Mentalism

In his uniquely casual style, mentalist Andrew Leviss shares insight into some of the most important aspects in the field of mentalism. From choosing material to deciding how to present it, interacting with audience members to how to answer challenges, Andy addresses some of the most important, yet often overlooked factors in becoming a successful mentalist.

Rather than just offering a formula to follow, Andy poses questions that every mentalist should ask themself. He suggests some possible answers, but leaves it to you to make the final choices which best suit you. There's no easy way to become a great mentalist, but with Andy's advice you'll definitely gain the upper hand in your journey!

Readers of the online magazine Visions have been raving over Andy's "Shared Thoughts" column since August, 2000, writing time and again to praise his insightful advice and casual, conversational writing. In addition to a number of brand new, never before published essays, Andy's gone back and re-edited, revised, and in some cases totally re-written all of the "Shared Thoughts" columns to date and included them in this book. If you've never read them before, this is a great way to catch them all in one place. If you have, you'll definitely want to see Andy's latest takes on these subjects. If you've ever even considered doing mentalism, then this book is for you!

The much anticipated sequel to "Rants Into Raves" is finally here! Rants 2 is everything its predecessor was and more. When you are done reading this manuscript, you will have a much greater understanding of yourself as a mystery performer. Your strengths and weaknesses will be exposed, and through this self exploration, you will come out a better performer.

Finally! So, you want to begin sneaking a bit of mentalism and maybe even a few readings into your magical work? Kenton Knepper's Readings for the Magician will show you exactly how to reply to, "Hey, can you tell me my fortune?" in a powerful and entertaining way (without memorizing anything).

With a blend of totally new material, improvements on past work and twists galore, this booklet will allow you to do what you have been wishing to do.

If you've ever wanted to add a touch of readings to your magic, don't pass up Readings for Magicians.
Staplebound, 20 pages.

The Masterpiece That Built An Empire

Reverend Dr. Patrick Richey built an empire with a single technique for answering his audience members' questions, whether in private readings for a single sitter or on stage for hundreds. Although his presentation was roughly copied, the secret method was kept from others until he revealed it to Docc Hilford before his death and now Docc is spilling all the beans!

With this ingenious technique the questions are never even written by the participants, but each is directly answered-you could even seal the answers in envelopes for the sitter to take home and read later, with specific names, dates and answers.

Staplebound, 35 pages.

Brad Henderson finally divulges one of his acclaimed feature performance pieces. This is without a doubt the most topical and hilarious booktest on the market today. Plus, The "Satanic" Booktest will fool even the most critical of audiences. How? Because Brad tips every last detail that has gone into making The "Satanic" Booktest the incredible, hilarious piece of magic that it is.

The "Satanic" Booktest is a full 8 minute, tongue in cheek, comedy routine featuring the three most "evil" books ever written, an amazing demonstration of mind reading, and a surprise magical happening which will have your audience's holding their sides with laughter.

With a handful of books available at any well stocked bookstore, a touch of preparation, and some thoughtful practice, you too can add this feature presentation to your show.

Note: This routine is for the serious professional who wants to add 8 minutes of solid, killer material to their show or the dedicated student who wishes to learn how a truly creative and commercial magical routine is constructed. If you are a dabbler just looking for clever methods to "play with," The "Satanic" Booktest is not for you. However, if you appreciate masterful scripting and methodological subtlety that borders on the devious, then you need The Satanic Book Test.

The book SEANCE is the re-printed complete collection of all twelve SEANCE quarterly magazines devoted to spirit magic.

Here is an excerpt from the book’s introduction, written by Eugene Burger:

Seance first appeared in 1988. As each new issue arrived, I was surprised at the amount of good material that was being contributed. Single effects, entire routines, plot ideas, old methodologies revisited (I loved the piece on the Nelson Enterprises’ Ghost Gun”), thoughts on theory and practice, and much more. The pages of Seance magazine are a gold mine filled with thought-provoking ideas for anyone interested in a magical engagement with ghosts and spirits.
… since 1991, barely a month has gone by without some magician asking about Seance magazine – and where copies might be found. They are extremely hard to find, and a complete file now sells for $200 and up! It was a great source of pleasure to me, therefore, when I learned that Richard Kaufman had acquired the rights to Seance magazine for republication. It is a wonderful journal filled with some magical treasures and I am happy that it will again see the light of day.

The 72 page book was originally published in a limited edition. It created a sensation and went out of print very quickly. You could search on eBay and be lucky to find one copy coming up per year and find it sold in the hundreds of dollars.
The book itself has achieved legendry status. So what great secrets does it contain?
Well it does cover a section on spoon bending in Chapter One. But this is not a book of mentalism secrets. Any magic store has shelves weighed down with such tomes. Every magician and mentalist's library is full of books and DVDs crammed with the secrets of some of the greatest minds of our craft.
The Shiels Effect is the book that shows you how to leverage that information. How you can become the stuff of romantic legend … the next psychic superstar! A top soccer player like David Beckham is on a high salary. But he is able to leverage his position to bring in lucrative multi-million sponsorship deals. So why wouldn't you leverage your skills and talents – the skills you may already have to bring you more publicity, more celebrity status and more income.
Even if you don't want to achieve all the trappings of international stardom, surely as a performer shouldn't you be seeking to become the local celebrity, so that when they are looking for a service you provide, you are the one who pops into their mind straight away?
Right here in this book the plan, the mindset are laid bare. The secret ingredients that go to make a psychic superstar. No other book has delved so deeply into the subject of psychic superstardom and how to achieve it. No other book has laid out a step-by-step plan (two separate plans in fact, one for a man and one for a woman).

The DVD
Doc retired from active performing twenty years ago to devote himself to his avocation – art. (You may recall that the late Chan Canasta, while at the top of his profession also retired to devote his life to painting).
Irish magician Pat Sullivan traced to a remote part of Co. Kerry in South West Ireland and coaxed him to come and talk to the Cork and Kerry magicians. Fortunately this very special evening was recorded and is preserved now for your enjoyment.
Sit down with a pot of strong coffee or a generous portion of your favorite beverage, pop in this DVD, relax and enjoy an evening's company with Doc Shiels.
Doc will regale you with stories from his early days as the boy magician performing at the local mission for deprived children, when he was barely older than they were.
Hear what happened when he switched a magician's spring snake for a real one.
How he developed his interest in Bizarre Magick (Doc was one of the founders of this genre).
What were the FIVE WORDS that caused long queues to see one Blackpool sideshow illusion? If you do the spider woman sideshow illusion, this could make you a lot of money, and if you don't you just might go and get one!
Doc will tell you a lot more about raising the Loch Ness Monster and makes a suggestion that could achieve similar levels of publicity for you.
Discover how he came to be known as 'Doc'.
Learn how the disembodied head of Princess Raman Ra handled a heckler – not something you would use yourself but very funny!
If you're looking for tricks – they're not here. This is an entertaining seventy minutes spent with one of magic's most intriguing characters, a man who lived the life he chose, answered to no one, developed a new genre in magic, contributed widely with numerous books and magazine articles and achieved international publicity.
It will also fill you in on the background to some of the material in The Shiels Effect.
For the technically minded this is not a studio quality production. It was taped with one camera. There's no special lighting. The sound is OK. Don't come back bitching that it's not studio quality. It's perfectly watchable and perfectly audible. And hugely entertaining!
Running Time Approximately 1hr 10min

Ideas and effects:

Making Contact - Harnessing the power of touch
Susceptible - The spectators eyes are covered with your fingertips. Despite them being able to feel your fingers, they feel touches on the back of their neck and head.
Relax - A spectator sits down and closes their eyes, you are watched by a group of other spectators. You stand well away from the spectator on the chair and you ask the spectator to remain quiet and in a moment you will ask them a very important question. You silently stroke your shoulder a few times. You then ask the spectator if they felt anything, the comments that they felt you stroke their shoulder, despite you being nowhere near them.
Distant Touch - Standing well away from the spectator, you gesture towards them and they feel you touch them.
Focus - One on One, the spectator feels something pushing them from behind, despite your hands being in full view.

Routines:

Connected - An ‘experiment’ in paranormal communication that takes an unplanned turn. A lighthearted attempt at making contact with the spirit goes off on a diagonal as things leave the performers control.
The Crying Child - A disturbing performance, centered around the spirit of a young girl.
Visual occurrences - not effects on their own, but ideas to weave into existing routines.
Burn on - A dead match lights just by willing it to.
Ghost Glass - A borrowed finger ring is placed inside a small glass as an impromptu spirit bell. At any time the ring is seen to move and shake inside.
Unaware - Events occurring that you are not aware of. The power of ignorance.

If you like this kind of magic, you WILL like Shivers!

Audiences love mentalism. Magicians love pocket tricks. The Sign of Four contains eight clearly explained pocket tricks that display your abilities as a mind reader. All eight of these tricks use simple props, but have been elevated to new heights in effectiveness. Docc Hilford has transformed what used to be thought of as simple amusements into killer routines! No billet switching, no pumping and no complicated tactics.

This is simple mentalism based on years of knowledge and practice. Whether you're a professional performer or just beginning, these effects are certain to find their way into your performances. Contains these effects:

You drink poison and psychically find the only person who can save you
A spectator uses a magickal charm to divine tarot cards
A tiny poison bottle levitates in a spectator's hands
An ancient Native American artifact reveals someone's destiny
You read the minds of several people and predict the future with a simple child's toy
A number force that slays!
A private reading that instantly tells you what the sitter is thinking

Staplebound, 28 pages.

A great new book on the subject of Cold Reading.
Not only is this a complete UP-TO-DATE treatise, it is loaded with actual performance effects ready for you to add to your mental arsenal. There are 30 great effects PLUS an incredible detailed explanation of a real-world performers view of cold reading by a recognized figure in the field, Angelo Stagnaro.

His previous books have met with great success and have now been translated into several languages. This is destined to become a classic with incredible information and detail never before offered in such a first-hand manner. If you are a seasoned performer, you WILL learn from this book. If you are thinking of getting into Mentalism, this will be a must for you. In fact, anyone interested in the field of Magic and Mentalism should read this book.... you can use this in everyday life; it's that good! The information contained would be worth 1000's of dollars if taught first hand to anyone who wants to be on top of their field. A guaranteed winner.

Two Decades of Mental Magic

Larry Becker's magnificent opus, Stunners! was first published in 1992. In 1993 at the Society of American Magicians annual convention in New Orleans, Mr. Becker received the coveted Milbourne Christopher Foundation Literary Award for this Outstanding Contribution to the Art of Mentalism and Magic.

Now, after ten years, not only may you enjoy this original masterly work, you'll also be able to delve into the many variations, improvements and new effects that were created during the decade following the publication of Stunners! In addition, this exciting new book also includes the instructions and presentations for many of Larry's commercially produced effects.

Stunners! Plus! contains the more than fifty effects from the original Stunners! including Larry's original presentation of his death defying "Russian Roulette." A total over over 100 killer mental routines with books, coins, paper currency, cards, pencils and pens, watches, newspapers, boxes, props, no props, and so much more. Some of the most baffling entertaining, mental effects ever created, all bearing the Becker hallmarks of maximum entertainment potential and simplicity. These inexplicable mysteries, complete with presentations, will catapult you to a higher plateau as an entertainer.

Stunners! Plus! is also packed with major improvements to such effects as Casino Royale, Ultimate Flashback, Serial Killer, Sneak Thief and so many other powerful effects created over the decade following the original Stunners! release. And, as if all this wasn't enough, imagine peering into the inner workings of Larry's many commercial effects, including: Chameleon Chest, Versadex, Blockbuster, Incredible, Insight Wallets, Psiclops, Casino Light, Zenneristic and more.

The Stunners! material has been completely re-typeset and all of the original art and illustrations have been preserved and upated. Stunners! Plus! is a must-have for mentalists from amateur to professional and for magicians who want to make the transition, there's no better place to start.

Softbound, 674 pages, fully illustrated.

Over 200 routines - Impromptu - Close-up - Platform
80 pages of Professional & Promotional Supplements
More than 400 photos and professional illustrations
Mentalism has a colorful history of cutting edge periodicals such as The Jinx, The Invocation, and Magick and since 1995, SYZYGY has been the premier publication for Mentalists. Editor Lee Earle screened thousands of potential contributions to give subscribers the very best in Contemporary Mentalism.

Now the first five volumes are reproduced in a single, hard cover book! The index alone fills ten pages, listing material by category, contributor, and by title.

Includes a CD-ROM that contains many images right from the book in full color and in high resolution PDF format.

SYZYGY - The First Five Volumes is the most important Mentalism book of the new millennium and qualifies for instant inclusion on everyone's 'five foot shelf'.

This is a hard bound, 466 page, 8.5 x 11 inch format book (with dust jacket).

This Work details subtle and bold techniques Kenton has used, and those of some of his friends. These highly secretive maneuvers have convinced large numbers of people that mentalism and telepathy are real. His use of "word influence," will teach you how to make your mentalism incredibly successful.

In THEATER OF THE MIND , you will find page after page, of fresh, practical mental magic, tested and perfected before thousands of audiences; astonishing feats that use only ordinary items, and few of them, entertaining mental experiments that involve the whole audience, that pack small and play big, and that exploit a devilish combination of simplicity and cleverness. What you will discover in Theater Of The Mind is a wealth of professional material at a pauper's price. A 320 page hardbound book with detailed instructions and illustrations!
Effects include: Prediciting a randomly selected number from a telephone book, prediciting the serial number on a borrowed bill, time mysteriously changes on someones wristwatch, a napkin becomes animated under the closest scrutiny and lots more...

Three Professional Routines by Bruce Bernstein

In these pages you'll find mentalism that strives to be entertaining, deceptive, practical and above all commercial. In particular, remote driving and Eat at Joe's are perfect for corporate shows. They are easily adapted to take advantage of slogans/metaphors that can help "sell" your services to companies and organizations that demand a customized touch. But they are just as useful to those who work private shows for clients that want "little something extra".

The This is not a book suitable for beginners. To understand it fully, one must have a good working knowledge of the classics of Mentalism. But for those who do, this book contains ideas that will inspire and stimulate your own work.

For the serious Mentalist

Richard Osterlind's name has always been associated with strong and practical effects guaranteed to leave a powerful impression on an audience. In this new manuscript, The Very Modern Mindreader and Other Miracles, his first release of completely new material to the magic and mentalism fraternity in over ten years, Osterlind delivers three outstanding effects, ready to go right into your professional repertoire.

The first, The Very Modern Mindreader, takes Annemann and Hewitt's classic routine into the 21st Century. With practical touches developed over thirty years and never before released, Osterlind gives you the power to divine information sealed in envelopes by audience members with no gimmicks whatsoever-in fact, all of the elements may be left with the audience. This is reputation-making material, suitable for all venues from close--up to platform.

The second offering is the Osterlind ESP Card System, a revolutionary new idea for ESP cards, reminiscent of his now-legendary Breakthrough Card System. Although there have been thousands of effects with these cards, there has never been a routine for the basic tests for which they were devised. Osterlind solves this problem with a stack for the ESP deck which looks random, has no exceptions to the rules and is cyclical so that the last card leads back to the first. In addition to allowing you to test your ESP powers according to the cardsï¿½ instructions, this new stack will open up realms of new effects with these wonderful cards.

The third effect is really two in one. The three-phrase prediction effect has always been a favorite of Osterlind and heï¿½s released a number of these ideas over the years. StenoESP allows you to perform this classic Mental Epic-type effect using nothing but a steno pad and grease pencil. The working is clean, easy and convincing. In addition, Osterlind offers an additional routine that uses slightly different apparatus and streamlines the effect for a quick stage presentation.
Softbound, fully illustrated.

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