Reviews of products by William W. Larsen
1 ★★★★★ reviews
1 ★★★★★ reviews
The L. W. Mental and Spirit Mysteries
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Gregg Webb (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 03 July, 2025)
I love these guys! I love this period of writing and inventing. I can't get the full T. Page Wright manuscript at the moment but this way I can get some of his thought process into my daily study.
The L. W. Mindreading Mysteries
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Gregg Webb (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 22 June, 2025)
When I first heard of these gentlemen, I was only interested in 4-Ace Tricks. That was a long time ago. Since then, I have developed a respect for mentalism and I would say that I like the works by these men and their minds, and an interest in the writings of this period in mystical entertainment. I am enjoying this book again and again. I admit to being retired, but I read and also write about things magical, and if I had to do over, I'd use this material for sure.
Palm Reading for Magicians
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Christopher M. Reynolds (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 12 September, 2023)
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.
The Gyp Artist
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Gary Parkin (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 03 June, 2023)
I pondered this purchase for some time. $12 felt like a lot (it still does) and despite the long blurb, I felt it didn't really tell me what I wanted to know. So I thought I'd leave the review I wish someone else had left in the hope that it helps other future purchasers.
The book does not contain the bunco games I wanted. The blurb lists some old cons/swindles and in fact this is exactly what you get. The lecture is good and is slightly updated with mentions of the internet and smartphones. But just because the cons are old, don't think they are not still being used. The lecture tries to present these swindles in an entertaining manner with some, but not all, demonstrated using standard magic props.
Obviously, I've not presented this lecture, so my opinion is based entirely on reading it. But it sounds OK. Presented for the right group, it could go down well.
But what you really get from this booklet, (over 45 pages) is a great example of how re-framing your usual repertoire can affect the presentation and performance. Mr. Larsen, for example, uses Out of This World to illustrate how a tax swindle might work. It's quite inspired.
So while I don't think I'd ever present the lecture as is, I will certainly be using Mr. Larsen's ideas for re-framing tricks. And I shall certainly be using parts of the lecture as filler material as well as looking up similar items in other books on cons, swindle and bunco.
Genii Volume 17 (Sep 1952 - Aug 1953)
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by John Lynch (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 09 January, 2022)
Obviously magic from the past influences the effects and illusions we see today. These archived magazines, which provide a view of the past methods are invaluable.
Thayer's Life Span Reading
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by David Burmeister (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 04 September, 2021)
This is a MUST for History Buffs and collectors from past Thayer Catalog Buffs, and Robert Nelson Buffs. I basically feel the material is a bit outdated but I don't mean that I would not use it for a person who is 40, 50 or more years old. The reading is very descriptive and a mature person would relate very well to this.