talkmagic.co.uk

Hi everyone

I'm new here (made a brief intro a few days ago) and am currently researching mentalism.

I've ordered 13 Steps to Mentalism and would like to combine it with a more up to date volume and perhaps a DVD.

So other mentalists - anyone got the following:

The artful mentalism of Bob Cassidy

or

Mind, Myth and Magick

I would love to hear an opinion (and apologies if there are reviews on here already - I did search but didn't find too much).

I'm a complete beginner in magic (I am a performer but I'm a singer/guitarist). I'm looking at developing an act that combines acting, songs...and hopefuly a couple of totally mystifying mentalist effects to freak people out. So I am looking at getting a couple of tricks down, however I am very interested in the subject (even if I lack the talent to pull it off) and I'm looking forward to doing the research.

Must say I've learned a lot just by spending a few hours on this site, and any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks
longislandiced

PS - would anyone be interested on a review of these mentalist publications from the viewpoint of a COMPLETE magical novice?

I would recomend Max Maven for DVD learning lots of derren brown type stuff.... seems impossible until you know how

Honest answer - if all you are looking for is a couple of bits to 'freak people out', then steer clear of those books. If I'm honest, I never made much headway with the Waters book. I've always had something else on the go.

The Cassidy one is good, but aimed at somebody who's serious about mentalism. By that, I don't mean serious about doing a few bits really well, or even doing a magic / mentalism act with some cool bits, I mean somebody who could be psychic.

Let me put it this way. Every other writer/performer I have ever seen do mentalism stuff for teaching purposes, be it Max Maven, Banachek, Richard Osterlind, or Ted Lesley has made me feel that I could do those things with some practice.

Bob Cassidy makes me question my ability and my suitability. That may sound like it's a bad thing, but I have a theory that Bob would be glad to know that. I'm sure some people would blunder on in and just do the stuff regardless.

'13 Steps' has enough in it to allow someone to forge a career as a mentalist, even now, let alone providing a few effects. Try and think of your own ways of using the techniques that suit you and the rest of your act.

For example, give someone a song list and ask them to think of a song. You remove an envelope from your pocket. They name the song and you open the sealed envelope to reveal a smaller scale version of the same list. You have put an 'X' by the chosen song.

I agree with part-timer - although I don't have mind,myth and magic. That said - I love Bob Cassidy's stuff and I think a lot of the his thinking can be applied as a magician (in a Derren Brown - absolute magic kind of way - if that makes any sense).
If you're looking for a dvd with more up-to-date stuff - get hold of Richard Osterland's Easy to master mental miracles. He shows you how contemporary some of the old stuff can be (Anneman, Corinda etc.). It really made it come alive for me.

Thanks for the tips guys.

That's a good idea about predicting a song from a setlist. That is exactly the kind of effect that will fit in well with my act.

I think I'll just digest '13 Steps...' and follow up with Osterlind's 'Easy to master mental...' to get an idea of a modern context.

Appreciate your time everyone.

Barrie Richardson's books, Theatre of the Mind and Act Two, are also worth a look.

I think more "user-friendly" than Mind Myth & Magick, and plenty of great material.

My personal recommendation would be to get the Osterlind Mind Mystery set of DVD's first. There is enough material in there alone for a very good mentalist act.

After that the Osterlind ETMMM set, and the Banachek set would be my favourites, closley followed by the Max Maven's.

For books, well you mention you have Corinda already - I tend to treat 13 steps more like a reference manual than anything else, but in the same lines I would get Annemanns "Practical Mental Magic" - it's a dover publication and so is relatively (for mentalist books) cheap, and can be bought from Amazon. I recommend that book very highly indeed.

Other books, well TA Waters "Mind Myth and Magic", Bob Cassidy's "Artful mentalism" and Barrie Richardson's "Theatre of the Mind" have all been mentioned. I was a little suprised to see that some people don't rate MM&M that highly. I personnaly found it a fantastic book and would have no problem recommending it. It's worth it alone for some of the "principles" let alone the actual effects detailed therin.

Ted Leslie as I performer I have to say I found quite annoying, and in fact very frustrating to watch, however there are some very nice pieces and it was all worth while just for his teleportation envelope. One of the true miracles of mentalism.

The other major book I would recommend, and I am not sure how readily available it is now, is the collected works of Syzygy - there is some immense material in there.

... I've just bought the first 2 volumes of Syzygy.

Really looking forward to reading through it.

Piers.