You may not know me, but I know you. You are unique. You pride yourself as an independent thinker and only accept others' statements with satisfactory proof. You have a strong sense of curiosity. You have much-unused capacity, which you have yet to turn to your advantage. While you have some personality weaknesses, you can generally compensate for them. If you are reading this review to see if it is something you should buy, then do it right now. I know you better than you know yourself. You need this book. Buy it.
It's a bitter pill for magicians to swallow, but most people would rather pay to have their palm read by a cheesy fortune teller than watch a free magic show. Why? Self-interest is the answer. Dale Carnegie wrote in his 1936 self-help book How To Win Friends and Influence People: "Talk to someone about themselves, and they'll listen for hours."
Psychics can earn a decent living listening to others talk. The only job requirements are making people happy and mastering cold reading techniques.
In his pamphlet "Palm Reading for Magicians," William W. Larson, Sr. provides a method for magicians to make extra money by offering palm readings after performances.
If you don't know anything about palmistry, don't worry. You don't have to. After a few rehearsals, you can give a convincing reading to any person without further study.
This script provides a psychic reading from "cradle to grave," offering practical advice but saying very little.
Larsen and editor T.A. Waters provide tips on enhancing your performance and reveal covert (and possibly unlawful) methods for gathering information on potential clients, establishing your reputation as a reliable psychic.
I've seen firsthand how powerful this stuff can be. While working as a bartender in 2003, I read palms to pad my tip jar. My only psychic power was the ability to recite psychologist Bertram Forer's classic 1948 cold reading vignette, some of which I used above. Some women break down and cry after a reading. The belief is genuine, even if the analysis is tongue-in-cheek.
For an experiment, I tried out Larsen's palmistry material at work. After tweaking the language to suit my style, I cherry-picked bits and pieces from the script that applied to most people, such as:
"What I saw when I first started to read your hand was a tendency to allow your heart to govern your mind."
My co-workers now think I'm the main character from Stephen King's The Dead Zone. But on the bright side, I've made $20 during my lunch breaks, giving readings. That's double the price of the book.
Buy this script and practice it. The learning will be time well spent. You won't be sorry for adding palmistry to your bag of tricks.
