Since my journey through the world of mentalism, I've seen many posts here in the Café about books and effects saying things like "this book should be on every mentalist library", "this effect is gold", etc. Well...so in the last few months I bought WAY MORE books that I should have. I study Corinda for 2 months and start almost immediately with some more advanced stuff. I realized now what a mistake that was! I'm so overwhelmed with information. So I'm going to put ALL the other books aside for some time and just study Corinda "until the pages turn to dust" (like someone here said).
I know this advice is given to everybody that asks "how to begin in mentalism" but after one or two readings of Corinda, they put this book aside (because it's old and not practical) and start with more modern stuff...now I know what a mistake this is. Corinda has enough material to last several years, with some adaptation of course, but that's the beauty of mentalism: this is not like magic, we don't buy some gimmick in the morning to perform at night to our friends. We really need to work on an effect some time before it can be performed to anyone; the patter, the method, the presentation, all of this takes some time to accomplish so nothing can go wrong in the performance. I've read this so many times in several posts before and did not understood completely...took me a while to fully understand this statement, but now I finally got it!

I posted this as a reminder to all the other beginners, like me, so they don't make the same mistake I did.

An excellent point. In looking at the vast literature on mentalism, one must bear in mind that a large proportion of it is written by mentalists who want to impress other mentalists and magicians with "new" and "fancy" stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, but the newcomer must be aware that a huge proportion of the effects written up by mentalists in new publications have either never been performed and are simply extensions of ideas, or else are impractical, too risky to perform with any degree of confidence, or over-complicated and incomprehensible to audiences.

As you rightly point out, it is essential to master the techniques and methods described so well and comprehensively in Corinda. But - if he wishes to do so - the performer can certainly develop new patter and presentation, as well as variations drawing on the same principles, which is more suited to today's world and audiences that that of the 1950s, when the "13 Steps" were first published as a series. So an excellent mentalism show could be made very contemporary in its style and presentation to an audience in 2003 while using exclusively techniques from Corinda.

I just bought 13 Steps and agree with the comments, similarly with Bobo's Coin Book.The material may appear somewhat dated but the essentials and basics are what matter.It should be quite simple to adapt the effects to fit in with todays styles/fashion/fads whatever.

I'm suprised that there has been little mention of the possibilities afforded by the ability to use Text messages or Coded information via a small, pocket concealed cellphone,to an accomplice - miles away - who has been called by the spectator on a conventional phone and to whom the "thought" or "prediction" is revealed.
Any ideas?.

Howard.

Regarding the use of mobile phones, check out the nice Houdini-inspired effect mentioned in David Blaine's (excellent) book 'Mysterious Stranger'.

BB

With my passion for mental magic i wanted to have every book was published about mental magic.I allready have a huge collection of mental magic books but then i found that something was missing...the most important thing of it:presentation!so this is the real golden key for strong mental presentation.So Hitman you are absolutely correct:Corrinda has enough material to last for years...give your full energy to presantation.What is it better:to just know 100 billet switches(even some that are very hard to find) or just 2-3 even only one but present it better than anyone else in the world????

Something else to consider before you go out and get the "latest and greatest effect" is that about 5000 other guys are doing the very same thing.

Think about it. When D'Lite first came out, EVERYONE was using it.

Again, this is where presentation comes in. You do NOT want to be viewed as doing the same thing that someone else is doing. However, you can do the same effect but put a radically new presentational spin on it, and people will never realize you are doing the same thing someone else is doing.

My favorite example of this is Penn & Teller. Have you seen their presentation of the needle thru balloon? What about their cut and restored silk (that they use 20 feet of polyester for?)

Brent highlights an important issue that extends beyond rushing out to perform the latest 'hot' dealer effect. It also extends to performing what's currently on television, on stage, in the media and so forth.

Spoonbending is a good example. It's been extremely popular over the past quarter century to the extent it's been done to death in some quarters, but in the hands of a few exceptional artists out there, it can be a heartstoppingly heightened experience for spectators. I don't wish to compete with that, so I choose to do other things.

Brent refers to the D'Lite routine that every man and his dog seemed to be doing at one point, but the trend continues as magic fans go in search of the next 'fix' in the search for the 'ultimate' effect.

The point is, less can be better. There are various tried and tested tools and techniques available to the performer which can be used and if necessary, reinvented in a number of ways, but what ever you do, those effects need to be technically perfected, polished, honed and targeted to provide an extraordinary or at least a meaningful spectator experience.

At the end of the day, it's you that should be remembered, not the just effect.

Dear Friends,

Good thinking here. To Corinda's book I might only add selected books of Richard Webster. If you want to do psychometry, you can get many ideas on the handling from Corinda; you will get great ideas for the readings from Richard Webster (Psychometry from A to Z).

Another idea that I have found useful is that of limitation. If you are really psychic this creates certain consequences that you must think through. Let's say you've gone wild with Corinda and can do everything. You read minds, you can duplicate drawings sealed under test conditions, you can predict the next day's newspaper headlines, metal melts in your hands. You are telepathic, clairvoyant, psychokinetic, everything.

Well then why are you doing shows? Why aren't you just quietly making money in the stock market (shorting stocks the last two years)?

Instead, think about the ideas advanced by Doc Shiels in The Shiels Effect on how to create a psychic superstar. You have this one power. It is uncertain, it is feeble, it requires positive energy from the audience. It won't give you any edge in life, maybe even it is an unwanted gift. You are presenting it in public for some reason. It is all that you can do.

I will give two examples.

In my own work I have focused on mnemonics as the sole mental effect. I do this because I am a snake oil salesman in a medicine show. The motivation is to sell the elixir. These powers are within the reach of all. This was hard at first because I love doing psychic work, reading minds, doing predictions, the whole of 13 Steps. I have found that limiting the mental effects to mnemonics works very well. Look at characters in popular movies, there is one simple idea and it is relentless, like The Terminator.

The second example is someone I am developing as a performer. She has never performed before and is very shy. This is perfect. She doesn't look like a performer. She is an artist. If you were to see her, your impression would be that of vulnerability. Here is her power: see can feel colors. If she touches a large piece of solid color she can tell what it is. Patterns confuse her, she can only do solid colors.

The magician in you, which you must kill, is saying, "That's just a blindfold act. Big deal."

My friends, it is not just a blindfold act. It is a demonstration that humanity has latent powers that we are only haltingly becoming able to understand. The world is larger than you can imagine. If we would all just search within ourselves who knows what we would find. Perhaps we will find the collective strength and wisdom to solve the problems that face our troubled world and emerge into a golden age of peace, freedom and beauty. Do you feel that spirit of hope? I do. Thank you, good night.

Yours,

Paul

AMEN !!!

Just kidding, very interesting post !!! Imagine one moments, if everyone in the business has understand your point of wiew, people around the world, will be thrill to accept magic like a real art form...

Thanks for taking a bit of your time to write it.

Humbly...

Kuffs

Whilst I'm a keen mentalist, I am not a keen collector of book and tapes. My knowledge is quite limited. My bill switch is little more than a shuttle pass, and my centre tear is something a ten year old can do!

I just can't stand these variation on variations.

Brent, I agree with you about Penn and Teller. Whilst they may not be the most technically advanced magicians, they are VERY CREATIVE.

Work within your limitations, don't criticise yourself for them!

Great thread!

Ben

Sometimes as performers, we get so ingrpossed in a book that we want to allow others to experience it. I have to admit, that originality is the key to an excellent performance, and the basics of mentalism will take you far.Corinda is like an encyclopedia and plethora of knowledge. Only when you see that can you become truely great!

Doc Wilson, nice avatar - pic.

Well said Hitman. When you're starting out in mentalism it's very easy to get carried away with book buying before you've learnt the basic techniques that the more advanced books build upon.

Another good tip for beginners is to search the Magic Café's archives thoroughly. Although the Penny For Your Thoughts section seems a little slow at the moment there has been some really interesting discussions in the past with many of the big names in mentalism getting involved. I've learnt a hell of a lot by doing this.

Great post thanks for letting us NOT make the same mistake!