is a one-time preparation of a few double blank business cards which will take all of 3 minutes and you are then set for many performances - until these cards wear...

Structured Imagery is a simple concept with the capacity to take any mindreading effect and elevate it to the next level. How? By adding layers to expand whatever a spectator is focusing on to create multiple levels encompassing visual imagery, smells, tastes, sounds, and emotions. It's a technique that enables the performer to reveal multiple pieces of very specific and detailed information a spectator is only thinking of, thoughts that were never written down or spoken.

"A brilliant piece of psychic theatre. In Structured Imagery, Scott gives you a new toolset that allows you to reveal...

A spectator writes any word of their choice onto a sticker which is placed on their playing card. The card is then replaced somewhere into the deck - the magician genuinely doesn't know exactly where the card is. The deck is placed back into the card box and the magician proceeds to correctly discern what word has been chosen. A different word every time. Can also be a drawing, number, etc. Five-second re-set. No-brainer.

What people really love is that there's a fantastic visual gag (or two) in the middle of this routine which we don't want to spoil. But you will get big laughs, guaranteed....

Progressive anagrams

In Null Fraser shares his work on the progressive anagram. However, as we have come to expect from his previous releases, this is not the standard fare or typical approach to this system. In fact, you wouldn't even recognize the classic tool at play in these effects from the performance, unless their secrets were revealed to you fully.

This manuscript contains entirely new ideas and presentations that turn the basic concept of the anagram on its head to create a streamlined and efficient way to divine information.

No letters are spoken out loud and there is no...

"Art," according to Webster's New World Dictionary, is the human ability to make things - the creativity of man as distinguished from the world of nature. It is set apart from "craft" in that the latter applies to a lesser skill involving little or no creative thought.

The performance of mentalism is necessarily a creative process. To be successful the performer must tailor each presentation - not only to a particular audience but to the individual volunteers he uses in his program. No two performances of a mentalist are exactly the same. He must always be ready to capitalize on unexpected...

The content of this publication collects the notes of a conference held some time ago to friends and colleagues, dedicated to the problem of "truth / lie". The book, published in Italy, has had a flattering success in bookstores: I think it is right to share the content also in the English language.

A good mentalist must necessarily acquire a good knowledge of the messages of the body and interpret the moods of the viewer to best conduct the effect. An excellent mentalist is always able to understand if the viewer is sincere or if he is lying, often leaving him the possibility to choose...