The essential mentalism reference work. No mentalist should be without it.
"It is the best, and most complete, introduction to mentalism ever written." - Bob Cassidy
Today, known throughout the world, Corinda has been acclaimed as inventor, writer, and teacher of mentalism - the art of mindreading. Whilst on tour in America, his friends persuaded him to write a book, and with the support of nearly every professional mentalist in the world, Corinda set out to compile The Thirteen Steps to Mentalism.
After two years, the series was published step by step. Corinda succeeded in producing what has now become the only real encyclopedia of mental magic. For this, he has received many honours - including recognition from The Magic Circle who awarded him membership to the Inner Circle with Gold Star - a coveted award.
The 13 steps are:
- Swami Gimmick
- Pencil, Lip, Sound, Touch and Muscle Reading
- Mnemonics and Mental Systems
- Predictions
- Blindfolds and X-Ray Eyes
- Billets
- Book Tests and Supplement
- Two Person Telepathy
- Mediumistic Stunts
- Card Tricks
- Question and Answer (Readings)
- Publicity Stunts
- Patter and Presentation
Each step explains a concept, technique, or method in detail, and then follows with a series of effects and tricks that use the method. It is a wonderful textbook to study step by step, or use as a reference work if you are not familiar with a particular technique.
Detailed table of contents:
- STEP ONE "SWAMI GIMMICK"
- DIFFERENT TYPES OF WRITERS
- A. "The Swami Gimmick".
- B. "C" Type.
- C. Band Writer.
- D. Overnail Writer.
- E. "Adhesive writer".
- F. Thumbtip Nailwriter.
- Points to consider with All Types
- HOW TO USE YOUR SWAMI GIMMICK
- (a) Getting the Gimmick into position for use
- (b) How to Handle the Gimmick when it is on
- (c) What to write on - the Right Type of Card
- (d) How to Hold the Card Before, During and After Writing
- (e) The Technique of Writing
- (f) The Style of Writing and What to Write
- SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
- (a) The Use of Different Colours
- (b) The Window Envelope
- (c) The Carbon Impression Technique
- (d) The Ink Writer
- (e) Preparation of the Prediction
- (f) The Fingernail
- (g) Alternative Methods of Holding the Card
- (h) The Visible Pencil
- MODESTY AND MENTALISM MIXED
- CONCLUSION
- TRICKS WITH A SWAMI GIMMICK
- No. 1. The Spectator as the Telepathist
- No. 2. First Variation of the No. 1 Principle
- No. 3. Second Variation of the No. 1 Principle
- No. 4. Straight to the Point
- No. 5. A Stage Trick
- No. 6.
- No. 7. A Card Trick
- No. 8. Living and Dead.
- No. 9. A Close up Quickie
- No. 10. Two Person Telepathy
- No. 11. A Mediumistic Effect
- No. 12. Time and Space, An Informal Effect
- No. 13. The Card in Glass
- No. 14. The Week Ahead Prediction
- No. 15. Another Publicity Stunt
- No. 16. The Seven Chairs
- No. 17. Any Date of the Year
- No. 18. The White Swami
- No. 19. The Sex Detector
- No. 20. Headline Predictions
- No. 21. Topical Effects
- No. 22. A First Class Newspaper Test
- No. 23. Dartboard Prediction
- No. 24. Matches or Cigarettes
- STEP TWO "Pencil, Lip, Sound, Touch and Muscle Reading"
- PART ONE: PENCIL READING
- TECHNIQUE OF PENCIL READING
- (1) When to do it
- (2) The Pencil used for writing
- (3) The Card used when writing is done
- (4) The Distance between you and the spectator
- (5) Safety Checks to eliminate errors
- (6) Pencil Reading of Numbers
- (7) Pencil Reading Words
- (8) Pencil Reading by Position
- Summary
- TRICKS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE ART OF PENCIL READING
- (1) "Get-outs Gallore"
- (2) Strange Coincidence
- (3) The Total Result
- (4) A Debt Repaid
- (5) The Swami and the Pencil
- PART TWO: LIP READING
- TRICKS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE ART OF LIP READING
- (1) Any Card Called for
- (2) Reconstructed Evidence
- (3) The Whispering Buddha
- PART THREE: SOUND READING
- (1) Written Information discovered by Sound Reading
- (2) Sound Reading Applied to Action - Not Writing
- TRICKS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE ART OF SOUND READING
- (1) Tapping Card Location
- (2) Paranormal Precognition
- (3) A Pocket Trick
- (4) Clean Cut Card Trick
- PART FOUR: TOUCH READING
- TRICKS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE ART OF TOUCH READING
- (1) Sujan Location
- (2) With a Pinch of Salt!
- (3) Marked Playing Cards
- (4) Psychic Sorting
- (5) Colour Conscious
- (6) Another Version of The Princess Card Trick
- (7) Another Application of the Touch Reading Envelope
- PART FIVE: MUSCLE READING
- Advanced Forms of Contact Mind Reading
- The Copper Wire Contact
- Action with the Chosen Object Following Location
- When to Use Contact Mind Reading
- The Blindfold
- Hellstromism
- The Blackboard Test
- Conclusion
- STEP THREE "MNEMONICS AND MENTAL SYSTEMS"
- INTRODUCTION
- THE AMAZING MEMORY TEST
- The Application of The Amazing Memory System
- Calling the Objects Back
- QUICK CALCULATIONS: MENTAL ARITHMETIC
- (1) Squaring
- (2) Extraction of Square Roots
- (3) Cubing
- (4) Extraction of Cube Roots
- THE MAGIC SQUARE
- THE KNIGHT'S TOUR
- CHESS TRICKERY
- The Foolproof System at Chess
- To Play Unlimited Games at Once
- The Mate in One Problem
- A DAY FOR ANY DATE
- Summary of the Day For Any Date System
- Performance of the "A Day For Any Date" Effect
- SIMPLE CARD SYSTEMS
- (1) The Stacked Deck
- (2) Si Stebbins Stack
- (3) The Fourteen/Fifteen Set Up
- (4) The Odd and Even Set Up
- THE MNEMONIC NUMBER CODE
- The Application of the Mnemonic Number Code
- The Photographic Memory
- STEP FOUR PREDICTIONS
- PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
- PART TWO: TECHNIQUE
- (1) The Billet Pencil by Corinda
- (2) The Billet Knife - Dr. Jaks
- (3) The Billet Knife - Sackville
- (4) The Impromptu Billet Knife
- (5) The Pocket Index
- (6) The Billet Index
- (7) The Cigarette Packet Pellet Index: Tremaine-Corinda
- (8) The Body Index (Corinda)
- (9) The Swami Gimmick
- (10) The Switch and The Force
- (11) The Prediction Chest
- (12) Trickery with Envelopes
- (13) Stooges
- Summary of Technique
- PART THREE: PREDICTIONS FOR THE STAGE
- (1) "A Million to One" by Corinda
- (2) "Quadruplication" by Corinda
- (3) "De Profundis" by Corinda
- (4) "The £75,000 Test" by Corinda
- (5) "Astronomical" by Corinda
- (6) "The Mentalist's Four Ace Trick" - Corinda-Tremaine
- (7) Novel Adaption of the "Card in Balloon" by Corinda
- (8) "Psi Function" by Corinda
- PART FOUR: PREDICTIONS FOR THE DRAWING ROOM
- (9) Effects from Step One (Swami Gimmick)
- (10) "Mind Over Matter" by Corinda
- (11) "My Word!" by Corinda
- (12) "The Third Choice" by Corinda
- (13) "The Lottery Routine" by Corinda
- (14) "The Prophesy" by Corinda
- (15) "The Informative Joker" by Corinda
- (16) "Double-Impact Prediction" by Corinda
- (17) "The Matchbox Mystery" by Corinda
- (18) "The Mystery of the Chest" by Corinda
- (19) "X - Marks the Spot"
- (20) "Nicely Suited"
- STEP FIVE BLINDFOLDS & X-RAY EYES
- PART ONE TYPES
- Introduction
- (1) The Unfaked Mask
- (2) Reverse Crease Blindfold. (Will Dexter)
- (3) The Felt Mask - Faked
- (4) The Folded Silk Blindfold
- (5) The Bag Blindfold
- (6) The Sheet or Blanket Cover
- (7) The Bucket
- (8) Cotton Wool, Dough, Coins, Plaster and Suchlike
- (9) Summary
- PART TWO TECHNIQUE
- (1) Downward Glimpse
- (2) One Ahead System
- (3) The Magnetic Blindfold
- (4) The Stacked Deck
- (5) Marked Cards
- (6) Annemann's One Way Deck
- (7) Mirrors
- (8) Reflectors and Shiners
- (9) Self-Working Effects
- (10) Prior Observation
- (11) Memory Systems
- (12) Patter and Movement During Performance
- PART THREE TRICKS
- Introduction
- "SIGHTLESS VISION" a complete Blindfold Routine by Joe Elman
- (1) Psychical Research versus Mentalism by Corinda
- (2) "Mental Masterpiece" by Maurice Fogel
- (3) "X-Ray" Eyes by Corinda
- (4) A Gem of Mental Magic by Corinda
- (5) The Bartender's Nightmare!
- (6) The Blindfold Drive and Location of Objects Hidden at a Distance
- (7) Corinda's "Money Box"
- (8) "Evidence" by Corinda
- (9) Card Stab by Hans Trixer
- (10) Blindfold "Noughts and Crosses"
- (11) The Blackboard Test
- (12) The Three Cards by Corinda
- STEP SIX BILLETS
- PART ONE: TECHNIQUE
- Introduction
- (1) A Few Simple Rules for Working with Billets
- (2) The Centre Tear (Corinda Variation)
- (3) Centre Tear (Punx-Mier Variation)
- (4) Centre Tear (Corinda's "Backward" Variation)
- (5) Centre Tear (Preparation of the Billet)
- (6) Centre Tear (Reading the Billet)
- (7) The Billet Switch (Bare Hand Method)
- (8) The Billet Switch (Bare Hand Method - Corinda)
- (9) The Billet Switch (by lapping)
- (10) The Billet Switch (Magnetic Clip Method)
- (11) The Billet Switch (Corinda's Billet Pull)
- (12) The Billet Switch (The Matchbox Switch - by Will Dexter)
- (13) The Star Trap Billet Switch (Eric Mason)
- (14) Eclipse Billet Switch (John Henley)
- (15) Summary of Billet Switching
- (16) Marking of Billets
- (17) Billet Stands
- (18) The Use of a Crystal Ball
- (19) References on Technique with Billets in Other Steps
- PART TWO: TRICKS
- "The Crystal Locket" by Dr. Jaks (New York City)
- Three Little Questions (by Corinda)
- "It's a Record" by Corinda
- Presenting the L & D Test. Corinda
- "Great Minds Think Alike" by Punx
- The Flames of Zor
- A Card and Billet Routine (Corinda-Fogel)
- "Inexplicable" by Al Koran
- STEP SEVEN "BOOK TESTS" and SUPPLEMENT
- "ZARKAMORTA II." (The Ceremony of Reincarnation) By Corinda
- A CLASSIC SWINDLE - MAGAZINE TEST.
- IMPROMPTU BOOK TEST SIMPLIFIED
- "A LESSON IN MENTALISM"
- THE CROSSWORD PUZZLE
- NOVEL REVELATION OF A SELECTED WORD
- TELE-DIRECTORY TEST
- ULTRA-MODERN MENTALISM
- THE CLIP BOOK by Vivian St. John
- THE MISSING LINK
- SUMMARY OF BOOK TESTS
- AN INTERVIEW WITH FOGEL
- STEP EIGHT TWO PERSON TELEPATHY
- INTRODUCTION
- PART ONE: MAJOR SYSTEMS
- (1) The Code Act: VERBAL.
- "Telepathy For Two" By Walford Taylor
- THE LAST OBJECT LIST
- (2) Sub-Miniature Radio Equipment
- (3) Electrical Two-Person Communicator Unit: CODE
- (4) Summary of the Light Communicator
- (5) Miscellaneous Code Systems for Full Routines
- (6) Conclusion of Major Code Systems
- PART TWO: MINOR SYSTEMS
- (7) The Pre-Arranged List of Objects or Numbers
- (8) Playing Cards in Pre-Arranged Order
- (9) Time Codes
- (10) Positional Codes
- (11) Graph or Chart Codes
- (12) White Elastic Indicator
- (13) Conclusion of Part Two
- PART THREE: ROUTINES
- (1) "The Lady is a Mindreader'" by Corinda.
- (2) "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by Corinda.
- (3) "All in Order" by Corinda.
- (4) Reference to Effects for Two Person Telepathy in other Steps
- (5) "Misdirectional Womentalism" by Eric Mason.
- (6) Wrist Watch Code by Corinda.
- (7) The Third Man by Corinda.
- (8) Musical Mindreading
- (9) Conclusion on Two Person Telepathy
- STEP NINE MEDIUMISTIC STUNTS
- PART ONE
- Introduction
- Mediumistic Patter
- Establishing "Atmosphere" in The Seance Room
- The Stage Medium
- Reference to Mediumistic Effect in Other Steps
- Bibliography - Reference Books On Mediumship
- PART TWO: PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
- (1) "Spirit Writing"
- (2) Spooky Stunts for a Blackout
- (3) Astral Signs
- (4) The Spirit Hand
- (5) Cardboard Skeletons
- (6) Fire Balls
- (7) "It"
- (8) Ectoplasm
- (9) Apports
- (10) Spirit Lights
- (11) The Icy Hand
- (12) The Message in Mid Air
- (13) The Spirit Candles by Corinda
- (14) The Waistcoat Escape
- (15) The Stage Spirit Cabinet Routine
- (16) "Telekinecards" By Punx
- (17) The Palladino Table Lift
- (18) Table Lifting with Arm Hooks
- (19) Table Lifting with Waist Hooks
- (20) "The Haunted Ball"
- (21) "Spirit Guide"
- (22) "The Dead Hand Writes"
- (23) "Corinda's Ghost Walk"
- (24) Spirit Moulding
- PART THREE: MENTAL PHENOMENA
- (25) "Phoney Business" by Corinda
- (26) "Yes-No" Slate Gag
- (27) "Cryptopsychism"
- (28) "The Ouija Board"
- (29) Spirit Writing on a Slate
- (30) "Strike a Light" by Punx
- STEP TEN CARD TRICKS
- INTRODUCTION TO MENTALISM WITH CARDS
- PHOTO-MEMORY by Hans Trixer
- "CORINDA'S INCREDIBLE SLATE TEST"
- THE MILLION DOLLAR TEST by J. G. Reed
- THE BIRTHDAY CARD TRICK by Jack Avis
- E.S.P. TEST by J. G. Reed
- THE TRIO by Sidney Lawrence
- BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES
- GAMMA LOCATION
- BEYOND THE VEIL by Patrick Page
- CARD EXCHANGE by Terry Guyatt
- BLIND COINCIDENCE by Michael Mence
- MENTAL CARD TRICK by Terry Guyatt
- "TWO OF A KIND" by Terry Guyatt
- "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" by Corinda
- "TELEPROGNOS" by Corvelo
- "THE RED CARD PREDICTION"
- "ACROSS THE VOID" by Paul Marcus (New Zealand)
- BACK TO BACK
- Dr. Thornton's "COINCIMENTAL" by permission of Ed Mellon
- REFERENCE TO CARD TRICKS AND TECHNIQUE IN OTHER STEPS
- STEP ELEVEN QUESTION AND ANSWER (READINGS)
- INTRODUCTION
- PART ONE
- Dealing with Questions that are Known.
- HOW TO GET INFORMATION
- (1) Alcohol or Chemicals.
- (2) Light.
- (3) The Window Envelope.
- (4) The Clip Board.
- (5) The Record Card.
- (6) The Stooge.
- (7) Switching of Envelopes.
- (8) Planting of Envelopes and Slips.
- How To Convey Information
- General Means of Conveying Information Secretly
- Selection of Suitable Questions to Use
- Answering Questions Known
- Answering Questions from Platform
- Summary
- Private Readings
- Platform Readings
- Table Of Probabilities
- Explanation
- PART TWO
- Dealing with Questions Unknown
- Main Objectives When Cold Reading
- Conclusion
- STEP TWELVE PUBLICITY STUNTS
- PART ONE
- Introduction
- The Law Of Supply And Demand
- Creating a Demand
- Personal Publicity
- Personal Advertising
- Visiting Cards (or Business Cards)
- The Brochure
- Photographs
- Headed Paper
- The Publicity Campaign
- PART TWO
- Publicity Stunts
- PUBLICITY PLOTS AND IDEAS
- Radio Prediction
- Personal Column Advert Stunt
- Registered Letter Prediction
- Fogel's Bullet Catching
- Example of Personal Publicity: Raymond Hafler
- Visiting Card Gimmick
- The Haunted House
- The Challenge Seance
- Headline Predictions
- Glorified Muscle Reading
- Publicity Pencils
- Blindfold Drives and Walks
- Conclusion
- STEP THIRTEEN PATTER AND PRESENTATION
- INTRODUCTION
- THE ESSENTIALS OF GOOD PERFORMANCE
- (A) Personal Appearance
- (B) Manner And Speech
- (C) Patter
- (D) Good Effects
- (E) Handling
- (F) Timing
- (G) Misdirection
- (H) Co-Ordination
- AN INTERVIEW WITH CLAUDE CHANDLER
- FINAL NOTE
1st edition 1961, individual steps from 1956-1958, reprinted 1964, 1968; PDF 421 pages.
word count: 199514 which is equivalent to 798 standard pages of text
