Heigh ho—very excited to receive an unexpected email today about Paul Brook’s newest book, Certified Mentalism, which looks to be absolutely incredible! As has been the tradition in mentalism publishing the last few years, it comes in two editions, Standard and Special. The Standard Edition looks jam-packed with terrific and practical effects, and the Special Edition has an extra four full routines. Both are very fairly priced, imho.

I ordered the Special Edition immediately, and I’m confident calling it a masterpiece in advance, because I’ve felt that way about virtually all of his books, and the chances that this will fall short I feel are very slim..! Paul’s style of mentalism is usually right up my alley in terms of what I look for in great effects, but I’m sure I don’t need to mention that, since most of us probably feel similarly.

I really love that this isn’t a pre-order, and that I didn’t even know about it until Paul had books on hand to ship immediately.

Congrats and Thank You, Paul!! Can’t wait to take a look under the hood when it arrives!

Seth

Looks good. The Alchemical Tools is one of the top 5 menatilism books that I have ever read.

Chrysalis of a Polymath is a killer book too, Brook is a machine and I'm looking forward to seeing what's in his latest opus.

Phill

Judging from the illustrations (which look insanely gorgeous, btw) I assumed you were involved in this project, Phill—you weren’t??

Very much agree with both of you—two of his best books! Another big favorite of mine is The Gift. I think I have the entire series of his original titles (“the Aleister Crowley challenge” set). Btw, not to detail the topic, but did anyone ever solve that impossible puzzle?

Seth

Oops--probably should have included a linky link...

http://www.heknows.co.uk/

Seth

I never met a Paul Brook book I didn’t like!!

Mark

Hmmmm.... I’m intrigued by this book. I perform strictly as a psychic tho and I find routines about psychological influence somewhat hard to reframe.

Not my work this time, so I haven't had a sneaky peek at it yet.

Phill

Defo looks like its worth a read! I haven't read any of his work previously but reviews look very good.

Paul's book arrived yesterday and I'm pretty busy, BUT I just had to make time to start reading it. It's a beautifully produced book and from what I've read so far the material is fantastic! It's ALL tried tested and honed to perfection. This is my type of book I absolutely love learning from other pros and Paul is right up there with the best. There is a wide range of close-up and stand up routines that you will WANT to perform. Paul's approach to performance material is very elegant, he forms solid, entertaining and engaging plots and then uses the most practical robust method that he can think of to get you there directly. THAT is exactly how great mentalism is created! I can't recommend this book highly enough, 10/10. Congratulations Paul this is your Magnum Opus...outstanding!
Marc Paul

I agree that Alchemical Tools is great. Paul Brook is a terrific creator!

I'm a big fan of Paul's work and have a lot of his previous releases including both Alakazam lectures, Murphys ATT and recently attended a show / lecture in the small space in Barry. Although there were some routines that I recognised, I still bought the book for the other routines and as personally I find a book is a better reference point than a video.

I'm really glad I bought this. It's a beautifully produced book and the routines are brilliant. Psychic countdown and The Simulacrum are a couple of my favourite new routines and I'll be learning them as soon as possible.

Highly recommended!

Hi Everyone

Thanks for the very kind words and I'm glad everyone is enjoying the book.

Apologies for the slow response, I've had some very sad news over the past few days which has delayed my responses.

I would just like to address one of the most common question. Yes, the Special Edition has sold out, BUT it is not limited. I thought I had ordered enough and I was surprised to be wrong. I have ordered more, however, at this time of a year the delivery can be greatly delayed.

The regular edition stock is down to around to around just 40 remaining for those who simply cannot wait.

Hopefully that answered the most pressing question I'm being asked. If you do send me a question I will do my best to answer, but at this time my spare moments are fleeting and there may be a delay.

Wishing you all a bountiful festive period. You are all so very kind.

Cheers,

Paul

Did you buy the Alkazam lecture? I see that many of the tricks in lecture are on the book. How did you find it?

Sorry to hear about your sad news Paul. Has anyone who purchased the Special edition got any thoughts? Is it worth the extra expense?

I am going to buy the book but trying to see if I should wait for the New Year and buy the special edition.

I have the special edition which includes four addition routines, The Sneaky Rogue, Unquestionably Mental, That Paul Brook Routine and Three Phase Booktest.
In my opinion any ONE of those routines is worth the extra price. These are fully scripted, fully honed, professional and 100% commercial routines that Paul makes his living from and you could too!

Sneaky Rogue...is my favorite it's Paul's stage presentation and ideas for Sneak Thief. This is almost an act in it's own right a full 20 to 30 minutes of sheer entertainment. If you know Sneak Thief you'll know the method BUT that is not what this is about, it's Paul's hook and his presentation that are unique and totally engaging. This also has the potential for a massive amount of comedy and fun. Also if you saw him perform it he has a kicker ending that would really fool you!

Unquestionably Mental...is a walk around piece again, fully scripted, that will enable you to do A LOT of mind-reading in 5 minutes without any writing down of the information. Paul explains his deep thinking behind every facet of the presentation. This is a modular piece that means you can stop an any point and the group you are performing for would have seen something amazing even if you stop after just 30 seconds. At it's heart is something you may know, but again this is about Paul's fantastic presentation and his philosophy. This again is 100% commercial packs a punch and all you have to carry in your pocket are three pieces of card.

That Paul Brook Routine...in fairness this is a re-working and enlargement of a routine that's in the normal part of the book (Unlimited Drawing Duplication) it also draws on the psychology of Unquestionably Mental. This also turns UDD into a modular walk around piece that will enable you to again read a lot of minds in a short period of time. You probably would not perform UM and TPBR in the same set BUT you could do UM and UDD in the same set. By the way, UDD is great it will enable you do perform a double drawing dup. where one person draws their picture BUT the second person only THINKS about their picture you can accurately reveal BOTH!

Three Phase Booktest...this is extremely well thought out! Paul uses three over lapping methods to create a mind-reading experience for his audience that is totally inexplicable. Every phase cancels out possible methods that the audience could come up with and creates a strong escalation of impossibility. This is great thinking. It could be performed walk-around or on stage.

You should know that Paul is my friend but I've tried to give you a review here based on my perspective as a professional mentalist. I hope that helps you to make an informed choice.

The moment I saw that Paul was releasing another book my attention was grabbed. Paul is one of those writers in the community who really captures the idea of simple and direct Mentalism that can be used in front of real audiences and since I started performing I’ve found myself revisiting his material over and over again.

Certified Mentalism is no exception! I picked up a copy of the standard edition as a birthday present to myself, and can honestly say I will use a lot of the material here. While I was familiar with a handful of the effects from watching Paul’s lectures, this didn’t disappoint me in the slightest, in fact it only reminded me of how good these effects (which I was already using) are! A personal highlight in the book for me was “The Wrong Order” - it’s such a well thought out routine and I know I’ll be using it! Similarly, “Unlimited Drawobg Duplication” is an effect that I will immediately be putting to use!

This is a book that I just couldn’t put down for a minute, it’s full of Paul’s ingenious thinking and I would highly recommend it to anyone on the fence. But from reading this post on the forum, I wouldn’t take my word for it - it has the approval of some other terrific thinkers and performers.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the very kind words about the book

Also thanks for the lovely kind messages of support in this hard time for me. It is this reason why I am making this post instead of sending a whole bunch of individual private messages.

Certified Mentalism Special Edition is now back in stock and is already down to just 25 copies.

I will order another 100 in the new year, so if you want one before then, make sure to grab your copy:

http://www.heknows.co.uk/shop/certified-......edition/

Truly hope that you are enjoying, or about to enjoy, the festivity of the season.

Be Merry,

Paul

Thanks for the helpful comments and your message Paul. Will be picking up the special edition after January pay day!

On a side note did anyone solve the puzzles that were part of the Pleaides collection?

I know nothing about Paul Brook but I've heard some good compliment about him. Looking forward to get one. Ahh..There's just so many books to read. It just doesn't end (and I hope they never will LOL)
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