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anyone see the booktest dynamo did on the train to the asian girl, it was on the telly where he was going to london. i thought that was impressive. any word from her book. crazy.

I agree with Craig and S Lea. Depends on what you want to achieve.

magicseen last month had a nice one using Collins Dictionary.

S Lea has some great stuff (can't wait to see the Chess Test myself).

I have done Sankey's Anytime Anywhere routine which works really well if you are in someone's house. They can pick any book and you can reveal the word they choose.

Val Andrews has a great one, but he has passed away and I am not sure how you could get one.

DrTodd wrote:Val Andrews has a great one, but he has passed away and I am not sure how you could get one.

Sadly, his 'secret' may have died with him.

I've personally heard mixed reports about he booktest by Val Andrews, but as I've never been privvy to it's method I cannot comment.

Perhaps our resident guru Mr Tipton could shed some light?

It is quite good, requires some preparation, and draws on classic principles that can be found in any serious tome on mentalism.

Craig Browning wrote:I've yet to see Todd's Book Test so I'll reserve comment... it has obviously become a flavor of the month pick... but "The Best" of anything is the one that works best for you and your situation, there is no such thing as "one size fits all" in this business but more like lots of trial and error.

I have PM'd you Craig, but perhaps your box is full?

DrTodd wrote:It is quite good, requires some preparation, and draws on classic principles that can be found in any serious tome on mentalism.

Am I right it's a mathematically based principle, or am I on the wrong lines?

Now that would be telling!

I'd just like to quickly comment on Val Andrews' book test, in that I think it is a very clever and can be very impressive.

As for Marc Paul's book test, I have performed it several times and done so successfully. However, this was for small groups of people (around ten to fifteen at the most) and so I think went unnoticed.

I'll have a look around for some others, and see what I can find for you.

I would add Economicon to the list.

I managed to get hold of Val Andrews' book test, and found it to be quite impressive. I'm keen to have a book test in any formal act I do for grown-ups, and it's one that I'll use from time to time. I like the fact that you're delivering a line from a book rather than a single word, but I still find the selection process to be a bit unnatural.

I bought the Harry Potter book test from Tom, and I like that a lot. It uses a book that everyone recognises, and your spectator can handle it and inspect it as much as they want. Again, some additional handling is involved, but this can be made to appear quite natural if you script the routine appropriately.

Luke Jermay has a nice one in Building Blocks - Burst Bubble, I think. Like all of Jermay's stuff, you need steel nadgers to perform it, but the punch it delivers is quite colossal.

Also, have a look at David Hoy gives a nice one in The Bold and Subtle Miracles of Doctor faust. It's incredibly cheeky, but I love it.

I recently fell foul to a serious attack of CUPS and bought Richard Webster's Great For Two Book Test. The tone of it seemed just right for some of the things I want to do, but as it's still somewhere in transit between New Zealand and Sussex, I can't comment any more than that. I'll post a review when I get it.

Dr Todd, I've added Economicon to my list as I have yours, yours in particular as I like the sound of the book that comes with it.

My current favourite is the one in a million, but I'm after something that doesn't involve me having a book or using cards/dice to make a choice.

Harry Truman wrote:As for Marc Paul's book test, I have performed it several times and done so successfully. However, this was for small groups of people (around ten to fifteen at the most) and so I think went unnoticed.

I'll have a look around for some others, and see what I can find for you.

I have to say I used it a couple of times and it didn't get spotted, but that was for a very small group of less than 10. I haven't the nads to do it for more, I use the one in a million for that.

Dracven:

dracven wrote:Dr Todd, I've added Economicon to my list as I have yours, yours in particular as I like the sound of the book that comes with it.

My current favourite is the one in a million, but I'm after something that doesn't involve me having a book or using cards/dice to make a choice.

With mine, the choice of page is not determined by the card choice. They are separate elements of the effect that come together for the climax!

DrTodd wrote:Dracven:

[With mine, the choice of page is not determined by the card choice. They are separate elements of the effect that come together for the climax!

That's why yours is on my list. Is it a completely free choice by them then?