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Hello mystical people,

I've always been fascinated with magic tricks, and had always learned some new one and forgot it after a while. I'm 20years old student and I've decided to be a little bit more serious this time. But i don't want to perform for living, i just want to throw a little trick here and there when I'm in bar or at friends and so on. I tend to be a funny, entertaining person, so knowing some fun tricks would add to my personality.

I'm very interested in close up impromptu magic. I have fun watching it, and also performing it. (some 10 to 20 tricks i have learned over the years, that are mostly forces, or selfworking). Also I'm interested in mentalism, as i think those are the ones that add the most mysticiy to a magician.(Though i don't like that expression, illusionist sound more serious).

So, for a beginner(My performance is bad, my understanding and theory is maybe a bit better than a beginner) what DVD would you recommend in impromptu close up , and impromptu mentalism(small and easaly obtainable props and card deck alowed )?

In terms of mentalism, then Matt Mello's Modern Mentalism is good. It has strong mentalism and what is often called mental magic - mentalism with cards, etc...

I actually think that magic (when done well) is stronger than mentalism. Mentalism always has that pseudo-explanation hanging behind it, body language, language patterns etc... where as magic by definition should be unexplainable.

In terms of magic, if you are into cards then that would be a good place to start, or maybe a general close up dvd.
Jay Sankey is always a good choice if you ask me - his Anytime Anywhere DVD I have heard is good but I don't have it myself. It contains both cards and general close up magic.

Don't forget a couple of good books too. Try the library, and also The Nick Einhorn books are back in the works, and for £8 you can't go wrong with them.

You need to start with the basics and buy a copy of Corinda's 13 steps to mentalism, which will give you a good grounding in the basic methodology.

Then from there I would suggest you decide which avenue you most enjoy and ask again about which books to consider, my personal preference was Bob Cassidy Fundamentals.

After that the mentalism world is your oyster, but trust me it's not easy nor is it quick and impromptu to learn. Things may appear impromptu but you will need to work hard at presentation. Something a lot of magicians tend to avoid, as it is too much like hard work!

Much love

Aza

Greetings!!! I'd like to echo what Aza said re 13 steps, and particularly fundamentals. I think I own every body of work Cassidy has produced so I can't recommend him enough. If you want to do a few tricks then 'serious' mentalism should be avoided. Both arts require lots of hard work but with the right presentation, any effect can amaze!!

K

Wow. . . everyone is telling you to jump right in on the Mentalism band wagon when you've yet to learn the fundamentals of magic. . . While it can be done let me point out that Mentalism relies more on showmanship skills than traditional magic, the psychology of presenting it is completely different than magic and too, there are many aspect to this art form that are rarely mentioned in books, or that are known of by those that approach Mentalism as they would Magic.

BEFORE you jump into Mentalism (and I do understand that you just want to do some fun bits here and there) I would advise that you pick-up by Bill Tarr books on slight-of-hand entitled "Now You See It; Now You Don't". This will give you a foundation skill set via which you can easily develop your own series of random "improvisational" routines using what's on hand. I will likewise suggest you get a copy of "Magic & Showmanship" so that you have a more rounded understanding as to what it is we do and how it's done.

You will find a series of great videos via Stevens Magic here in the states that deal with Bar Betchya/Bar Magic as well as improv & impromptu type routines. I think most of these features legends like Tom Mullica, Mark Kornhauser, Bill Malone, even Charlie Miller and Mike Ammar. If you can't find them through Stevens contact L&L in that its some of their earlier work.

So now we come to that Mentalism thing. . . you will have worked at least a year + on the above which is a decent primer -- a foundation upon which you can build.

Get yourself a copy of Elliot Bresler's SWITCHCRAFT it will be the best investment you can make in this genre, in that it gives you a growing collection of material using the most innocent of tools in the Mentalist's arsenal. You can cultivate a religion with nothing more than this skill and having a solid grasp on Cold Reading.

13 Steps to Mentalism and Annemann's Practical Mental Magic are the "bibles" to this art form but might be more than you need, given your described vision of things. Nonetheless, I would suggest that you pick them up and take your time going through them. You will likewise benefit from the Karl Fulves "self working" titles.

Depending on your sense of confidence and understanding of language work, I'd put the original PSYCHOLOGICAL SUBTLETIES by Banachek on this foundation list in that this technique has become a new standard to our work. You might likewise enjoy the "SAFWAN PAPERS" by Bryn Reynolds in that it's a bold method that can be applied to several different situations and too, it gives you a great bit of fun when it comes to an old classic. If you find that you like this particular routine you may want to save your pennies and get THOUGHT CHANNEL from Jerome Finely; it's a two volume set that gives you more options around the same effect but again, the methods can be applied to other scenarios.

Needless to say, this gives you at least another Year + worth of honest study.

While I'm just now finishing another of the FREE pdf project I've been working on over the past two years that deals with the SWAMI device (a tool used in Mentalism) I do have two such treatise that may lend to you some insights when it comes to what Mentalism is really about, the links are below;

MENTALISM: Introduction & Resource List
http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/mentalism-introduction-resource-list/15574606?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_767346_

Learning to Cold Read
http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/learning-to-cold-read/17796796?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_767346_

Best of luck!

Seeing as you just want to 'throw in a quick trick' for friends etc... avoid 13 steps. It's a very dense book with a lot of material, but as with many books of that time, getting the information out can be quite difficult and time consuming - lots of text written in a very formal style.

My suggestion is the DVDs mentioned above - it's a visual resource, and the book Craig mentioned is also a good one alongside the ones I suggested. Mental style magic effects I think will be much better suited to you. It's all just about pretending to be a mind reader, right?!

I'm the last who can offer advice in the matter, but Craig post is extremely sound. The only point I disagree with is: there are some books that in my opinion every serious magician should own and have had at least a look no matter what his other level is. 13 steps is one of these. You probably won't be able to benefit directly from it (as it's been pointed out), but it changes the way you read other material. So, my suggestion is, whatever road you chose, buy a copy of 13 steps and give it a read. Then go on and study something else, until you are ready for it.