Can any recommend some good material for someone wishing to explore mentalism ??

I've heard that Annemans 'Practical Mental Magic' & Tony Corinda's '13 Steps' are to mentalists what 'The Royal Road' & Bobo are to card and coin magicians.

Also I've read very good reviews of 'Psycho Kenetic Touch' and the 'Richie Technique' would these effects be suitable for a newbie ??

Many Thanks

Jax

Both the books you've mentioned are probably the best starting points. They'll give you most of the 'tricks of the trade' which will allow you to start creating your own effects and also enough practical material to perform with for quite a while. I'd also put Banacheks 'Psychological Subtleties' in with that reading list as well.

PK Touch is excellent but to be really effective requires excellent showmanship and spectator handling skills. If you are a good actor you'd probably have no problems with PK Touch but for a beginner it might not come off as well as it should !

If you browse through the archives you'll see a bunch of good topics for the beginner. Lots of discussions on different books and effects.

I agree with DarkKnight, PK Touches is not for beginners. It requires a lot of showmanship to pull off. Richey Technique is a method for doing a one on one reading/Q&A. Again not recommended for a beginner.

Start with 13 Steps & Practical Mental Magic. If you are interested in Banachek's material, pick up Psychological Subtleties or Pre-Thoughts (which is ane entire routine) first.

If you are interested in doing readings, there is a lot of material I would recommend before the Richey Technique. There's a few good threads here on the cold reading that should point you in the right direction.

Good Luck,

Brian

I still find it most unfortunate this topic hasn't been locked into position for easy access... Maybe the moderators around here could work out some kind of "Magic & Mentalism 101" section in which no reply can be made, just posted FAQs on each field of magic e.g. prime reference books, videos, etc. that take folks from beginner to adept levels. By doing this we wont have to address this same topic two or three times a week and fill up server space, etc.

Just a thought.

Thanks for the advice guys !!

Just ordered 13 Steps & Practical Mental Magic and I'll see how I get on with those !!

And all being well I'll invest in Banacheks 'Psychological Subtleties' !!

Darmoe - I agree with your idea - could do with it in the card & coin forums as well !

Thanks Again !

Jax

I've encouraged this line of thought at other forums. It helps free up the rest of the board with "serious" (if you can call some of the things we get into "serious") discussions on given areas of the craft. The more boards that start doing this, the more it will become a "Universal" sense of definition and perspective throughout the trade. That will help clarify a lot of misinformation that's floating around.

One of the things I've done @ KJMagic is created a reference series on terms used in association to Psi & Bizarre work. Andy has followed with a book list... given how many forums mimic that board, it should be only a matter of time before we see more of the same elsewhere.

Later!