and if you're feeling adventurous, Self-Working Mental Magic so that you can see that there is mental magic beyond Stigmata.
Stigmata IS NOT Mentalism, it's bizarre Magick at best, Geek Magick better describes it though.
STAY AWAY FROM MENTALISM until you learn the basics i.e. Mark Wilson, Bobo, Bill Tarr, etc. (you'll never hear me encourage people to learn more than the bare bone basics on card work, they're a nasty habit). If you take your time and actually LEARN from these sources we're looking at a minimum of 18-14 months of honest time investment. DO NOT discard those books once you've waded through them, you
will need them again and again for the rest of your magical adventure. I had one of the original Mark Wilson Courses and literally wore it and at least one other copy to shreds I went back and forth on them so often. . . then again, I'm hard on books, they're all filled with notes, highlights, post-its and more (you should see my computer screen these days).
The point is, you should never venture into the secondary skill areas until you've learned the basics. I learned this the hard way in that I knew some of the foundation techniques when I was thrown into the world of big illusions, which stifled me and my ability to grow at certain levels within the craft. It's kind of how my old Karate teacher used to say,
"You can teach a Boxer how to use his feet but you can rarely teach a Karate guy how to use his hands." We get into certain habits with our thinking and perspective and because of this we get blinded -- myopic in how we see the craft.
As noted in my opening, the extreme commercialism around the idea of Mentalism has seriously blurred the lines when it comes to what is and isn't of that field. Too, certain underground evolutions have helped blur said lines in that Bizarre Magick borrowed from Mentalism at certain levels, but most especially the psychology behind some of its presentations. The biggest thing to bring confusion however, were Criss Angel (who screwed up a whole bunch of stuff) and David Blaine -- the former being far more guilty for the commercial hype than the other; both however, deliver a mixing of magic & mentalism type routines while not being true to the disciplines assigned each niche.
Mentalism demands very strong showmanship skills and experience -- you have to be able to juggle people, stay aware and on your feet and too, it's best to know how to "read" people -- to be able to size-up and know what kind of people you're dealing with well before you attempt a demonstration. This is something no book can teach you and it is one of the reasons I and other old farts like me, will tell you to spend the next two years diving into those foundation books and maybe working some table hopping at a family eatery on the side so you can start building on that experience. There's nothing wrong with working the classics as a Close-up Magician or any of the other proven aspects of traditional magic for a while; it will help you discover your own niche and define your character. The majority of the world's top Mentalists started off working with Doves, Coins, Silks and Playing Cards. . . we did that stuff for years, and then we became mind readers.
Best of luck!
