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Teddy, if you want to spend the money, John Kennedy's "Mind Power Deck" might suit your search. When you get comfortable with the deck, you can cut procedure down to almost nothing (although building suspense is always a good thing). Watch Derren Brown do this effect on Youtube. For a lot...

Mentalism is at least 90% presentation, remember... Marc Paul is a good rec. His Penguin Live Lecture is excellent. He discusses building a set of routines so the process flows. Richard Ferguson's Mentalism 1 and 2 have good compositions (from Ellustionist). Another piece of advice, if you...

Update on my previous post regarding the whiteboard discs: 1) A certain amount of static electricity is inherent in the nature of whiteboards, from what I've learned, even the non-magnetic variety. The Smetsers discs are a bit sticky with each other. Thus, if you try to throw a standard "hype"...

Does anybody out there in Theory Land do Smetsers' "Whiteboard Monte"? If so, I'm looking for handling tips. The discs are a bit different from the heavier three-disc monte props. I have some familiarity with those, and three-card monte in general. A few people have said they do a version of Jon...

Several hours later, after the last post...Went to Plan C. I decided that the real problem was the tension created by the double-fold-over flap that gives the box a sort of origami look. There was too much tension in two pieces of cardboard, so I cut out the inside/bottom triangular flap. The...

Just got my Amaze Box Black, and put it together. Haven't used it in a performance setting yet, but this post is about construction. Mark's video directions are excellent. That said, if you don't like construction projects, you won't like this one. I'm used to making things out of all kinds of...

Good words, Al e. There are many positives about doing the shell game for entertainment, for young and old alike. I'm glad to hear you've had success with it. I'll give it a go in the next venue that seems ripe for it.

I've spent a good bit of time learning the Three Shell Game as a magic routine, having found and studied just about everybody/thing I can on the subject. I think it's a great combination of sleights and psychology which is both truly interactive with spectators and entertaining with the correct...

No , but I have some brass shells from Kind Design: the See/Hear/Speak No Evil Monkey Shells, and yes, there is a certain amount of control with brass because of the weight. Would I use them for routines? Not sure; they're more of a collector's item. None of the specialty shells are cheap, and I...

I would recommend Richard Osterlind's Principles of Mentalism, as well as his website. Good prices on his products... As someone who used to deal with textbooks professionally, I can tell you that neither Annemann or Corinda are good "textbooks". I wish people would quit recommending them. Oh...

First, Mr. O'brien, your Ninja-Plus routine (as seen on your video) is lovely. Nice finger-rolls with the ring as a start, especially since that establishes the personal ring as the focus and keeps it there... I, too, have been one of those guys who has avoided linking rings so far in my...

Yes, indeed, Al e. The (natural!!) serendipity of mentalists, and here's why: I have spent the last two weeks investigating the possibilities of the very thing you just reported--adding standard deck cold readings to my close-up repertoire. Scott Creasy tells a very similar story about what...

Many thanks, Reality One and Al e. While not a young man, I'm a "young" magic student, having only been in the field of study for a few years. Due to a background of being a performing musician, a teacher, and raised in a theatre family, I pay attention to performance issues. I like interaction...

Greetings, all...I just joined. A brief word, to start: I was at a workshop a few months ago at which a major voice in magic told the collected attendees to stay away from forums (sigh). It seems to me that one of the benefits of forums is to allow us to have a modicum of contact in our often...