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Hi everyone....

I'm new to this forum.....

I have decided to get back in to magic. I used to love magic as a young teenager. I did a few performances and would always dream of becoming a magician. Sadly I had to make a decision on which career route to follow and decided to choose music over magic. It has gone well for me, but i have remained a huge fan, mainly just watching magic on t.v or goiing to occasional live shows. I have now decided that i really want to get back into it, but sadly all my old tricks have been lost somewhere along the lines, so I'm basicly starting again from scratch. I've read a few forums etc with interest to try and find the types of tricks that i should buy to start practicing again, but there are so many out there now that its hard to know where to start....
I'm hoping that some of you might be able to offer me some advice.....
The type of magic that I'm really interested in performing now is the mentalism type (Derren Brown etc...). I managed to borrow a Leyser 2020 from a friend a few months ago (which is what gave me the urge to start getting back into magic really). Sadly, i had to return it to its owner, so am now without any tricks, apart from the ones i remember from years ago that require no gimmicks.
My question really is, which tricks would people recommend to me to enable me to perform mentalism style magic? I'd love to get my hands on something like the Leyser 2020, but am struggling to find anything like it for sale at the moment. Can anyone help???
Any mind reading, mentalism, or similar is what I'm really looking for. I'd rather just get a few strong and convincing tricks to get me started than lots of cheap, simple ones which are quite obvious to work out by an audience. Quality rather than quantity.....

All help greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Thanks..... (",)

Ahh Dezzer really has started something!

First things first, I suggest developing your own style... but if you really do want to go down the whole psychological showmanship route, please at least read up on the basics of psychology. I've seen so many performers of this nature who just don't have a clue what they're talking about and it doesn't do anyone any good.

Your best place to start is with the classics IMO - 13 Steps to Mentalism by Corinda and Practical Mental Magic by Annemann are absolutely brilliant books, and you'll happen across the seeds for some of Derren's effects in there too .

You'll also want to check out this thread which features advice from resident expert Craig Browning...

Welcome back to magic

The best place to begin with, in terms of reviews/recommendations etc. would be the 'Reviews' section on this very forum - have a read through, and you'll begin to get a few good ideas from there (I try to stay away from the Reviews area, as I always end up with a crumbled resolve, and a larger overdraft every time I poke my head in there )

From a personal point-of-view, I don't do a great deal in the way of mentalism, but I'd HIGHLY recommend Paul Harris' "Deep Astonishment 2", which you can see reviewed here

I got mine from MAGICmagic, which was the very cheapest I found it anywhere - with my TalkMagic discount (obtainable by clicking here), I think it came to about £22.00 (with free postage) - an absolute steal for the effect you get

Hope this is of some use!

Rob

Hi guys...

Some really good advice there, thanks!!! I totally agree that learning some basic psycology is important! I've already been doing some research... Think i'll be buying a few books!!!
Looks like its time to head to the reviews page and start getting some ideas.
I like the sound of 'deep astonishment 2'... Think my poor old wallet is about to recieve some punishment, lol... Magic doesn't appear to come cheap, but thats all cool... Hopefully it'll be worth it in the end once i am able to perform a few good tricks again and get to see some confussed faces!!! Can't wait............

Born Tricky wrote:Hi guys...

Some really good advice there, thanks!!! I totally agree that learning some basic psycology is important! I've already been doing some research... Think i'll be buying a few books!!!

I'd recommend buying his last book, trick of the mind, as a good starting point to the psychology behind what he does, as a good psychology book

Start Here >>http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic11429.php<<

Once you've absorbed all of that you may check out Bob Cassidy's 39 Steps to Mentalism and carve is Principia deeply into your mind.

Thanks!!! Certainly got some good options now... Right, where's my credit card.....

Oh, does anyone know if there is anywhere i can get a Leyser 2020 from (or something similar)? I've searched all over the place but no one seems to have any. I'm guessing they are all sold out... I borrowed one for a few weeks and loved the effect it gave!!!

For mentalism or mind-reading try the following books:

Annemann's One Man Mental and Psychic Routine
Annemann's Mental Mysteries (mainly the card trick "Phantasma")
Mental Magic With Cards by Jean Hugard
"One Man" Mindreading Secrets by Ralph W. Read
Tricks In Magic, Illusions and Mental Phenomena by J.H. Burlingame

Those are a few books, of course I have them all as eBooks . I've used them all and they're all very good.

A quick point, don't confuse cheap or simple with bad. As in any walk of life there's a lot of discrepancies in magic between cost and effect, simply because a trick doesn't cost much doesn't mean it isn't going to knock people out so to speak.

On the same theme be prepared to get a lot of what we call 'Jiffy bag rage'. What this means is you see an effect that completely fools you, you fork out for it and wait anxiously for the postman, and when it finally arrives you excitedly tear the packaging open only to discover that what originally left you dumbstruck is in fact a horribly mundane article, like a card with two faces for example. In mentalism this will maybe happen more than in other areas of magic, get ready to weep at some of the methods that have enticed you thus far...

Your story sound just like a freind of mine. He was a jr. magician at the magic castle and is not doing much magic anymore. He is trying to put out an album. He is really good! But he was really good at magic too.

the VP board at apple listen to one of his songs in a meeting then gave him a free Ipod. Not a joke! The vice presdintent of apple called him. (search him on Itunes, Jake Salzarulo) you can buy his Ipod love song.

On the note of how to get started I would say card college. They are saaahhhhhhwwwwweeeeettttttt

totalmagic wrote:On the note of how to get started I would say card college. They are saaahhhhhhwwwwweeeeettttttt

For mentalism?!

Cardza wrote:

totalmagic wrote:On the note of how to get started I would say card college. They are saaahhhhhhwwwwweeeeettttttt

For mentalism?!

You must understand just how many magicians in the world think that doing card tricks with a touch of cold reading is Mentalism...

Craig Browning wrote:

Cardza wrote:

totalmagic wrote:On the note of how to get started I would say card college. They are saaahhhhhhwwwwweeeeettttttt

For mentalism?!

You must understand just how many magicians in the world think that doing card tricks with a touch of cold reading is Mentalism...

Very true but... Card College is too out there, too magicy to be suggested as a good beginners mentalism text that I thought it was a mix-up in threads.

Although I did find a good grasp of coin sleights useful when I began working with billets.

Cardza wrote:

Craig Browning wrote:

Cardza wrote:

totalmagic wrote:On the note of how to get started I would say card college. They are saaahhhhhhwwwwweeeeettttttt

For mentalism?!

You must understand just how many magicians in the world think that doing card tricks with a touch of cold reading is Mentalism...

Very true but... Card College is too out there, too magicy to be suggested as a good beginners mentalism text that I thought it was a mix-up in threads.

Although I did find a good grasp of coin sleights useful when I began working with billets.

Coin work as well as paper money tricks can help a lot in understanding some of the basics in Billet work... if you look at BoBo you'll see a ton of parallels... ironically, many of Bobo's moves actually came from both, Mentalism and actual Spiritualism in which certain frauds had shared their methods... I dont' think he shares that in the book but it is something I've heard a couple of old coots comment on... some clown named Vernon and another guy named Platt...

The BIP book 2.0 from Alakazam is a worthy investment to keep you going between all of that reading you'll be doing!