So Ted you are the person and maybe the only person who saw the any card at any number repeated 6 times and must have someting to say about it. Could you please describe what actually happened for that six times if you can remeber. I think most people will never have the chance to see the real performance by Mr. Berglas and hope your introducion can make the legend alive. Even the method in the book maybe not fully described but to know the six time repeat effects is good for us to imagine. Thanks for your time in advance and wait for you return after 1 week.

Andy - terrific review. It answered most of my questions posed earlier here. Thanks!

You're very welcome--if you have any other questions, feel free to post them here or e-mail me with them, and I'll do my best to answer :o)

I have the CD interview with Berglas. Is his explanation in the book the same as the one on the CD? I always thought that explanation was lacking because of the skill involved.

In my humble opinion David is one of the Greatest mentalists from the UK his effects are unique and entertaining I am fortunate in having his entire TV series on video and Ive watched it time & time again just to learn about presentation. Re card at any number I have seen this performed live by David at the Surrey society of magicians several years ago, all I can say is beats the hell out of me no idea how he did it. as a footnote almost everyone at the lecture thought he used stooges (he didnt) and he fooled seasoned pros . All the best Ian

British magicians may like to know that the book is being sold in the UK by Martin Breese. http://www.abracadabra.co.uk/

Thanks Andy!! Your review is fantastic and from you review, I am sure I am going to get this book!!! can't wait for it to reach my mailbox!

With a book like this who needs reviews or money!
I bought the book right away.

Yaniv Deautsch

Andy,

Are any of David Berglas's sleeving methods in the book? I've heard he's a master of the technique.

Thanks!
Jerry

Hi Jerry,
I'm not 100% certain, as I can't get to my copy to check right now, but I don't recall there being any sleeving in it. I had one of the other reviewers (we were supposed to do a three-way tag team review of it, but the other two didn't have enough time to finish reading it by the deadline) check the index and he didn't see anything on sleeving.

--Andy

I have a video that I believe teaches some of his sleeving techniques. Happy hunting.
-Allen

Jerry
There's a good description of the Berglas sleeving technique in "The Art of Close-up Magic" (volume 2) by Lewis Ganson.

Thanks to Andy, Alan, and Allen!

Cheers,
Jerry

Didn't David Berglas also specialize in escapes at one time in his life? Or am I thinking of someone else?

A different view on the Berglas book.

I have recently purchased and read the “The Mind & Magic of David Berglas”. The book is very high quality in construction, the pages are glossy and the photos are splendid. The book is well done. The book is also very expensive. The question in my mind is, “is it worth $150?”. I will let you know up front that I did not think the book worth the high price tag.
I guess now I am forced to defend my position.

As I look at my book collection, I have those books that I deem are the essentials. These are the books that are full of workable and useable concepts, ideas, or tricks. Depending on the type of magic one does they will all be a little different to everyone. A few that are well know and would fit on all magic essential shelves are, Strong Magic, Expert at the card Table, Royal road to Card magic, Tarbell Course, Now you see it, now you don’t, etc.

I would suspect the main buyers of this book are going to be mentalists and history buffs and a few of the card guys that must know the secret of Any card at any number. So the question to these people would be, what makes a book worth $150.

Well, if I spend that much I would want that book to be in my essentials shelf. However, it is not. Why? Well, It was interesting and there was some good magic in pages. However, dare I say much of the magic in the book is not usable for most magicians. I also found it irritating that I paid a hefty price for this tome and some of his signature tricks are not explained. Well, now!

Many people will tell me that learning how he presented his magic/mental feats is worth the price of the book alone. Well, there are some splendid examples of showmanship in the book, but you can find other resources that give wonderful presentations for much less money.

There is a great deal of history in the book as well as relating to David Berglas. It was an interesting read but hardly worth $150. I have the Memoirs of Robert Houdin, which also has a great historical section that was great reading but not nearly as expensive.

So what is my over all feel for this book?
Well, for those out there considering purchasing this book, I feel your money would be better spent on books such as, Stunners, The Jinx, Paramiracles, Theater of the Mind, or 13 Steps to Mentalism, If you are a huge Berglas fan, then I am sure you will enjoy the book.
Now before you flame me, understand that I enjoyed the book and it will remain on my shelves as a good solid reference however, I do not feel it was worth the price tag.

Donning flame retardant suit
Sergeant

I received the Berglas book yesterday, and though I have not yet faced up to the rather intimidating read ahead of me, I did flip through it to see what lay therein. The first three pages I looked at contained one typo and one spelling mistake... I hope these prove to be rare exceptions, but my initial impression is certainly that the editing efforts did not equal the physical production ones!

... Doug

That was Houdini.

My comments on the Berglas book:

All in all, it was an interesting read and I enjoyed it. However I found the writing style to be a little wearing on the soul.

Let me explain. I can appreciate that David Berglas is a skilled performer and highly motivated craftsman of publicity. I do have a little trouble believing that he so effortlessly conjured up his career, as the book would have me believe.

It never really appears to touch on the years of hard work involved in amassing the skills required to produce some of David's magical effects. It mentions his multitude of skills in a rather nonchalant, off-the-cuff manner.

"David is, of course, a master skiier / scuba diver / parachutist / brain surgeon / etc..."

I don't wish to make this sound like sour grapes on my part. I believe that DB really is all of the things listed and more, but it's the way this information is presented that started to wear on me.

In this regard, the book's message appears to be "David is a superhero, who has enormous natural talent, and therefore don't even think you can rise to his level through plain hard work and self-belief, because you can't."

Personally I drew much more inspiration from the Siegfried and Roy book. Because whatever you might think of them, they described being faced with the same moments of worry and self-doubt that have certainly haunted me in my lowly career.

But after saying all that, it was illuminating to read through the effects themselves. Few are practical for mere mortals like myself, but they do make you ask yourself "Now what could *I* do to create the same kind of reaction?". I think this is the message DB himself wants the book to send.

I have to confess that I borrowed my copy from a friend, and so I didn't pay for it. So on the question of "Is it worth the money?" I would say probably not. There are less expensive books out there that I would find more useful.

It *is* really nicely bound though!

Steve

P.S. To those who asked earlier - "Any Card at any Number" *is* explained in full, but it's not practical enough for me to use...

"But now I come to think about it, maybe there's a way *I* could do it...

Hmmmmmm..."

I agree that occasionally the book's tone is mildly sycophantic which is often the way with "authorised" biographies such as this. Yes the book is expensive, but then Britland's last book on Canasta was around £60 for just over 100 pages so this compares favourably I think - certainly I'd buy it again.

Minor grumbles:

We're teased with tales of David and his sister supporting their life in the south of France using David's sure-fire even money betting system at roulette and told how David demonstrates the principle involved to magicians and ohters using playing cards. We then find out that the only explanation in print is in David's 1967 book, written in Dutch. Surely there was room to include it here?

Over the years David must have presented numerous book tests and it would have been nice to have some insight into his handling and experiences.

David's role as head of the Magic Circle's Occult Committee isn't mentioned and although there's a brief reference to David's £25,000 offer for a demonstration of paranormal phenomena but we're not told whether or not any one has applied for it.

Aside from that the book is excellent. If you have the spare money, buy it!

I personally thinks it is ubsurd to say that his "any card at any number" isn't practical, I found his thoughts on the subject very helpfull and if people would actually go out and try these ideas before scratching them up to some pipe dream maybe they would agree.
Is the effect as clean as the "dealers adds" we have been reading in "Theatre of the Mind" and such. Maybe not but to the uninitiated they looks exactly the same as the are described in the book.
Will it takes lots of work and practice of course but the best things in life always do.
Just my thoughts,
Brent Braun
http://www.braunmagic.com