theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

Mentalism Products - Any advice?

emagician

emagician

Oct 11, 2007
277
2
Hey Guys, I've been trying to single out the best things to buy for mentalism because I am really getting into it now. I've narrowed iit down to these three. Do you agree? Are there any others. Are these ones worth the buy?

-7 Deceptions by Luke Jermay

-13 Steps to Mentalism by Corinda

-Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown

Thanks,
emagician
:cool:
 
7 Deceptions is not for beginners.

I would recommend you start your library with Practical Mental Effects, One Man Mental and Psychic Routine, 202 Methods of Forcing, Fundamentals of Mentalism, 13 Steps to Mentalism, and Miracles of Suggestion. No particular order, though 13 Steps might be a bit daunting at first.
 
Also, Tricks of the Mind is not a book on mentalism. It is a book written for the general public that discusses many topics, some of which includes Derren's history as a performer and ideas on mentalism, but it is not what you'd want to get your bearings in this branch of performance.

Start with the basic texts and learn the principles behind the methods. Those will serve you well as you progess along. Steerpike's list is a great starting point.

Pj
 
Skullduggery by Luke Jermay is pretty good and has some powerful stuff but if your young mentalism can be a bit strange and obviously fake but if your like 15 or something you should be fine. Just thought I'd give you a quick word of warning.
 
J+H said:
Skullduggery by Luke Jermay is pretty good and has some powerful stuff
Click to expand...

I must again state that I would not recommend Luke Jermay to beginners.

but if your young mentalism can be a bit strange and obviously fake but if your like 15 or something you should be fine. Just thought I'd give you a quick word of warning.
Click to expand...

Depends entirely on how you play it. When you're young, you have to play mentalism in a different light than most performers do.
 
I've actually been wanting to buy Tricks of the Mind, I'm sure it is amazing. One of my most prized possessions is my copy of Pure Effect.
I understand that you are looking for books on Mentalism, and Pure Effect doesn't focus strictly on mentalism, but on performance technique and philosophy to help refine your showmanship. In my opinion the advice goes unmatched to anything else I have read on the subject and truly helped me become a better performer. It has a small slew of effects in the book but this is not the main focus, and as I understand that is how Tricks of the Mind is set up. Absolute Magic has no effects in it and is all on performance and showmanship and I am currently reading that and it is as good as Pure Effect.

Overall, D.Brown's work is amazing (and he is an extremely good writer as well), and his past literature has been of astounding help to me so I would assume Tricks of the Mind would meet the standard that he has set for himself. I'll be buying a copy soon and I'll let you know what I think.

As for other products - Ian Rowland's Full Facts Book of Cold Reading, Banacheck's Psychological Subtleties 1 & 2 (and lots of his other work), Daniel Madison's IDENTITY, and check out Jay Sankey as well.

Hope this helps
 
TheHungerArtist said:
so I would assume Tricks of the Mind would meet the standard that he has set for himself.
Click to expand...

Tricks of the Mind is not written for the conjuror, though you will enjoy it immensely.

But for every nugget of thought that will help you as a magician, you'll find 10 that should get you thinking as a person looking to better him or herself. Derren covers topics wide and diverse, from his religious background to tricks he played as a college student.

It will get you thinking. But be prepared to be challenged. The first sentence reads:

The Bible is not history.

Heavy stuff, but worth it.

Pj
 
I am reminded of my time as a martial arts practitioner/instructor. People would often come in wanting to learn flying arm-bars and knockout power punching but would get bored learning footwork and mobility.

Then we'd have a sparring class, and humility was often predictable.

If we climb a mountain but start 10 feet from the top, we haven't climbed a mountain, only a ten foot piece of rock.

Pj
 
I promise you 13 steps to mentalism will be your best bet. It has many different aspects of mentalism and read the WHOLE book. It has many MANY great effects even some good cards effects and just learning all the different principles help you understand how mentalism works. Promise you will not be disappointed as a beginner. the other books you are thinking about are WAY above your capacity. Luke Jermay performs effects very stage oriented and takes many many performances to get down with all the subteitlies/ i know i spelled that wrong lol
 
Oh, I'm not a beginner in mentalism, I just want to get a a bit more serious about it, I already know a fair amount about mentalism though.
 
PjPinsonnault said:
Tricks of the Mind is not written for the conjuror, though you will enjoy it immensely.

But for every nugget of thought that will help you as a magician, you'll find 10 that should get you thinking as a person looking to better him or herself. Derren covers topics wide and diverse, from his religious background to tricks he played as a college student.

It will get you thinking. But be prepared to be challenged. The first sentence reads:

The Bible is not history.

Heavy stuff, but worth it.

Pj
Click to expand...



Very interesting, thanks man, I look forward to reading it, I've seen much longer reviews that told me so much less than what you did in just a few words.

and btw, nice signature, I'm a fan of Huxley as well
 
You must log in or register to reply here.