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I'm looking for material on close-up mentalism. Basically stuff I could use in a resturaunt environment. I'm thinking of getting Max Maven's "Videomind" volume 2.
Any other suggestions?

The Mark Strivings video 'Walk-Around Mentalism' and his manuscript, 'Mobile Mentalism' would be good places to start. As you can guess from the titles, they concentrate on stuff you go do moving around.

However, since I got these, I've been wondering if part of the strength of mentalism actually lies in the way you present it. Doing walk-around might be making everything a trick.

Then again, maybe not and you might not care anyway!

That's a good pint(edit - I mean point) and I've thought about it a lot. I think it can work, though, if you're able to establish rapport in a short space of time. I'm finding that starting with something mindblowing like bending a spoon or fork immediately opens them up to the kind of presentation I want. That and trying really hard not to come across as the typical magician.

Thanks - I'll definitely look at the Mark Strivings stuff.

To open people up a bit before you even start, the tip from Derren Brown's 'Absolute Magic' works - if it's not that book please correct me - he says he introduces himself thus:

"Hi my names Derren and I'm a kind of magician..."

I've used it a few times on people that know me but don't know I enjoy magic and they become so intrigued. It would definitely help you out in a close-up mentalism situation.

It's a great opener for Henry Sugar:

"...and I'm a kind of magician - I'll show you what I mean. Do you know the story of Henry Sugar? You don't? Well..."

Anyway, hope that helps.

Zack - I love that opening. I've been using something similar and it works, in that it really get's people curious. I read Absolute magic again 2 weeks ago

Any idea where to get hold of Mark Striving's stuff. I've searched a couple of websites. I can find the dvd, but not the lecture notes.