Mentalism & Spiritism in Magic & Conjuring: page 24

This was Larry Becker's first book which is now available in a new layout and design as ebook. Anybody into mentalism knows the name Larry Becker who was one of the most creative forces during the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Unbelievable are his accomplishments and honors. He was winner of the "Mentalist of the Year Award", "PEA Achievement Award", "Milbourne Christopher Foundation Literary Award", "The Lederman Award", he was inducted into the "SAM Hall of Fame" and the list goes on.

Here are some of his best routines. Study them! Learn from them! This is the best of the best mentalism has to offer...

This is the second volume in Larry Becker's series of mentalism. More of the same outstanding mentalism.

In the epilogue of volume 1 Larry wrote that this might be his first and last book depending on the response he will receive. Well, the response was overwhelming and Larry answered with an even larger volume of astounding routines for mentalists. There is enough material for several full evening shows. And with a bit of thought you can use Larry's methods and principles to come up with your own unique miracles.

Here is volume one: World of Super Mentalism I.

1st edition 1979; edited and new layout in 2004; 151 pages....

More wonderful and baffling routines by the creative mind of Larry Becker.

1st edition 1981; original 66 pages; PDF 52 pages.

6. Monte Inferno
9. Ultimate Matrix
12. Flip-Flop Flush
15. Bucking The Odds
18. The Stress Test & The Black Spot
22. King's Row
24. Heads Or Tails
27. Money Monte
29. The Little Black Book
33. Headliner
35. Mind Blaster-Stage Version
37. Edmund E.S.P. Tester
40. Dynamation
42. Impromptu Espitome
44. The Conversion Principle

"Everyone should work the Castle for a week. Not for the money, but for the memories." - Larry Becker

At the Psychic Entertainers Association convention in St. Louis, I was requested to demonstrate my abilities for the TV media. The effect that I chose to perform was "Psycho II". Approximately 25 years ago, I released the grand-daddy of this remarkable ESP design miracle as just plain "Psycho". It proved to be an award...

Larry Becker's magnificent opus, Stunners! was first published in 1992. In 1993 at the Society of American Magicians annual convention in New Orleans, Larry Becker received the Milbourne Christopher Foundation Literary Award for this outstanding contribution to the art of Mentalism and Magic. The first hard bound edition sold out in 90 days at a retail cost of $235. So did the soft cover edition in 1996 at $100. Stunners! has become a collector's item bringing anywhere from $300 to $500 and more on eBay.

After ten years it was expanded so that you were able to delve into the many variations, improvements and...

Watch Larry Beckerʼs reputation making, edge-of-your-seat performance of this acknowledged classic, recording live at a real world, after-dinner performance.

Next, sit in on a private round table discussion covering a full explanation of this death defying presentation, including the uncut and unrehearsed crucial preshow interview and participant instruction.

Nothing is omitted. Every aspect from weapon selection to safety precautions is covered in complete detail. There is even a special selection of hilarious out-takes!

Even if you have no intention of performing this spine-tingling presentation,...

Never before seen video! This is the only recording of Larry Becker's full evening show, beginning to end, for a lay audience. This is a performance only DVD, running more than an hour, shot in May 1990, and featuring the following effects:

• Original Some Total
• Flashback
• Psychological Forces
• Grismer Lock Routine
• Linking Finger Rings
• Becker Bank Nite
• Original Casino Royale
• Thought Reading
• Russian Roulette

The performer states that for thousands of years, devices have been invented and used to measure and keep track of time. The first time measuring obelisks and water clocks were introduced in Mesopotamia and Egypt as early as 2000 BC. Tonight, he continues, we're going to explore both time and its relation to man's ability to project images telepathically.

Removing a small packet of blank cards, the performer explains they will be used to focus on an hour and a timekeeping device that will be thought of by a member of the audience. A volunteer is randomly selected to assist in the demonstration....

This is one of the slickest and cleanest prediction effects I know.

A spectator gets a sealed envelope to keep, circles one classified ad in a newspaper, and removes a bill from her wallet and signs it with her initials. Another spectator completely fairly selects a card from a spectator shuffled pack. Despite all of these fair and clean selections the mentalist has predicted all of them. The selected card is printed on the newspaper, and the prediction envelope holds the serial number of the bill and a copy of the classified which was freely selected by the spectator.

Some preparatory...

Larry Becker is an internationally recognized power house of mentalism. He has created some of the most baffling and amazing mental miracles and has performed his brand of mentalism all over the world. His innovations and creations are many. In these videos he will perform and teach several of his masterpieces.

• Tri-Coinetic: Three envelopes each contain a different coin. An audience member names what coin he thinks is in each sealed envelope. When the envelopes are opened the named coins are dumped out.
• Visual Aid: A spectator holds a twenty-dollar bill while you read their mind and write...

Larry Becker is a name in mentalism that doesn't need any introduction. Here he performs a 40-minute show in front of a live audience and then teaches every nuance of every effect performed except the last effect.

• H.G. Wells' Time Machine: An audience member thinks of a year in the seventeenth century and writes it on an envelope containing a modern coin. The coin envelope is held by the audience member and remains in full view throughout. Upon opening the envelope an old pirate coin is found to have the thought of date engraved on it. Proving that the coin went back in time to the thought-of...

Stage, parlor and impromptu scripts, handlings, and a spreadsheet calculator for the Magic Matrix. A devilishly clever was to force numbers.

"Ognib" is "Bingo" in reverse, is a method also known under the name "Magic Matrix" (see Martin Gardner).

A complete script, handling, and a spreadsheet calculator. Handlings included for stage, parlor and impromptu.

The magician shows a handful of printed numeric grids. The magician then has 4 spectators decide on one of the grids. Using the chosen grid, they then pick 4 numbers from the grid. The 4 numbers that were chosen - when added together - totals up...

A routine and script that (with an assist from Mel Mellers), transforms a rather dry piece of mentalism into a fun and entertaining piece of magic.

The plot of the Add-A-Number effect doesn't lend itself to the magical performer, as the audience knows that they're watching tricks, not psychic phenomenon, which means that the presentation of "seeing the future" isn't as effective as it could be.

Plus, the method is closely tied to the revelation. How could you predict a number unless you somehow knew what everyone would write or you switched the numbers?

This script - with a huge...

This product includes Scripted #42: Mentalism Fail-Safe.

Have you ever wanted to do mentalism without a mentalism theme? Where someone writes a word on an index card and you figure out what the word is?

A tried and true method that is simple, deceptive, and very well covered. One that doesn't use a peek, and doesn't require that you memorize anything. A routine and script that justifies each and every part of the trick with very little in the way of props.

You will receive a video recording of a performance. And as a bonus, a fail-safe concept, 3 different handlings, and 2 different scripts are given in case anything...

This product is included in Scripted #41: A Taste for Words.

In the event that a mentalism effect fails, this is a script, process, and handing that allows you to fairly easily switch tricks mid-stream, unnoticed by the audience, and still present a strong trick.

This was originally designed if [lp= Scripted #41: A Taste for Words] routine failed, but the technique can work for many mentalism routines.

Three different handlings, 2 scripts, and 1 core concept protects the mentalist from complete failure in many routines.

NOTE: This was also specifically written for parlor and stage, but could easily be done close up with appropriate handling changes. ...

This is a mathematical based effect you do on the back of your business card that the spectator gets to keep and take home with them. Very easy to perform.

The effect was created by Raj Madhok and was originally published in Syzygy.

A spectator chooses three numbers, one related to the future, one related to the past and the third one related to the present. These are added up and match your prediction.

Recorded live at the Convention at the Capital 1999.

runtime: 8min 28s

Before the show you mail or give a spectator an envelope for safe keeping. At the show the spectator opens the envelope to find another smaller envelope inside. In this smaller envelope are three little pieces of paper. On these pieces of paper the performer recorded three dreams a few days earlier. The performer's dreams match the front page of today's newspaper as well as two spectator's thoughts.

runtime: 24min 44s

Mentoring at your fingertips. Inspirations, musings and creative insights.

Letters To A Young Mentalist is a compendium of epistolary wisdom, advice and musing born from the proficuous letter exchange between a seasoned professional and an eager receptive protégé.

In these pages, you will find thoughts on creativity, mentoring, writing, staging and much more. The contents are both practical and inspiring, encouraging a dialogue on what mentalism is and how we can make it more meaningful, artful and reverberating. Some of the insights are thought-provoking, while others are invaluable...

Two strong card effects with a mentalism theme.

The Third Degree
The first spectator thinks of a card, the second spectator picks a card which is placed on the table under a glass, and then the third spectator selects a card which is removed from the deck and then visually changed into the card on the table, and the card under the glass becomes the first spectator's thought of card.

Fifth Element (thought of card to pocket)
The spectator is shown five cards and asked to think of any one of them. The five cards are placed one at a time into the spectators hand and he is challenged...

Talk of 'subliminal' advertising is always fashionable. Presented in the manner suggested this is an outstanding mental effect, great for your show, for impromptu use and to present for the members of the press, newspaper offices, etc., for publicity purposes.

The effect is the following...

A spectator is asked to draw a design or write a word on a small card and this is placed out of sight. The performer stands well away from the spectator while the drawing is being made and patters to the effect that what the spectator draws is suggested to him by some subconscious impulse in the beginning,...

Leo Boudreau's work was said to be the next best thing to real mind reading. This is a must read for any mentalist. His books were out of print for a long time. Only a few hundred copies have been manufactured in the first place.

Leo Boudreau's books have been out of print for a long time. Now that they are available again electronically, a new generation of magicians can learn and study the subtle methods Leo developed to produce true miracles. Some have said that his effects are the next best thing to real mind reading. I fully agree with this statement. The way he finds out which item the spectator selected is so subtle that it appears as if he is not doing anything. Here is a quote from Leo which Al Mann included in his introduction to Psimatrika:

"I can give a deck of cards to a person and tell him to secretly...

After reading this ebook you will be able to divine the words selected at random from any borrowed dictionary or book; deal four straight winning hands of Blackjack without sleight of hand; teach anyone how to read minds convincingly in just 30 seconds; sense colors merely thought of; transform a borrowed pack of cards into a bizarre impression device.

Several effects in this ebook require what Leo calls The Nothing Book. It is a hard cover book with empty pages. You can also use an empty notebook.

first edition, 1989, The Rustic Press, Arlington; 128 pages.

5. Introduction
1. STRANGE TALES ...

Max Maven writes in the introduction to Spirited Pasteboards: