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Introduction
This book is professed to be one of the best in mental magic, and I was surprised it hasn’t been reviewed here. I guess it may be in the Mentalists Only section, but I thought I would post my review nevertheless.
I purchased this as an EN ( Eager Newcomer ) in mental magic. I would say that the tricks in this are completely mind-blowing ! They startle the spectator beyond his wildest dreams, and the spectators are left wih everything to talk, gossip and cherish about !

Cost
USD 34.95 off most dealers.

The Book
80 page Hardbound.

The Contents
An introduction by Hugh Miller, carefully details thoughts on almost every trick, including some things by Al Koran himself. It’s a great addition to the book, and you should check it out once again, after going throught,and possibly practising the effects.
Al Koran expresses that practise is utmost important, and you should only perform the effect till you can do it automatically.

The Effects

The Gold Medallion – Al’s trademark routine is the highlight of the book. A 3 digit number is formed by 3 spectators (free selection). The performer hands a spectator a box, which on opening is found to be a medallion with some engraved symbols on the front, and on turning it, it’s found to have the 3 digit number inscribed !

This is definitely my favorite effect ! The sheer impossibility of this effect leaves them talking about it for a longgggg time !

9.5/10

Ring On Stick – A borrowed ring is passed , several times , on to the centre of a stick, 2 ends of which have been held by 2 different spectators !

Again, a very impossible effect, quite cleverly presented, and performed by Al.

9/10

Birthday Card Trick – A commercial mind reading routine where performer guesses birthdates of spectators.

I’ve not tried out this effect yet, but it looks great.

Book Test – A very clever triple-prediction book test.

I performed this at the local library, and it got amazing reactions !

9/10

Torn and Restored Cigarette Paper – Al’s take on the classic effect.

I’ve not performed this yet, but again it looks good. I picked up some other things from this effect.

Black Magic – An illustration of Black Magic the performer experienced in Africa.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to present this effect,because my theme was far from black magic, but I eventually did perform it, and I wasn’t disappointed with the reactions!

8.5/10

Encore Card Stab – A simple effect with a great presentation. Spectator puts a card in his pocket, and performer spreads deck face down on table, and stabs one card, which is found to be the mate of the card.

I played around with the presentation of this effect, threw in a Russian roulette style twist, and it gave me the perfect “encore” effect !

9.5/10

Doodles – Spectators draw random scribblings on different index cards , which are shuffled and returned to performer, who correctly guesses who drew which doodle.

Another easy effect with so much room for presentation. The theme can be modified at will, and it’s a very powerful effect.

8/10

Princess Card Trick – Based on the old Princess card trick, performer correctly finds out 10 cards chosen by 10 spectators.

Again, a very impossible effect. I’ve only done it once and the reactions were really good, to say the least. I guess the placement of this effect in my routine was incorrect.

8/10

Nap Hand Deal – A blindfold effect where performer instructs spectators how to make tricks in a Nap Hand, while being blindfolded all the while.

This one didn’t appeal much to me, and I haven’t performed it yet. I have no doubt it is a fantastic routine, but the skills required are too much for a beginner.

Double Thought – A you-do-as-I-do style effect performed with a thorughly shuffled deck of cards, where both performer and spectator correctly guess which cards they selected from each other’s halves of the deck !

Quite Brilliant. When I performed this, the spectator was sure he was psychic too. This is my 2nd favorite effect of the book !

9.5/10

Card Prediction – Performer first writes a prediction. Then, a deck is introduced, freely shuffled, and a number is called by a spectator. Another spectator deals down to that number, and the performer has correctly predicted the card even before it has been turned over !

Again, a very startling effect. Like other effects, leaving tremendous room for presentation !

9/10

Sure Fire Force – A clean-as-a-whistle and sure-fire force of a playing card.

Looks great. Been practising it. Yet to perform it.

Flying Ring – A borrowed ring vanishes and re-appears

Yet to perform.

The Pendulum Tells – 6 Spectator’s sign their names across business cards which are torn into half, one to be kept with themselves and the other half facedown on table. Performer correctly predicts and matches all signatures.

Another awesome effect leaving soo much room for presentation.

8.5/10

Double Deal – A poker style effect.

I’ve avoided this effect because most people here in India don’t play poker.

Note Under Cup – An impromptu effect where a crumpled up note is placed under one of three tea cups, mixed around by a spectator behind performer’s back, and yet performer can correctly predict which cup is the note under.

A good effect, but I have a Russian Roulette style effect already, so I’ve left this one for on-the-fly mentalism.

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The Verdict
This is a goldmine of effects, most of them so easy to perform. Al provides presentations for all effects, and it is a good base on which you can build your own presentations. A great buy for a mentalist. Totally worth the cost. This, along with Easy to Master Mental Mircales by Richard Osterlind and Practical Mental Effects by Theo Anneman, is already helping me get a strong foothold in mentalism.

Nice review, Hardik. I'm going to have to put this one on the CUPS list.

Thanks !
This is a really great book ! The best part about it is, Al offers a wealth of information on presentation itself, for each and every effect. As a beginner in mentalism, I wasn't entirely sure how to present mental magic. But this book has helped me a lot !
Also, all the presentations in the book are very very powerful, however, you should obviously modify them to make them suit you.

here's the thing...

al koran, originally a cockney hairdresser was both magician and mentalist..

he even admitted to a certain illogicalness in some of his effects, and was just concerned that his punters enjoyed themselves...

he sounded a lovely man too - shame he got so ill later in life...

he also presented some of his work as "using psychology"...way back before it became trendy...him, canasta and berglas all used that presentational method in some cases...

and some people talk about that style as though it's new!

anyway - good review, i agree with you - it is a marvellous book...get the rest of his work too! (even the audio book from lybrary.com these days)

Thanks for the review, I agree completely.

After seeing Richard Osterlind (an obvious fan of Al Koran from the way he speaks about him) perform the medallion effect, I bought this book. Much of the content is fairly easy for a beginner to pick up and attempt with some practise and the right patter.

Yes.. Taking every effect one at a time is important. I presented a lot of these effects at once, and they became too strong !