9/8/2017 The Pitt and the Pendulum: Beginner's Guide to Mentalism

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THE PITT AND THE PENDULUM

F O R Y O U N G A N D N E W P R A C T I T I O N E R S O F B I Z A R R E M A G I C A N D M E N TA L I S M I S A P R A C T I C A L
G U I D E T O E L E M E N T S O F P E R F O R M I N G , A R T I S T R Y, A N D S O C I A L S K I L L S T H A T M O S T M A G I C I A N S
N E V E R T A L K A B O U T. W R I T I N G T O Y O U L I V E F R O M P I T T S B U R G H , PA , T H E O F F I C I A L
Z O M B I E TO W N , U S A , T H I S I S T H E P I T T A N D T H E P E N D U L U M

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Beginner's Guide to Mentalism Beginner's Guide to Mentalism

Mentalism is like so many other things like singing and writing:
everyone thinks they can do it and they're usually wrong. To that That's Cool
effect, I've decided to assemble this little beginner's guide to
mentalism for the newbie. It took me some time to figure out what The Visual Characters of Mystery Men
to include and what not to, but I've organized everything into a
The Real Fake Thing
sequence as best I can. The intent is to keep things simple and
straightforward, giving you a clear progression through those first
Review: The Haunting (1963)
steps into a new skill.

I'm going to note right away that the first two on this list are an
either/or situation. It depends entirely on your background.

Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic

If you're a magician and want to break into mentalism, this is good
for introducing you to certain mental magic concepts, particularly in
some of the card effects and the Mental Magic section (duh!). The
wealth of material available makes for a good jumping point while
still providing plenty of fodder to keep you busy into the foreseeable
future. Of course, I should point out that if you're a magician and do
not already possess a copy of Mark Wilson's, you're doing it wrong.

Magic for Dummies

If you're new to magic, this is probably going to be one of the best ABOUT ME
places to start. There's plenty of fundamentals, time-tested effects,
and some rudimentary performance theory. A pretty good bargain. If
you're so inclined, you can acquire Mark Wilson's at a later date. The
important thing is to establish a strong foundation in sleight of hand.
Investing the time and energy into this now will make the journey
later on much smoother. ALEXANDER VORNOFF
PITTSBURGH, PA, UNITE D STATES

Self-Working Mental Magic Alexander is the founder of Witching

As regular readers probably remember, I have a lot of very positive Hour Productions. He is a
things to say about this book. And I hope my recommendation will be professional filmmaker, magician,
enough to cancel the stigma that seems to follow self-working and mentalist.
effects. Especially when new magicians get a grasp on sleight of http://witchinghourproductions.com
hand, they start to imagine that self-working magic is beneath them. Twitter: @DrAVornoff
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9/8/2017 The Pitt and the Pendulum: Beginner's Guide to Mentalism

For more info, please refer to my earlier review of the book. VIEW MY COMPLETE PROF ILE

Fundamentals
So the previous choices gave you material to work with. Now you S U B S C R I B E TO

need to know how to use it. This is quite possibly the best of Bob Posts
Cassidy's output, and he's put out some pretty good material.
Performance theory, showmanship, routining, character building, and Comments
more are all covered here. There's also an appendix called 39 Steps
that lists 39 different books that Bob considers essential to any
working mentalist's library. Fundamentals is a must-have. This is not FOLLOWERS
negotiable.
Followers (11)

Practical Mental Effects/13 Steps to Mentalism

The reason you want to hold off on a large book of mentalism effects
until this point is to prevent information overload. That was a
mistake I made. I bought 13 Steps before I was ready for it and
kneecapped my progress because I was trying to absorb too much
information at one time. The choice between Anneman's Practical
Mental Effects and Corinda's 13 Steps to Mentalism is a neverending Follow

debate and for the longest time I championed the former. However,
in more recent times I understand that both are equally strong texts,
if a bit dry in writing, and though some would call their material BLOG ARCHIVE

dated it's still very strong and time tested. Do not underestimate this 2012 (10)
material. Pick up one of these books and save the other for later. 2011 (28)
2010 (46)
Nail Writer/Swami/Pocket Writing
At this point you should decide whether you want to work with nail December (7)
writers or pocket writing. The choice is largely a matter of personal November (5)
taste. Though I will say that pocket writing should be attempted only October (4)
when you plan to regularly wear outfits that have roomy enough
September (5)
pockets. Slacks, hoodies, sport jackets, that sort of thing are all
better suited to pocket writing than your jeans. If you wear dressy August (6)
and casual about as often, dabble in both and see which one works 3 Ways to Increase Your
better for you. Creativity
The Real Work of Comedy
An Actor Prepares
5 Ways You're Secretly
This was the original text codifying the craft of acting in the modern
Sabotaging Your
era and to this day it is still one of the fundamentals. I've heard a lot Performance...
of magicians and mentalists alike recite that Robert-Houdin quote
Why You're an Idiot for Not
about all magicians being actors. It's like a reflex to them, they've
Reading Richard Mathes...
got the syllables down to muscle memory. But surprisingly few of
them know how to act. Don't make the same mistake. You've got Billet Work
your material, your performance theory, your utilities, now learn how Beginner's Guide to Mentalism
to really sell it to an audience.
July (5)
June (7)
Okay, we have these essential fundamentals, but there are different May (7)
branches of mentalism based on the nature of effects. The following
items are all optional based on specializations.
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9/8/2017 The Pitt and the Pendulum: Beginner's Guide to Mentalism

Psychokinetic Silverware/PSI Series

When it comes to PK effects, it's hard to do better than Banachek.
These DVDs will give you the essential work on metal bending. There
are a lot of good books and DVDs on the subject now of course, but
this remains the best place to start bar none.

Peek Wallet
If you're going to work on mind reading, having one of these is
essential. Many would recommend the Sight Unseen Case, but this
has sadly been discontinued. I made my own peek wallet using the
SUC principle and it works very well. Barring that however, the peek
wallets from Outlaw Effects are high quality and effective.

Invisible Elastic Thread/Loops and the Loops Trilogy and The Cloak
Yigal Mesika's invisible elastic thread is incredible as a resource, but
tying your own loops is a pain. You can purchase loops pre-tied, so if
you question your own fine dexterity and don't want to spend the
time learning to handle the finicky material, it's a good way to go.
Thread and loops both are excellent PK utilities with a huge number
of effects and applications. Justin Miller's Cloak is a great thread
setup and the Ellusionist Loops trilogy provides plenty of effects and
inspirations.

Quick and Effective Cold Reading

I'm just going to come out and say it. You will be hard pressed to find
a better teacher for cold reading than Richard Webster. There are
other great books on the subject by such giants as Herb Dewie and
Bob Cassidy, but Richard is an indisputable master. If you're not
comfortable making the transition into cold reading just yet, instead
pick up Richard's Cold Reading for the Magician booklet first to give
you a primer into the basic concepts of cold reading.

So there you have it. A straightforward beginner's guide to starting

your education in mentalism. Among the vast ocean of books, DVDs
and gimmicks available, I hope this simplifies things and gives you a
stable jumping point. Truthfully, the material here is enough to last
you for a long time to come.

POSTED BY ALEXANDER VORNOFF AT 10:15 AM

LABELS: BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO M ENTALISM

1 C O M M E N T:

Anonymous September 28, 2010 at 4:17 AM

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9/8/2017 The Pitt and the Pendulum: Beginner's Guide to Mentalism

Ahhh so the mystery reveals itself... I now know who your

are!
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