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This is Turner's second bit of literature to offer the mentalism world, after reading his first book Devious Realities I was inclined to purchase his second and I am glad I did. This book does everything it says on the tin but be warned the book is of a bold nature and will defo take some b*lls to perform (but you will fool performers and lay alike with the material).

When I first read Devious Realities I wondered how much of a helping hand Kenton gave Peter (you do naturally) and I can honestly say I am more impressed with his new book.

Price: £25

Available via email to Peter, Peterturnermind@hotmail.co.uk

I got the address from the products page on his website www.peterturnermind.com emailed Peter, he asked me to pay into his paypal and he will email the book. I thought this was an obscure way to do business but followed his instructions within the hour I had the book.

There are several reviews on other forums reference penguin and forum 11 and exo magic.

So lets begin,


The first section of the book is largely composed of effects that use Dual reality.

Trust Your Instinct

A female and a male subject are brought on the stage. The woman is asked to think of a card and imagine sending it mentally to the male. The male is then given a deck and deals off cards until he gets a feeling that he should stop. She then says the name of her card out loud. The male turns over his card to find that it matches the card she was thinking of.

She never writes anything down, never chooses a card she literally thinks of it and he finds it!

Dunnenger Vs. Anneman

Everyone in the audience is asked to think of a three digit number. One person in the audience is asked to come up to the stage. Another spectator is selected to come up to the stage. The second spectator is blindfolded and the first spectator stands behind him. They are asked to play a series of three games. The first spectator holding up fingers that correspond to the first digit in the number he/she thought of and the second spectator tries to “guess” the number of fingers the first spectator is holding up. The game is played three times, once for each digit in the first spectators number. The second, blindfolded, spectator guesses the amount of fingers correctly each time!

A close up variation is also offered in the book, this effect I have tested this and I was worried I would be caught nope went down immensely!

Subject to Subject Book Test

Two different spectators are brought up on stage and each is asked to select a book. They then are seated across from one and other and each given a white board. They are asked to pick a page at random in the book they selected, open it, and find a word. They are then asked to write their word on the white board followed by the word that they think the other spectator has chosen. When the white boards are revealed we see that the spectators have correctly guessed each others word.

This is only subject to subject book test I have ever come across, a few performers will not be interested in the method or have the b*lls to perform this, I think if you got this down smoothly and wasn't worried this would look from an audiences point of view like a miracle!

Simon Says Drawing Duplication

A spectator asked to come on stage is given a whiteboard and a news paper. He/she is asked to draw any picture they like and then cover their drawing with the newspaper. The performer then takes another whiteboard and tries to duplicate it. Once done he shows the audience his drawing and then takes the spectators whiteboard out of the newspaper and shows them that as well. The drawings are a match!

True GENIUS worth the price of this book on its own this is SO CLEVER you will wonder why you didn't think about it. Perfect hit rate drawing dupe thats clean and practical!

Lost and Found

A subject is asked to join a performer on stage, think of any persons name and whisper it to the mentalist who then writes it on a slip of paper. he then seals it inside 1 of a set of 5 envelopes (which are all verified to be opaque) they are mixed up by the on stage subject and another subject is invited up onto the stage who not only guesses which envelope the name is sealed inside, but guesses the name also.

Reverse bank night and a SUBJECT MIND READS AND guesses a name at the end need I say more?

Inside Intuition

In this effect a judge is asked to inspect and envelope and ensure that it is opaque and no slits, marks, or gaffs exist on it. The judge affirms this and then signs the envelope. A spectator is asked on stage and given a white board and marker. The spectator is told that inside the envelope is a picture and that they are to make a drawing of what they think the picture is. After doing this they show drawing they made on the white board and the performer opens the envelope revealing a picture that matches drawing.

I love the idea he uses here for the utility move he has taken something old and bumpy and made it practical and new utility move. I can see how good this looks from an audiences point of view and can only wait to try it.

This section of the book offers a couple of peaks a way to load a locked box (for headline predictions and so on).

Peek- a-boo

The performer holds a stack of business cards behind his back and has a spectator draw a simple image or write a word on it. He then turns the card over, has it signed, placed in an envelope, and then proceeds to guess what the spectator wrote or drew on the business card.

very simple peek to be used on the fly.

Envelope Peek:

A large envelope is produced and verified opaque by the spectator. Inside that is another envelope that is also verified opaque. Inside the smaller envelope is a business card that is verified opaque. The spectator writes a word or draws an image on the card and places it face down on the table. The card is placed in the small envelope and that is placed in the large envelope. The performer is able to divine what has been written on the card.

I have used this peek now and I love the fact the envelopes can be blatantly laid flat on the table and shown on both sides to be normal and the work happens under the subjects nose.

Prediction Production: A locked box has been on display since before the show. At the conclusion of the show a spectator comes up and opens the box. Inside the box is a black velvet bag. The spectator peeks inside and sees a handkerchief with writing on it. The handkerchief is pulled out and the writing is read by the spectator. It predicts several events that took place during the show.

This is awesome, simple, practical and looks impossible I did this at a live show and wow went down as described!

Rain Man Effect Map Test

A spectator comes on stage and is given a phone book. Another spectator is given a business card and asked to write down a page number and a number for entries down in the page he wants to go to. The mentalist reads only the page number and the entry number, asks the spectator with the phone book to look that up. The performer, without looking at the book, reads off the name, phone number, and address of the person in that position in the book.



Nice way to appear to remember a phone book (nothing really new here is just a new twist on a old presentation)


Three Heads are Better than One

This is somewhat of a three way drawing dupe. The performer asks two spectators on the stage and tells them that one person will act as a sender and that the performer and the other spectator will act as receivers. Each person is given a white board and they draw the image in their mind. When the white boards are turned around they all match.

I don't think I will ever have the correct subject management to perform this but If you have decent control over your subject this method shows you just how easy a three way drawing dupe can be!


White Board Dual Reality

This is a subtlety that you can add to a sequence that uses dual reality. It can really help sell an effect. Though he calls it “White Board” dual reality the same concept will work with a large pad of paper.

Instant Stooging

How to make subjects (after verifying they wont lie and are not stooges) on stage helpers often without knowing they are!

Time Delay Principle

This is a way of further selling the fact that you were no where near a subject when they think of a word or object. This can be used bolster the believability of the use of a force or of an instant stooge.

Peter's Opinions

This is a few short essays on the performance aspect of mentalism. Logic- Under this topic Peter Turner discusses how important logic and congruency are to a performance and why he believes the center tear does not make the grade.

This might have Corinda rolling in his grave and perhaps some others foaming at the mouth but I personally agree with everything he says here. Trust- In this essay he covers ways of scripting so trust is built into the performance. Things like, not over proving a deck of cards is ungimmicked and other subtleties. There are some good tidbits of wisdom in here as well.

(effect segments copied from another site, so I didn't have to type them out) All opinions expressed are my own.

Over all opinion

I am thoroughly impressed with this book, after reading the review on market place of the mind I was a little worried about purchasing this book but I am glad I did. It has really awakened me to the potential of how good a performance can look when you forget about the method and think about the performance.

There is something for everyone, I would rate this 5/5 and I actually prefer it to his first piece of work. Like the title suggests dare to be BOLD take a chance now and then after all you are not going to get known for performing the same old.

Clean, no need for subjects to write anything down, the subject mind reads, how to handle the audience, how to control on stage participants and over all genius well done Turner look forward to your future work.

J