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RayRannala New user Tampa, FL 29 Posts 
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I have a great book test that I have not performed in years published in the 70s by Meir Yedid. I want opinions on whether it is more effective as a mind reading effect or a memory effect. I am looking to work it into my act and would love to hear your thoughts.
Also are there any comedy workers doing book tests, I'd love to see some funny treatments. Thanks in advance! Ray Rannala |
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Mr. Woolery Inner circle Fairbanks, AK 2000 Posts
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What is your presentational premise? Are you a memory expert? Are you a telepath? What do you want your audience to think you are doing? That's your answer.
Patrick |
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RayRannala New user Tampa, FL 29 Posts
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Quote:
On Aug 14, 2017, Mr. Woolery wrote: Thanks Patrick. I generally perform comedy magic. I do a funny one ahead effect that has worked well with my persona. I am not a serious mentalist, but this always gets an emotional response with laughs. Looking to incorporate the book test in my act in a way that is extremely baffling yet incorporating some humor. Again I do not "sell" any mental powers, just pure entertainment Thanks! |
Max Hazy.jpg "View Profile") Special user 540 Posts
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My justification for the book depends on the effect. For instance, if I ask people to think in a word, their choices could be predictable, so what better place to find words at random but a dictionary?
My favorite book test goes with this script: -This book is a gift, it's called "Becky Bloom's Sister". It talks about... the Sister... of Beck Bloom. (laugh) -I know it doesn't say much, but the interesting thing is... do you know who Becky Bloom was? No? Me neither... (laugh) -As you can see we have tons of pages... tons of random words to work with. Hold the book please. Open in the last page, let's see how many pages it has. 475? Ok... let's do some math: 475 pages... each page with about 29 lines... each line with about 9 to 12 words... so, how many words this book should have? Exactly... a "s***load" of words. (laugh) In general terms, I think mind reading is more baffling but memorization much more believable. Here's something to inspire you in how to be funny with a book test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ3hw3sbVwM
"Your method is in my opinion the very best way to do Q&A"
Millard Longman "Max has pushed some less known and seldom used principles a huge step forward" Jan Forster Arcane Grimoires Vol 1- http://www.maxhazy.com/arcane-grimoires/apocryphal-reach/ Arcane Grimoires Vol 2- http://www.maxhazy.com/Codex-Mentis/ |
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Rolyan Special user I'm fencing in my land; so far there are 584 Posts
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Quote:
On Aug 14, 2017, RayRannala wrote: To be honest, you'll know the answers to your own questions better than anybody on here, as only you know you, your style anddesired outcomes. Anyone who says this is better than that is almost always wrong as it depends on generalisations. There are far too many book tests to mention, but a comedy one that you may wish to consider is Shawn Farquhar's Sheer Luck. Edited: I hadn't seen the above link when I posted. Good luck in your quest and I hope you find enlightenment. |
Philemon Vanderbeck Inner circle Seattle, WA 4450 Posts
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I think the book test that best lends itself to a comedy treatment is Shawn Farquhar's "Sheer Luck."
Professor Philemon Vanderbeck
That Creepy Magician "I use my sixth sense to create the illusion of possessing the other five." |
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Eugene Chekhov Elite user ~Magic~ 449 Posts
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Hello! Great effect for you!
Steve Valentine - Booked I can not give you a script. You can come up with your own. I show 4 Version book test - depending on the place and the audience. Working with different methods - I came up with a special version - full of comedic bits.
I love the magic & history of magic! My favorites magicians - Dai Vernon, Max Malini, Fielding West, Michael Finney, Jeff Hobson, Bob Sheets, Nick Lewin, Harry Murphy, Dick Oslund- great showmen of magic!
* Eugene_Chekhov@yahoo.com |
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Mr. Woolery Inner circle Fairbanks, AK 2000 Posts
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Ah, gotcha. Try looking for Cody Fisher's Comedy Book Test. Does not suit me, but when Anton James did it on his At The Table lecture, I loved it.
In general, there are a couple of ways book tests work. If you can predict the selection (open forum, but I'm sure you know what I mean), you can set things up to be very humorous. Master Payne had a version with 50 Shades on his YouTube channel. If you can only divine a word (not a bad thing and much more in line with my preferences), it is a lot harder to get a certainty of it being funny. Frankly, if you use the magazine test from Mark Wilson's book and choose the right magazine (it also works with books), you can create all sorts of silliness by choosing the right word or phrase. Done with a drawing, you could tilt it all sorts of ways. Patrick |
jimgerrish Inner circle East Orange, NJ 3209 Posts
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A good comedy book test would be like a performance of Johnny Carson's "Karnack the Magnificent." A spectator would open the book of Questions and answers, point to one, and the mentalist would say just the answer aloud, then have the spectator say the question for which it is the answer for the comedy finish.
Example: Spectator flips to a page and uses finger to point to a joke question. The Mentalist solemnly says,"A Stick." Take a few moments to let the answer sink in. Then ask the spectator to read the question aloud: "What do you call a boomerang that won't come back?" I'd do a bunch of these as Karnack used to do.
Jim Gerrish
magicnook@yahoo.com https://www.magicnook.com Home of The Wizards' Journals: https://magicnook.com/wizardsTOC.htm |
j100taylor Inner circle 1161 Posts
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Quote:
On Aug 15, 2017, jimgerrish wrote: I had a similar idea using the Karnack theme for "Will the Cards Match". The spectator mixes up 5 groups of questions and answers and somehow aranges them so that the answers match the questions. You could use the phrase "Call the Great Karnak".
Lakewood, Ohio
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jimgerrish Inner circle East Orange, NJ 3209 Posts
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I misspelled Carnac in my post. That's because my Wiz Kids actually used to do an act like this, but we called the Wiz Kid mentalist "Kar-sick" with a K, so that explains my memory lapse.
Jim Gerrish
magicnook@yahoo.com https://www.magicnook.com Home of The Wizards' Journals: https://magicnook.com/wizardsTOC.htm |
| The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Penny for your thoughts » » Book tests (3 Likes) | |
Posted: Aug 14, 2017 08:54 pm 
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