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• 13 Steps To Mentalism Free
• 13 Steps To Mentalism Free

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The mods of this sub are not the mods of mentalism. Do not message us for access. A special thanks to strat1227 for the flair images. I perform mentalism exclusively, and I'm happy to help you out. There are only two important books in mentalism: Practical Mental Magic and 13 Steps. This is not the same as saying that Erdnase or Royal Road is all you need for card magic, instead this is actually, literally true - since the effect you're attempting to create is supposed to look completely impossible and convincing, it's more-or-less timeless.

Corinda was a prolific magic dealer, and had his hands on more material (especially Fogel's) than you could ever need. Annemann of course is Annemann, and the depth of his thinking on his mental effects is astounding, and holds up. PMM reprints large sections of the Jinx, so you're actually benefiting from Annemann, Orville Meyer, Stewart James, Al Baker and the rest, for a ridiculously low price. The next resource is Bob Cassidy's 'Fundamentals'. This is possibly the most valuable book that Bob has written, and he's written some very fine books indeed. Of primary importance here is the thought given to persona and characterisation, which is far more vital in mentalism over magic. The primary difference between magic/mental magic and mentalism is that a magician can perform a series of tricks, whereas a mentalist performs one - the meta-illusion of being able to perform whatever premise they intend.

Thus, some of the most valuable books here are Darwin Ortiz's 'Strong Magic' and Henning Nelm's 'Magic and Showmanship', since they will assist in developing consistency in characterisation. Banachek's 'Psychological Subtleties' might represent the only other irreplaceable work, since there is limited crossover with PMM or 13 steps. The true value of this will only surface later. For links to further reading, I'd offer you three good, free resources: Bob Cassidy's '39 Steps to Mentalism' Craig Browning's 'Guide to becoming a mentalist' I do not agree with some major points of Craig's document, but it's worth reading.

Bob's list is flawless. When I was starting out, the following blog post sorted through the mass of mis-information, and made a lot of things very clear for me: Every other book, ebook and DVD is optional.

Some of them have some great ideas, others have excellent routines and methods - but the basics of PMM/13 Steps/Fundamentals really do have everything that's required for a full, professional career. If the time and effort is put in.

Mentalism is not an easy option, you need to be convincing in a way that magic can sidestep. You'll sometimes need to tread lightly on dodgy ethical ground, and perform flawless sleight of hand (often one handed and blind), since any significant failure will ruin your entire credibility.

Most importantly, you can't rely on flash paper, sponge penises and sight gags for entertainment. There's only you standing there, propless or near as dammit. You'd better have something interesting to say. Oh without a doubt, 13 Steps to Mentalism. This is the classic text on mentalism and covers nearly all the fundamentals (including center tearing, billet switching, etc.) When you buy it, buy a few props - nailwriter, marked deck of cards (I enjoy using Boris Wild's but Ultimate Marked Deck is recommended by my friend, and Garret Thomas is releasing one as well), possibly some gimmicked envelopes (you can make those, for a Bank Night routine).

DVD's - I love anything by Richard Osterlind. Check out his Easy to Master series, No Camera Tricks.heck check 'em all out. His presentation may not fit yours but his explanations are crystal clear and his touch on the classic mentalism routines are grand. Other books - Annemann is your man. Check out Practical Mental Magic for some classics. All great tricks, hard to explain why I like it other than it's sheer amount of material. If you're young and/or hoping to become an instant Derren Brown be prepared to be disappointed with a lot of material.

Corinda's 13 Steps To Mentalism and T.A Waters' Mind, Myth & Magic are frequently given as the standard texts but they are a very dated read. They will give you a grounding in technique and ARE essential but they will not scan well at first glance. Don't give up on them!! The skills you'll learn there is enough to carry you in an entire career in mentalism. (One case in point that comes to mind RE being dated/unworkable today is a routine in MM&M where Water's advocates dressing up a monkey in order for you to be able to conjure up a familiar.) So yeah, read those and get a grounding in nail-writing, centre-tears, peeks, equivoque, billet work, dual reality etc.

Then you're going to have to work and work hard on getting your skills into modern routines. Out of the more modern material, go for anything by Banachek ( Psychological Subtleties is essential), Richard Osterlind and Max Maven / Phil Goldstein. They're my pick. All excellent. Some people are currently crazy for the likes of Kenton Knepper or Luke Jermay too but I'd avoid them.

13 Steps To Mentalism Free

Larry Becker, Lee Earle and Ted Lesley also have great material out there if you are looking for workable routines you can do straight-away without much tweaking if you ask me. You will also save a lot of time if your work out up front what angle you're going to come from when performing - claiming paranormal powers? Body language expert? Influencing people subconciously? The thing I find with mentalism is the plausibility of it all and how 'real' the performer seems is what sells it. If you look at the likes of Derren Brown, some of his routines are simple magic tricks but the presentation makes them seems like mentalism wonders.

There's bits and pieces in things like Psychological Subtleties but to be honest other than the odd thing like 'the nose knows' and a bit of muscle reading there's not as much body language reading as you'd expect in mentalism. It's normally just a presentational ploy put out there to 'explain away' the real technique and give the audience a plausible explanation for when they don't want to think it's a 'trick' and know it's not 'real mindreading'. Modern audiences are inclined to believe in pseudo-science, body-language, persuasation techniques etc. In a way that a hundred years ago they were likely to believe in spirits helping you. Having said that if you want a real body language trick where you really are reading people (kind of) as you say you are then I think Patrick Redford's 'The Prevaricator' is truly excellent. It's available as both a manuscript and DVD I think.

13 Steps To Mentalism Free

A great piece of work which is worth getting if you want to do some real body-language stuff in your act.