I'm getting into mentalism, mainly for stand up shows and for the stage. I was wondering what would be a good DVD and or book? I already have Corinda 13 steps book and Luke Jermay, and Richard Osterlind DVD's

The one thing that I don't want to do is spoon bending.

I don't know, I only bend forks.
Otherwise, I will say both !

William here are a few thinks you might want to look at.

The encyclopedia of Mentalism by R. A. Nelson.
Sigma and Omicron by Paolo Cavalli with Massimo Tira,
Triple Influence by Paolo Cavalli,
The ultimate char routine and Horus by Luca Volpe,
The open Book by David Gemmell
Ideas for Mentalism Number 1, Pulse by Bill Montana,
Mind myth and Magic by TA waters,
Bubble up by Nefesch and every thing else he writes. ,
and all the work of Jerome Finley, Marvin Kaye, Lee Earle, Phil Goldstein (Max Maven), Larry Becker,

In Sigma and Omicron and The Ultimate Chair prediction you will have several of the best chair predictions put out in the last few years.
In the rest of the works will give you more than enough to create a full stage show that fits your style.

In mentalism most of all the props you need will be available at the local office store and food outlet.

Performance is everything.

Hope this helps
The list I have given today is what I have read in the last couple of weeks. Some of these works I have read over 100 times and am still finding new ideas within there pages.
Bill Montana

William,

I can already hear many of the Café subscribers who have seen what follows many times before saying to themselves "Here he goes again." Nevertheless it bears repeating.

Here is the same advice I give anyone who is contemplating undertaking the transition from magic to mentalism (or adding mentalism to their repertoire) and that I wish someone had given to me when was at the same point in my development. The great thing is that both my advice and the source material that I recommend are free.

Before you invest in any other books, DVDs, CDs or effects, read Bob Cassidy's "The Thirty-Nine Steps: A Mentalist's Library of Essential Works." It is an extract from his larger Fundamentals of Professional Mentalism." Both are available as instantly downloadable e-manuscripts from http://www.Lybrary.com -- "The Thirty-Nine Steps" is free. After you read it, you would be wise to get and study "Fundamentals" as well. While it is not free, at only $29 it is one of best bargains in mentalism and IMO there is no better preparation for further study of the genre.

For someone who is really a "beginner" in the truest sense of the word, I would recommend 2 books. Like Bob, "The Amateur Magician's Handbook" by Henry Hay is at the top of my list. The second, although not on Bob's list, is "The Handbook of Mental Magic" by Marvin Kaye.

Hay's book is step 1. It provides the broad based practical foundation in the psychology and techniques of magic that is essential for anyone before they even consider tackling mentalism.

Kaye's is step 2 and covers many of the essential basics of mental magic -- the precursor to mentalism -- from the layman's perspective, presupposes zero prior knowledge or experience, and introduces the beginner to the important fundamentals in a more contemporary context.

IMO those who will be quick to bypass those and direct you first to the works of Annemann, Larsen, Nelson, Newman, Corinda, etc. -- all of which BTW are more than worthy of study and, in fact, are among the sources recommended by Cassidy -- are putting the cart before the horse because most beginners lack the foundation needed to really "get into" those pioneers of mentalism whose writing and presentations will seem dated to anyone lacking the knowledge base to recognize and fully appreciate the timelessness of the principles underlying their work.

Once you have laid a proper foundation, you are ready to graduate to the works of the contemporary luminaries of mentalism like Maven, Waters, Cassidy, Becker, Banachek, Osterlind, Bernstein, Brook, Nyman, Looch and others.

I am a firm believer in the idea that one should first learn to crawl, then to walk and that only after lots of experience running is one ready to tackle a marathon. I know that seems like a long, slow and arduous process. It is, but if you really want to learn, you should read the books.

Bear in mind that I don't know you so have no idea how much actual performing experience you have or what kind of magic you are most familiar and comfortable with. IMO mentalism is very different from other forms of magic both in the way it is perceived by the audience and therefor in the mindset and perhaps the persona of the performer. Accordingly, for one whose experience is confined to most other forms of magic the transition to mentalism can be a difficult and challenging one that is not necessarily quickly or easily mastered. If all you want is a quick fix and superficial knowledge and are content to never be more than a transparent imitation of the real thing, watch the videos and DVDs and copy what you see. But IMO you'd be better advised to start from scratch.

Just my $0.02

Hi, William.

Well, there are a lot of good ideas and suggestions as to books to read, and I wouldn't disagree with any of the suggestions.

However, I'ld like to suggest a different approach. Specifically, who are you? Or more accurately, what is your stage persona going to be?

Do you want to be a fumbling psychic who luckily succeeds? Do you want to present as if the spirits are around you? Are you a psychic who succeeds most of the time but needs the support of the audience in order for anything to work? Are you attempting to get your audience to laugh? To be intrigued? To be filled with wonder? To be shocked? To be scared? Will you be a master of a secret power? Will do you your work with disguised hypnosis and NLP?

There has been an explosion of books and DVDs in this field over the past decade. People here can give you long lists and short lists of books you simple "must" read and study. I'd suggest that you determine who you are first. Then people can suggest more precisely books that would fit your specific needs.

I want to have a humor in my act as well as my audience to be intrigued.

Ah !, so copy DB

The idea is DB but I know that when I start playing around with routines that I like it will become less DB and more me.

This is just the base line for what I want the act to be. I know it will evolve into something different.

This my first attempt in mentalim so I'm still learning effects and ideas.

What Dick said.

What Dick said

What Dick has reiterated has been said a number of times in this forum...just go back,search,search...and read,read.

I'm reading Teller's "House of Mystery: The Magic Science of David P. Abbott" right now. It's a fascinating pair of books. I'd highly recommend it to any magician, but particularly those interested in mentalism.

Have you done any type of programs before? Have you been infront of people and did your thing? If you have you would have noticed that your personailty is coming through. It is your overall personailty that dictates how you act on stage or platform.

If you have a FUN and joking side of you, then this WILL show through in your act. It has been said that the really great entertainers act the same way off stage as they do on stage. It is because they are not (really) trying to be something that they are not or that their inner being isn't.

Some grreat advices has been shared already but I would like to add this little note. Find out who you are as a preformer and how you interact with the people. Once you find this answer, then you will find your way through this maze that we call mentalism. Once you find who you really are and how you want to appear before the eyes of your spectators. you will then find that certain routines/effect/ideas will JUMP OUT at you.

Feel free to PM me for any help, I just live right down the road from you.


Best
Ray

Yeah, Dick's advice is right on. I'd also consider this...

As with learning anything, the most common approach is to study, to mimic, to modify and finally to create something unique. Some never get far beyond the mimic stage.

If you're truly new to mentalism, then you have a terrific opportunity.

Spend time thinking, imagining, visualizing what you would do on stage if you could read minds. What would you like your performance to be? Forget about specific tricks, and try to flesh out the type of experience you want to create for your audience. The more detailed, the better. Write out as much as you can imagine. Then, set it aside.

Now you can go off and read, study, and learn. But what tends to happen is as we gain knowledge, we tend to all become the same. We start thinking along the lines of "What's the best drawing duplication?" "I want to do a Q&A bit, what's the best system?" "I'm want to add a version of Bank Night to my act, which one is best?" And on, and on.

Then one day, your routine pretty much looks like everyone else's..."I open with Tossed Out Deck, then do a magic square, follow up with a book test, then end with a version of 4DT."

But now as you go on your journey of learning mentalsim, you can, every so often, refer back to that original write-up you created, of what you imagined yourself doing as a mentalist. Compare it to what you are at that moment -- and go on from there.

Mr. Mindbender,

Very well said!




Ray

Although dated, you might look at the three Comedy Mentalism books by Bob Nelson