Mentalism & Spiritism in Magic & Conjuring: page 25

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...

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...

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....

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...

This routine was presented some time ago and now, after having faced various situations, both on stage, in the parlor and in the living room, the time has come to apply some modifications which simplify the conduction of the effect, which can be proposed in close up, in person, on the phone (audio only) or on stage: three different and interesting ways for the same effect.

The method used is explained in detail, so that the effect can be modeled by the performer and repeated immediately afterward, making it difficult to immediately understand the method used.

The principle is interesting! ...

Effects involving the number Pi.

The number Pi is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159. This is also a very fascinating number from a magic and mentalism point of view.

The day of March 14 which represents the Pi value of 3.14 is celebrated across the world as Pi Day, which occurred recently in this year. Some amazing effects can be performed using this Pi number.

Epic Spin is a collection of routines using the Pi number. Although the effects involve numbers of Pi, there is no math involved, largely. And...

Diebolique uses a single ungimmicked die to perform a fantastic effect. It uses a well-known property of a die as a completely novel and potent force.

Let us say you are on a voice phone call with a friend who may be hundreds or thousands of miles away. You propose to perform an experiment over the call itself and your friend agrees. All that is required is that your friend at the other end should have a die with him. From your end it can be totally propless.

In the routine, you apparently use your "yugen" ability to divine an impossible piece of information by apparently listening to...

Stanley Krebs was very successful in revealing the fraudulent practices of spirit mediums. One of the tools he employed was a pocket mirror that he used to see what was going on under the table.

In this series of articles in Suggestion he describes various sittings and encounters with spirit mediums such as the Bangs sisters, Dr. Henry Slade, Pierrie L.O.A. Keeler, and the Campbell brothers. Included are some comments, letters, and editorials from Suggestion journal relating to this topic.

An excerpt of this material was published in Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.

1st edition 1901, published in Suggestion Journal;...

A very effective parlor or stage effect. Cards or tickets can be used, or ESP cards or even tickets were drawn on the spot by the spectator on which to carry out an effective act of reading in the final revealing phase.

The spectator receives 4 cards, and shuffles them several times, at his discretion, while the mentalist has his back turned: at the end, he will be able to describe the correct position of all the cards.

To simplify the final phase for the performer, we propose the use of an ingenious "homemade" gimmick, which allows you to operate calmly, without fear of forgetfulness...

This is a Print & Perform routine.

Bold Bet is a powerful routine where you bet a $100 bill (you can use any denomination bill, of course) that you will be able to accurately influence the thoughts of your participant. In each routine 5 poker-size cards are used (you can print these 5 cards in any size you may want).

There are three different routines explained with different themes.

1. Bond Routine : You use 5 well-known Bond actors for this routine. The participant chooses one of the actors and you prove in a very novel manner that you have successfully influenced your participant....

Until a few years ago it was possible to propose an interesting effect, using a euro banknote (any), which the spectator took out of his wallet. The serial number consisted of a letter, which identified the country, and a series of numbers; the essential feature was that each country had its own control code; by removing a number it was possible, through a procedure that we will see later, to identify it.

Then new banknotes were printed, with a new type of serial number (before it had a letter, which indicated the country; now it has two letters, the first identifies the country, the second...

"Henry Sugar is an incredibly clever effect and one that I will actually perform. I don't say that for many effects. As far as I'm concerned, Liam Montier is one of the most original magicians I've ever met and he is my main inspiration to create new magic. Pretty much everything he touches has a big hint of creativity and an even bigger hint of "I'll kick you where it hurts!" - Andi Gladwin

Liam Montier presents a stunning easy to do mentalist card trick based on a well-known short story by Roald Dahl, called "The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar".

The basic plot of the story is that...

Dieversion uses a single ungimmicked die to perform several fantastic effects. Multiple versions of a simple ranging force are used in a unique and novel manner to create impossible seeming outcomes.

In the routines, you apparently use your "Pollyanna Personality" to reveal an impossible piece of information being thought of by the participant. And as for the meaning of the word Pollyanna, try googling it and you will see that it has an interesting juicy meaning.

The following 6 routines are explained.

1. Wax Novelist
2. Conjured Tomb
3. Eight of Hearts
4. Red Earth
5. Friday on Jupiter
6. Dieversion...

You remove from your pocket four sections of a large, full-color, treasure map and jig-saw them together. There are 58 possible locations, and someone is asked to imagine that they have buried all their worldly goods at one of these locations.

You now start to deduce, letter-by-letter, the name of their thought of location. However, way before you have called out all the letters, you stop, pick up the four pieces, stick a label onto one of them and hand it to the spectator face down. He reveals where he mentally buried his things, and discovers that you stuck the label, with an X drawn on...

Bibliotheque - of books; a library or depository of wisdom...

Bibliotheque - direct, classic mind-reading wrapped in a silky dust jacket of cold reading and personality profiling...

Bibliotheque - a three stage routine for stage or parlour where the hits just keep getting bigger and bigger!

Pick a book, any book!

The performer is joined by a volunteer in front of the audience. She fairly chooses a book from those on display, and from there she and the audience are taken on a journey of discovery. The performer supplies a stunning character profile, a quick reading, and then plucks...

(Menta)Lists is a revolutionary system that allows the mentalist to predict the outcome of a game of word association.

Everybody is familiar with the game of word association. One person thinks of a word, then the next person says another word that can somehow be associated with it, and so it continues. For example: Frog - Green - Apple - Tree - Squirrel etc.

(Menta)Lists gives you the power to accurately predict the final word that will be named!

With (Menta)Lists they can now select their own words. That's right - they can think of ANY random words that come to mind... and you are...

Every so often a piece of mentalism comes along that is more like a piece of Comedy Theater rather than "just a trick". David Devlin's Case File is a piece of Comedic Mental Theater. It is a murder mystery showpiece. It has three predictions, audience participation, a comedic presentation, and three different methods working together to create a part of your show that will be totally unforgettable!

Here is the routine:

A spectator is brought up on stage, and is given a large folder labeled, "Case File". She is told not to open it, and to keep it safe. The performer now brings up another...

SQUIDS is a manuscript that covers the power of ambiguous phrasing, psychological forcing and psychological subtleties to these five detailed effects. All these effects are built with true psychology in mind obviously backed up with foolproof magical methods

• Regress your self: an effect similar to what Derren Brown performed in His Evening of Wonders, where a spectator reads the minds of three people from the audience.
• Spectator as Mindreader: where a spectator reads your mind whilst dealing cards. You can proof you actually selected thought of card
• Forcing an American Icon: You show 30...

A strong, original, easy, self-working, playing card method and routine where you introduce fortune teller Lucia and tell the subject she had an interesting and peculiar way of doing fortune telling readings and you'd like to show it to them. The subject will have three important choices to make leading to a baffling and mysterious conclusion.

You can convincingly point out in the presentation that a different choice would've led to a different result. That's clear. Yet the whole thing seems to have been mysteriously ordained, and the subject is blessed with a positive message.

The method...

Effect 1: Impromptu Pin Guess

Imagine walking up to a random spectator and instantly reveal the PIN Code that they generated, moments back, without any funny business, the spectator never says or writes any digit of the pin code.

• Totally impromptu pin Reveal.
• A relevant plot, no pre-show involved.
• Zero memory works
• Spectator never says or writes any digit of the pin code
• 100% correct all the time
• Less memory work for spectator
• Practical to perform

After a bit of chatting with your participant, you take the cards from the card case and hand it to your...

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...

There are many kinds of methods devised over the years for catching a glimpse to secretly written information anything from doing peeks, billet switches, center tears, pocket writing, using specially made covert type of cuing systems. Alternatively you could just as easily obtain information with a swami gimmick, or stooge, double-writing, mnemonics sound or muscle reading etc.

Now with A Timely Reveal you will learn how to perform some of Erick's most closely guarded mentalism routines. These are strong mentalism routines you could perform anytime and anywhere. You'll learn different ways...

This is a two phase mentalism/card magic effect, involving a couple transpositions; both begin in the mind, then manifest into the physical. It's a fun and fairly simple routine that packs a punch and will have your participants wondering.

The first phase is an in-the-hands transposition of two spectator signed cards, and the second phase is a mental transposition of thought and a physical transformation of material.

• No duplicates
• No gimmicks
• No dual reality
• This is 100% clean

Sid Lorraine has provided a well-balanced and interesting introduction to this master mentalist. The tape includes an interview made in the 50's plus two live show extracts which enable you to hear exactly how Dr. Jaks gained his impact. Plus as a bonus, Sid has been kind enough to release for the very first time an effect shown to him by Dr. Jaks and never previously made available to magicians.

This is a digitally re-mastered (MP3) version of the original MagiCassette™ released by Martin Breese - now owned by Lybrary.com.