Mentalism & Spiritism in Magic & Conjuring: page 8

This book packs almost 200 mental miracles, many of which are creations of one of the masters of mental magic - Ted Annemann. You will find the best book tests, psychic codes, tricks with slates, blindfold reading, publicity effects, and much more. This book together with Annemann's Card Magic covers a good part of the famous Jinx magazine, of which Annemann was editor.

Paul Fleming wrote:

Imagine having no props at a gig. Still you can amaze your audience with a powerful mentalism piece empty handed. Impromptu and organic mentalism has fascinated several mentalists for years. Here is a variation to a classic effect of unique number divination in mentalism. The magician borrows a bill from a spectator. The magician has his head turned and he folds the bill into quarters and places the folded bill onto the spectator's hand. With no switches and no delay the magician reveals the unique serial number one by one leaving their spectators amazed.

Powerful performance tips included...

Bankteller is a powerful money prediction effect that involves several people: You hand a volunteer a prediction envelope. You show an empty stack of envelopes, you ask several people to put one coin each in that empty envelope, whilst you look away. You let the volunteer seal the envelope. After you noticed that a few of the contributors have cheated, you ask the volunteer to open the envelope and you predicted the exact amount collected; No swami writing!

Then you ask her to take any three coins and slip them in envelopes and mix them up. You will know where each coin is.

As a final thought...

Here is a feature act. Performer's eyes are completely covered with heavy wads of cotton wool, after which the cotton is firmly sealed over the eyes by means of adhesive tape; after this a heavy strip of bandage is placed firmly over the eyes and tied tightly around the head. Regardless of what appears thus to be an absolute impossibility under these conditions, the medium can walk chalk lines, call names of selected cards, and many other unbelievable tests, even to describing people and their actions.

1st digital edition 2018, 8 pages.

This is a verbatim transcript of a public debate between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, representing Spiritualism, and Joseph McCabe, representing the Rationalist Press Association. It is a back and forth, pro and con, mentioning examples and counter examples.

The debate was held at the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, London, on Thursday, March 11, 1920, and was chaired by Sir Edward Marshall-Hall.

1st edition 1920, 57 pages; PDF 31 pages.

There are 36 good methods of forcing explained in this manuscript, all of which require no skill. 9 methods with colors, 12 methods with cards, 7 methods with numbers and 8 general methods. No magician should be without this handy manuscript. Worth double the money asked.

PDF 12 pages

As a cousin of the Ouija Board, this little known tool will randomly and mystically deliver one of five different messages to your spectator. The best part is that once you understand the formula for laying out the board (through the accompanying instructions), you'll be able to customize the five phrases on the reproducible board you receive in this package in any language you choose. Designed by a professional graphic artist The Oracle Board you receive to print out certainly looks the part of an ancient divining tool.

1st edition 2018, 2 pages.

Imagine challenging an entire room of people to simultaneous games of Tic Tac Toe (aka. Noughts and Crosses). Everyone plays against you at the same time, and you boldly state that you will not lose one game in the room. You could even be blindfolded. True to your word you don't lose one of the games.

Although you won't always win (some will be a draw), you won't ever lose when you apply this fool-proof system known to very few.

This is not a gag but rather a proven system for pulling off a demonstration of just what's possible when you commit yourself to consistently work a proven plan. ...

Here is a new refreshing way to get steady paid bookings as a cold reader. This plan does not involve theater shows, restaurants, costly advertising or renting office space hoping for clients.

The original method was advocated by W. G. Magnuson and Robert Nelson in the early 30s and worked well then; however, Devin Knight has updated this idea to make it 100% practical for today. The cool thing is that this works anywhere in the world, not just the USA.

If you are a mentalist with a good understanding of cold reading then you can work this plan either full-time or part-time. Mentalists around the world are already...

This is one of the cleverest methods ever devised for a one-on-one answering of a written question. The basic method was first created by W. G. Magnuson and later improved on by myself. The spectator writes a question on a slip of paper and folds it into fourths. The mentalist doesn't do the folding. The spectator is then given a match and asked to burn the slip that has been in full view at all times. There is no center tear, nor is the slip torn in any manner. The spectator folds up his question and burns it. The slip is not put into an envelope at any time, it merely rests on a deck of cards.

The performer...

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,...

An impromptu version of the classic 'Free Will' combined with a short and simple reading that makes it unforgettable.

While the performer is looking away, three borrowed objects - 2 currency notes and a coin, are hidden one under each hand and one inside a card box or a match box. The performer turns back and deduces the location of each of those objects based on the vibe the participant emits and what a stranger (performer) would think of him/her.

• Easy to do
• Uses borrowed objects
• Allows you to hand out business cards
• It is the reading that hits the ball home
• A standard reading is...

Spiritualistic mysteries exposed by a medium. A detailed explanation of the methods used by fraudulent mediums.

From the preface:

Illustrated investigations into the phenomena of spiritualism and theosophy. [Note: This is a reprint of the earlier Hours with the Ghosts.

From the preface:

A nice collection of five more entertaining effects for psychic entertainers that will leave audiences thinking that they have just witnessed genuine mind reading. You get:

Musical Mindreading - A spectator selects one of twelve songs, without revealing it to anyone else - and the medium (seated at the piano or CD player) is somehow able to play that very selection. Most musical mindreading acts have required long study. This can be learned in less than fifteen minutes. Little or no expense. An excellent, apparently impromptu item for the home, club or stage.

Distant Card Reading - A number...

The type of 'mind-reading' George Beard means here is what we today call muscle-reading, which is a term that Beard himself coined. Beard describes several experiments he conducted and describes very clearly the physiology of muscle-reading, and that it is an involuntary muscle contraction that has nothing to do with animal magnetism or thought transference.

1st edition 1877; PDF 10 pages.

A nice little impromptu piece of mind reading you can do when the opportunity arises. Divine the thoughts of your participants without anything written down. The only thing that is required is a shelf of DVDs / Blu Rays / PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Switch games, books, CDs, or a mixture of them all and you are ready to go.

Effect

The participant picks up any DVD / Blu Ray / PlayStation Game / XBox Game or Switch Game from a shelf. For this example, they select a DVD. Because this might not have been a free choice and the participant could have somehow been manipulated to select that DVD,...

This article approaches spiritism from a scientific point of view including neurology and psychology. Beard's intention was to point out the failures of spiritualists and their lack of scientific understanding. He did this by criticizing how supporting evidence was gathered, mainly through testimony of human beings. However, Beard understood that the senses cannot always be trusted and that expert knowledge is crucial in deducing, explaining, and understanding the situation.

The Bicycle Word Test is a think-of-a-word effect that uses common props used among magicians and mentalists. The spectator is asked to think of a word using this prop and the mentalist is able to divine the word successfully.

• No asking of questions
• No secret writing
• No anagram involved
• Simple mind-reading method
• Possible to perform via video call or phone

This uses the Bicycle card box as the prop.

1st edition 2021, PDF 6 pages.

The mentalist and participant play a card game involving rock, paper, scissors. Even though the participant makes all the decisions throughout the game, the mentalist ends up always right.

• No force
• No setup is required
• No long process
• Participant always decides and yet you are always right

This effect requires you to have custom cards made. You can either use the template provided in this ebook or create your own custom cards using props that are common to every magician and mentalist.

"I see, you put lots of thoughts on this idea." - Bond Lee

1st edition 2021, PDF 13 pages....

The Bangs sisters, Miss May Bangs and Miss Lizzie Bangs worked out of an apartment in Chicago. The author describes in detail a sitting he had with one of the Bangs sisters, and how a sealed envelope placed between two slates could be 'written on by the spirits'.

Includes illustrations with detailed descriptions of the modus operandi.

This is an excerpt from a series of articles in Suggestion journal.

1st edition 1901, published in Journal of the Society for Psychical Research; PDF 11 pages.

A presentation for any book test that uses the flashback method.

Have you heard of the Bookbearer? This is a storytelling, bizarre presentation to be used with any book with the "flashback" principle. If you own such a book, you could use this.

I see many performers using such books, some presentations are good, but most are not as they merely riffle the pages, tell the subject to stop them and remember the first word on the page, and then reveal it. Bah. Here you will tell the brief story of the Bookbearer, and in the end, either subtly suggest you're the actual Bookbearer. Or that you're...

A letter-by-letter revelation of somebody's birth sign that produces at most two No. Here is an example:

"What's your sign? Don't tell me! I'll read your mind. Here's a list of the twelve signs of the zodiac. Concentrate on yours. Now, mentally print it in big block letters. Look at it in your mind. Concentrate. I'll try to see what you see. When I make a statement please answer with a Yes or No. I see an R. Yes. I see an I. Yes. I see an A. Yes. I see an S. No. My error - it's an L. Yes. We're looking at Libra. Yes!"

1st edition ~1987, 3 pages; PDF 2 pages.

A prediction effect with an alphabet deck that fits in your pocket.

The magician picks four spectators to play a word game. He makes a prediction that he leaves face down, in full view, on the table and introduces a packet of alphabet cards: Thirteen cards with a different letter on both sides. Each spectator cuts, deals, and flips over the cards. The magician puts aside one card (a 'bonus card') and deals the rest of the cards among the four spectators.

The game is divided into two phases, a warm-up and the real deal.

THE WARM-UP: The spectators are asked to make up the longest word...