What if a top performer tipped the secrets behind the secrets – including covering mistakes and how to continue in spite of them?

Welcome to Mind Mysteries Guidebook #5, covering everything you’ve seen on the Mind Mysteries Vol 5 DVD, and more.

First, for both people who don’t know that Richard Osterlind is a friend (and one of the best friends a person could have), I’ve tried to be objective about this book. But it is difficult to separate the man from his work; he puts so much of himself in everything he does.

Yet any praise I might give this book is dwarfed by the positive comments from Marc Spelmann’s foreword. Spelmann speaks directly from the viewpoint of someone who is out there facing tough audiences, someone who uses only sure-fire, tested material. This is the sort of fellow who doesn’t impress easily, doesn’t add new effects to his act unless they’re better than his current ones, and doesn’t literally gush about someone else’s work – usually. Because when he does any of these things, it’s time to pay attention. (Frankly, he seems to love “the Very Modern Mindreader” even more than I do!)

As this foreword indicates, this guidebook is written for professionals – and those who want to become professional. It’s going to offend some armchair generals; at least, I hope so. There are those who need to hear that they need to change their thinking, and need to take it to heart. Richard addresses several destructive trends, and makes his points well and clear. If you publish e-book effects which haven’t had years of hard audience testing, you may be offended. If you price them “to keep them out of the hands of the idly curious,” you may be offended. And if you have no respect for the classics, you will very likely be offended.

If you’re thinking of investing in this guidebook, you probably have already seen the DVD. For those who haven’t, you’ll learn the “inside the mind” of the performances of the Ultra Board (which started out to be an improvement over “Mental Epic” and has gone far beyond that), cutlery bending (which look for all the world like a fast-forward movie of a flower blooming and wilting), “the Very Modern Mindreader” (which Marc lauds much better than I could), “Digital Feedback” (audience members choose numbers, multiply, add, etc – and Richard has predicted the final total PLUS the original numbers which no one has seen or written down), “Inside the Fold” (You walk out with a folded card. It matches something that an audience member says. What makes this so convincing?), the Stainless Steel Blindfold (Why is your audience utterly convinced you’re sensing things without sight? Again, what makes this so convincing?), a pen which moves and then moves back (“Psychic Control”) and Richard’s tips on combining this with another method to cancel out every possible method, watch-stopping, time changing, compass confusing – all these which you saw on the DVD. You get the history. You get the analysis.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You’ve already learned the HOW of these effects. Now you can learn the WHY.

Evidently, Richard thought the book wasn’t big enough. The Bonus Section shows you

- a new way to ensure your volunteer will give you a two-digit number, and make it seem as if you could have predicted a number of any length, while making the prediction into something intimate and cozy,

- a way to practice making a swami invisible, and you practice while using it on an audience,

- an add-a-number which demonstrates absolutely NO way to “one ahead” it (Dunninger would have used this in a heartbeat),

- a joke which makes a certain psychometry exercise even easier by relaxing your audience at the right moment – Richard freely credits Ross Johnson, who gave his permission for this – you know how much a good speaker will pay for just the right line at the right time,

- and a Two-Faced Epic routine that I really, reallllllly wish he’d not revealed! Pretend you never saw this review and don’t buy this guidebook!!

I warned him that he was giving away too much with this Bonus Section. He replied that he wanted a Bonus Section which was more valuable than the high priced ebooks of which he spoke in his introduction.

He won.

*jeep!
--Grandpa

I'm surprised I haven't heard more buzz about this.

I ordered Guidebook 5 last week and I think it was one of my better buys so far this year.
To be fair, most of the stuff I've been excited about is small stuff. Just little tips and suggestions.

But they've been well worth the $25US for me, even after the exchange rate!

If you have the MMT vol 5 DVD and use (or are considering using) material from it in your act I'd highly recommend it...

and I'd agree with Chet, the Two-Face Epic routine is very nice... again nothing difficult, just a simple suggestion that could make the world of difference to someone interested in performing the piece.

dave