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I've seen all the Trick of The Mind seasons, and I am very impressed by the way Derren "reads" people. How he actually can manipulate people to think about the same number as him. It is amazing, and I want to learn it too! Where should I start?

And pleas don't tell me about "read books, see DVD's" tell me exactly wich DVD, book, etc.

Any suggestions?

I'm guessing that you should start with Derren Brown's books...

And reading the forum guidelines are a good way of having the very best possible time here.

Are you Norwegian, by the way?

WTF? Are you Derren Brown himself? How did you see that? Stop reading my thougts!

Why not pop over to the introductions forum and tell us all about yourself.

Why? I think you can do it for me!

Don't try to be Derren Brown, be yourself. Derren has worked for many years in the industry and works with some of the top minds in mentalism. He has honed his techniques through much study and thousands of performances. Don't try to copy him. Start with the basics and maybe one day you will be at his level. A good starting point is "13 steps to mentalism". A good DVD set is the "easy to master mentalism series". Make sure you avoid DVDs such as the Banachek series. These are way to advanced for someone starting off in mentalism.

It is no good watching his series and thinking, "oh great i will do that", it is completely different to normal magic. Sure, you can buy books on muscle reading, but it takes a lot of practise. If you do want to dabble in some mentalism you can do with props then try "super sharpie" or maybe "thought transmitter"


Now, over to Graig to finish off

First, congratulations for asking the honest question of which books and DVDs to buy. Many people just ask us to tell them these secrets on here which is not the done thing.

As has already been said, 13 Steps to Mentalism is a fantastic book. A little warning. It may at first seem that these things have little to do with any mentalism or mind magic you have seen on the tv or elsewhere recently. Don't think this at all. The stuff in here is all gold and is still used today, albeit slightly modified. Take these techniques, learn them, and put your own spin on the presentation.

Another peice of advice. By all means search around for things that interest you, but don't go and buy too many things to start. Rather than spend money on individual tricks, stick to books because these are better value for money and will give you lots to get started with. I'll have a think about some books and get back to you.

You seem really egar and so I'm sure that if you put the work in, you will really reap the benefits.

Good luck.


.... enter Craig ....

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I will try out the book you suggested, and see what I can learn!

No, of course, I don't "want to be" Derren Brown, I wanna be myself. But I like he's kind of tricks! (Mentalism). Magic for me is to make people think. "How did he do that?"

By the way, what about hypnotism? Any books or DVD's for that? That would be cool

- Kris

Edit: I found this http://www.subliminalpersuasion.co.uk/index.html , is that somthink to think about? It is about mentalism and hypnotism. Pluss, since I live in Norway, it's a little bit tricky to buy real books from England or other countries. Ebooks is easier. What do you think?

Mazter_man I'm no mentalist but a quick look at that site in your edit would suggest that it would be a waste of your money. Anything that promises you the ability to quickly master the exact same skills as a professional magician with little or no effort is more than a little fishy in my book. If anyone with more expertise could prove me wrong I'd be more than happy but it looks like a dreadful cash in to me.

Mazter_Man wrote:Edit: I found this http://www.subliminalpersuasion.co.uk/index.html , is that somthink to think about? It is about mentalism and hypnotism. Pluss, since I live in Norway, it's a little bit tricky to buy real books from England or other countries. Ebooks is easier. What do you think?

You'd be far better off with Ormond McGill's "New Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnotism". It's a massive book and well worth the wait to get it to Norway.

Someone Chant My Name?

Ok... I was trying to find my post from last week as to time lines and study material but my mind ain't what it used to be

Sometime next week there will be links to FREE eBooks -- guides -- that will outline a course of study that will help the serious student that wants to learn how to develope solid mentalism and/or bizarre styled magic. Via the management of this site, I've challenged other forum members of note who have years of background, know how, etc (Dale... where art thou?) to do a similar treatise or two for the more traditional fields of magic.

We might as well offer this kind of FREE resource vs. repeating ourselves time and again when addressing repetitive questions of this sort.

Don't waste your money with anything from that site.

Just trust me on this one.

If you want to get into magic, I do not care if you just want to get into mentalism, go read tarbell course of magic. Read that along side of 13 steps to mentalism. It is good to be well rounded, there are alot of aspects to mentalism that is found in magic. And visa-versa. Get a good well rounded balance in you and practice more than you have in your life. Never leave home without a pad of paper, or some 3x5 cards, and a deck. Annoy your friends to no end, until you have to make new ones by doing magic. Start increasing your skills by going out and performing in the streets, or open mic nights. Build up a small reputation, and be sure to hand out business cards all over. Maybe take on a few kids shows, or as you asked about hypnotism, learn that by studying "Trance-Formations" and "Frogs Into Princes" and work with that material for atleast a year. After you can tear a billet blindfolded with 2 fingers while upsidedwon in a tank of water circled by sharks, start shopping at wonderwizards.com and get everything there possible. Don't limit your scope, search around, good stuff comes out all the time. But then focus on creating your own effects and ideas. Look at old stuff and new stuff and make newer stuff. Never stop reading books, and manuscripts, and old magazines, and anything else on magic and mentalism you can get your hands on. Get a TV special by signing away your soul. Get famous and work 10 times harder than you were before. Tire yourself out. Retire as a magician and go off into old age and senility with everyone around you wondering if you or them were going crazy first. Pass away silently to have your name as a 2nd mention on the blurb of the front page of your local and some mini-national news sources.

I hope I didn't answer you too specifically. As they were only guidelines.