Title: Food For Thought Book Test
Artist: Gary Sumpter
Producers: Ace Magic Studio
Link: https://acemagicstudio.com/whats-cooking-booktest-overview/
Demo Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvvgVqS2Jrk
Retail Price: $110.79 USD Large A4 size. $96.94 USD Small Sized. $180.05 USD for both books.
Learning Difficulty: Easy, but Will Require Practice



Several months ago, Gary approached me and asked if I’d be interested in reviewing his new book test. I perform a lot of mentalism, and I’ve owned several book tests over the years, so I’ve had more than enough time to build up my favorites on the subject. So I figured “what the hell” I told him I’d be glad to have a look at it when it was ready. Gary may have been ready for me, but I certainly was not ready for him. Because a couple weeks ago I received in the mail my very own stage sized version of his “Food For Thought” book test, and I was absolutely blown away by the total package. The magic, the instructions, the presentation, everything was so well put together I felt guilty about having the job of telling others about it. Frankly, I didn’t want to. I pulled him up on Facebook and I pleaded with him, I begged him, I beseeched him to not release it. “The magic community isn’t worthy” I said. But despite my best efforts to sway him from his course he denied me. So here’s your opportunity to get your hands on one of the most organic, multi-phase, book tests on the market today. This review is for Gary Sumpters Food For Thought, and it’s one tasty full course meal of magic.

Before I get into the details of the review too much let me go on and say that Gary does produce a smaller version of this book test suitable for close up work. The review I’m doing is on his large stage sized version.

Everything in this product is packaged to please. The very first thing I opened was a very thoughtful letter from Gary expressing his desires for the best customer service possible. Any problems, any questions, any needs, just ask him directly. It’s a refreshing thing to have a creator take so much care and pride in their work to provide the consumer with direct access to the creator. I’m not even into the book test itself and already I feel like this is going to be a rare breed in the field of mental magic entries.

The rest of the package contains two books. An instructional book teaching the routine, and the book test itself. The Book Test is a cleverly designed cook book with 205 pages of recipes that fly by even the closest of inspections. The book test is jammed packed with all kinds of mental revelations, and that’s just on the cover alone! There’s over a half dozen or so different psychological forces on the cover to get your audience going as an appetizer, and you’ve not even dug into the main course yet! The main course allows you to identify correctly the main color of the recipe on the page, the main color of the smaller photograph on that page, the rating for the dish, and the first word in the recipe title. That’s a delightful dish sure to keep any mentalists mouthwatering, but we’ve not had dessert yet! The cherry on the top is that this book test even allows for the performer to draw what the spectator is thinking of with stunning accuracy!

“Why would you need another book test?” That’s surly a question I thought, and it’s one I found myself asking after reviewing Food For Thought. Except this time it’s not Gary’s test I’m being dismissive about. Book tests traditionally are usually on dull or meaningless subjects most audiences don’t really care about. Why? Because it’s not really relatable. Shakespeare? Dracula? Or other thick, boring, dusty novels that no one really relates to. Also, most book tests are just words on pages. That’s boring! However, a cook book is genius. Who DOESN’T have a cook book? Who didn’t grow up with their Mom’s reading these things to make dinner? And what has bright colorful pictures rich with flavorful words, and bright images to captivate the readers minds? A cookbook!

The reveals in the book test is both modular and multi phased. Meaning you can at any time in your presentation change up what you’re revealing, and the number of phases you want to go with. Don’t want to do a drawing? Don’t. Want to really strike over and over at the psychological forces as a way to warm up and sync with your audiences? You’ve got a LOT of psychological forces to choose from. Have at. There are a total of four phases in this book test you get to play with. This test puts you in the driver’s seat. You get to control What or how much info you want to serve up on your audience. Oh.. and the recipes in this book are real too. They haven’t been altered for purpose of the method. So if your spectator were to take this book home with them, they could actually use it as a cook book and never be the wiser.

The mechanics of performing this book test require some getting used to, as with most book tests, but the test does include a crib, and even an additional pocket-sized crib to make things even easier. At first doing the routine feels a little clunky as you make your way thru the mechanics, but with a few run throughs it really does get very simple. It’s not easy, but it’s not hard either. And once you get it down, the sky’s the limits with what you want to do with it. The few spectators I’ve tested this out on have loved it. Their reactions have been strong, and genuine. This is the perfect test for any magician or mentalist, and the size of the large stage version really is visible at a distance making it perfect for parlor and stage work.

It’s obvious that Gary’s put a lot of time and effort into creating the crème de la crème of book tests. Every single page, every single force, every little neuance has been carefully crafted to deliver a premium product that I feel will be greatly appreciated by the magic community. In a selfish way, I hope that no one reads this review. I hope no one discovers this book. It’s too good to be wasted on the masses. This should only be given to those truly worthy of owning it’s performing power. And I’m so very glad that I’m one of the ones who has a copy. Because once people start getting wind of how strong this is, it won’t be in stock. Get. This. Book Test!


When I give my product scores below I am measuring them on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 Being absolute the worst score possible, and 10 being the absolute best, making a score of five average. The three points that I grade upon is Product Quality, Teaching Quality, and Overall Quality.

Product Quality: 10
A marvelous test. Splendid product. Very well built, and will be used for a long time.

Teaching Quality: 10
The instructions are easy to follow, and the system is easy to learn with practice. It will take a little practice, but until you get it solid, there’s a crib to assist you.

Overall Quality: 10
Do you do Mentalism? Mental Magic? How about book tests? Whatever the case, you need this book test!


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Thanks for the review. I've had my eye on this

Here's my review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnUJ5tu1Y70

Did this get taken off the market?