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Its odd because I dont often change my mind on the books/dvds/effects but I sat down had a think about it. And Bada bing I came up with an idea or two. And Tomo I used the little bits I added to the shape force and played out a gooden. Back of a business card and a sharpie got a good 5 minute routine.

Osterlind said on his easy to master tapes "10 minutes of solid entertainment and all you using is a card a pencil and a paper clip" its a bit like that in a way

My copy has just arrived in the post - many thanks, Jon, for your excellent customer service! I'm going to read it vey slowly and hopefully take in every nuance before trying it out.

Barry

I have just finished reading my copy and thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you Jon!

Here are my thoughts on it.

I personally don't feel that the books inherent value was simply in the giving (or detailing) of new routines, effects, call them what you will. That is not to say however that there were not new ideas in there.

I found the effects detailed exciting - but not simply because of what those effects were on paper, moreover because Jon's writing and detailing, gave an indication of what the effect MIGHT BE, given thought, given work, and given effort ... where an idea might lead once given one's own mark, and injected with one's own personality.

Whilst the book (in my view) covered the meat of it, it's higher value for me was in the teaching of the ways in which the food might get to the table! How it might be cooked, the different results one could obtain by various methods of cooking, and the ways in which the food was gathered, packed, shipped and therefore would most likely arrive.

If you are expecting the book to hold your hand through each step, from the beginning of the thought in creating each routine, through the development and to the presentation of it, then perhaps this book would fall short of doing so for some.

If on the other hand you are looking for something which feeds thoughts and nurtures ideas, and which provokes creativity and imagination, and sparks maybes and what ifs? then I think you will be more than pleased with it.

An instruction booklet written simply to show how to present specific routines in mentalism? No, I don't think it is. A springboard from which to launch what you learn from it and continue to create? I think so.

Best,
*Magical Lady*

Hey, having just started in mentalism, was wondering whether or not this book would be a good purchase?

At the moment, this book is number one on the priority list.

Really attracted to the Naked Book Test, as I'm sure most everyone is... the idea of being able to perform a book test without any foreign objects sounds fascinating!

Really interested in this one.

-Adrian

I probabaly wouldn't get it if you're only just starting out, it's more of a tool kit rather than a how to type book. The information in the book is brilliant but you need to apply it yourself.

I'd personally say that you'd be better off starting with something like 13 Steps at this stage.

Agree 100% with Lady of Mystery - Naked Mentalism certainly is no place to start, if you're only just beginning in mentalism.

Check Corinda, Anneman and Fulves first.

Once you're conversant with those, I'd recomment Banachek's Psychological Subtleties and THEN look at NM

TheAge wrote:Hey, having just started in mentalism, was wondering whether or not this book would be a good purchase?

At the moment, this book is number one on the priority list.

Really attracted to the Naked Book Test, as I'm sure most everyone is... the idea of being able to perform a book test without any foreign objects sounds fascinating!

Really interested in this one.

-Adrian

Hi Adrian,

Like the others have said, the NBT is something that will work very well once you've got used to thinking on your feet in the kind of uncertain situation that psychological mentalism creates. The central premise is being able to emulate imprefect the powers of a psychic, but better than the real thing can do. The last thing I want is for you to spend all that money and think it doesn't work because it's not 100% foolproof.

Naked Mentalism as only as foolproof as your skill makes it. For that reason, I'd say Annemann or Corinda are probably the best places to start your mentalism career. They're both packed with mechanical mentalism that will get you 100% guaranteed results, then you can move onto psychological mentalism when you've got more of a feel for how it all goes down.

Hope that helps. Oh, and welcome to TM!

Thanks for your reply Tomo- I'm glad to see that though you are the one selling this book, you are still looking out for fellow magician's best interests... as it is all new to me, I can only hope the rest of the magic industry is the same. Props.

I'll put Naked Mentalism off for a while, and concentrate on building my skillset.

Looking forward to purchasing your book in the future

-Adrian

TheAge wrote:Hey, having just started in mentalism, was wondering whether or not this book would be a good purchase?

At the moment, this book is number one on the priority list.

Really attracted to the Naked Book Test, as I'm sure most everyone is... the idea of being able to perform a book test without any foreign objects sounds fascinating!

Really interested in this one.

-Adrian

I dont like 13 steps no sir. But hey what do I know? I would get Osterlinds Easy to master mental mircales first. And 13 steps at the same time.

Naked mentalism is good at first I didnt like but its grown on me. But Osterlind is a great starting point to see how the stuff in 13 steps looks.

Markdini wrote:I dont like 13 steps no sir. But hey what do I know? I would get Osterlinds Easy to master mental mircales first. And 13 steps at the same time.

Naked mentalism is good at first I didnt like but its grown on me. But Osterlind is a great starting point to see how the stuff in 13 steps looks.

That's a damned good idea, Mark. There's tons of stuff in Osterlind's DVDs and you get to see how it all looks. Actually, it might get him up and running faster than reading Corinda or Anneman, but I'd still buy them for reference. I'd say Corinda over Annemann, though, because it has an index!

I love the osterlind Dvds I have taken 2 to 3 effects of each. I think every one knows I am one of the few mentalist who dosent rate 13 steps. But watching Osterlind perform a Switch then reading it in 13 steps.

All though I use the E B switch and reford switch. Rather then the classic switch.

Take Osterlind. Take 2 to 3 effects of the dvd (most of it can be done close-up) Take 13 steps to. Then the world is your oyster. I would say learn how to make the non pyscological look pyscological (Or has greedo says to me ham it up why dont you) Once you mastred that you will understand Tomo's Book.

Mine was dispatched today, I hope the postal strikes don't hold it up for too long.

Tomo, have you ever considered making a private forum where owners of the book can discuss ideas and suchlike, like Outlaw effects have for their products? It probably wouldn't be too hard to set something like that up.

nameless wrote:Tomo, have you ever considered making a private forum where owners of the book can discuss ideas and suchlike, like Outlaw effects have for their products? It probably wouldn't be too hard to set something like that up.

Hmmm... A forum is an interesting idea. I've never considered it before, but I think it's got scope. It's still selling like hot cakes and there's a building user base, so to speak.

i've just started work on the "Great and Secret Show" effect i mentioned to you Tomo...

that's the beauty of how Naked Mentalism was put together, the handy charts at the end of the book for reference when you start creating your own effects...very, very useful...

Thanks guys, unfortunately, the price of Osterlind's DVDs makes it impossible for me to purchase at this stage.

And Tomo, given the reputed nature of NM as a book designed to inspire creative use of information, in theory, the forums sound like a fantastic idea.

Btw, when did the book go on sale? How long would it generally take for a book to stop selling like 'hot cakes'?