From the introduction:
As far as I'm concerned, sleight of hand (or any other artifice for that matter) has but one purpose - to convincingly establish a false premise, which I believe to be the cornerstone of all effective illusion and deception. The more convincingly that premise is established, the more amazing the resulting effect will appear to be.
The subtleties and psychological approaches of mentalism can, when augmented by sleight of hand, provide a directness and clarity of effect that is too often lacking in mental routines. The fact that sleights are avoided by many performers can only be attributed to the false belief that sleight of hand is extremely difficult or to the misguided belief that artistic mentalism can be achieved with nothing more than a collection of self-working, commercially available effects.
The sleights illustrated and taught in Sleightly Mental can, if properly mastered, be of immeasurable value to the mentalist. Some of them are variations of classic moves and others - notably the "out of pocket" technique - provide new approaches to popular mental effects. They are all within the reach of the average performer who is willing to give them the practice and rehearsal they deserve.
Sleightly Mental consists of two complimentary works - the ebook itself and nine video clips, which show the various moves in action. This, I believe, is the most effective way of showing exactly how the moves work and just how they appear to an audience.
[Please note that the video clips are in low resolution, 320 x 240 pixels, and not of the best quality. Those were the early days of adding videos to ebooks.]
While each of the moves can be applied in a multitude of effects, the following, if presented as described in the text, comprise a complete routine of close-up mentalism:
- ESP Card Matching
- The Quarter Bend
- The Koran Center Tear
- Out of Pocket Writing
- The Erdnase Bottom Deal
These effects are described in the text accompanying each move.
1st edition 2003; 21 pages; 9 MP4 video clips.
