 A couple of weeks ago I had an email from a young magician in Italy who aspires to be a mentalist, this is what he said. "Scott I am a magician but am very interested in mentalism. I have many of the video's you have released on your website and hope to buy more because I really like your ideas. One question, can you tell me which books on mentalism you are reading at the moment I would like to think the way you do?" I immediately misinterpreted what he was asking, not because his English is bad, on contrary it is excellent, but because I have been asked many times before, what books I would recommend to someone trying to get into mentalism. So I answered with usual suggestions, such as Corrinda, T.A Waters, Annemann, Bob Cassidy, John Riggs and a few not so usual answers which I won't get into here. However after I'd sent him my suggestions I received a new email which said. "Sorry Scott maybe my English is not so good, I already have a lot of Bob Cassidy's books and I have '13 Steps' by Corrinda and 'Heavy Mental' by John Riggs, but I want to know what books you are reading now because I want to improve my performance of mentalism and I think you can help". So I sent him pictures of the 'mentalism' books (plural because I'm never reading just one) I am reading at the moment, and I do consider them to be mentalism. Books which I have read at least three times, along with a very brief synopsis of each which I have included below  What everybody is saying by Joe Navarro
In this book Joe Navarro, a former FBI counterintelligence officer and a recognized expert on nonverbal behavior, explains how to "speed-read" people: decode sentiments and behaviors, avoid hidden pitfalls, and look for deceptive behaviors. He also teaches how your body language can influence what your boss, family, friends, and strangers think of you. Filled with examples from Navarro's professional experience, this excellent book offers a powerful new way to read your audiences as part of a mentalism show. There are so many mentalists out there these days who try to convince their audiences they create the illusion of mind reading by studying a persons body language, that I think many of the young guys studying the art today think that is the norm. This premise has become very popular because many modern mentalists don't like to insinuate they have any sort of intuitive gift or psychic ability, not even for the duration of their performance. Personally I believe, although many mentalists have been very successful with this approach, it does limit what you can actually do, that said I did see a very well known performer who credits everything he does to psychology and body language, perform a headline style prediction on national (UK) TV recently which really didn't fit his premise. The problem is if you don't actually make the effort to study the work that has been done on body language you will at some point find yourself talking to someone in your audience who knows a lot more than you do. For example these days many top sales people study body language and the psychology of persuasion to get ahead in the sales game. I don't sell myself as a body language expert during my performances, but a genuine knowledge of body language really does help. That brings on to. Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B Cialdini PHD. This classic best seller on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes"—and how to apply these understandings. This highly acclaimed book is the result of thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior. An excellent resource for leaning about Reciprocation, Commitment and Consistency, Social Proof, liking, Authority and Scarcity, all things a mentalist should be aware of. This book is great for leaning how to use psychological subtleties to gently persuade your audiences to like and trust you. Audience/spectator management is a must for any performer especially those who are working from the stage. I have been dipping in and out of this book for years and altering my scripts and presentations accordingly. It works but you will need to put the work in. Palmistry by Johnny Fincham OK this book is marketed as "The easiest Palmistry training course ever written" and "From apprentice to pro in 24hrs". Personally I think it will take you longer than that. I've read a number of books on palmistry over the past year but this one was recommended by a friend. It is very in-depth and much of the esoteric, new age style language and interpretations you find in many works of this kind have been eliminated. On top of that Johnny Fincham is somewhat of a character. I've said it before and I'm going to say it again, to my mind one of the best mentalism tools of the trade you can invest money and time in, is learning a good (psychic) reading technique. If you do you will never again be stuck for words during a mentalism routine. Obviously if you consider mentalism just another synonym for mental magic, this idea will not appeal to you at all, but believe me when I say, people would rather you tell their fortune than show them another card trick. However if you are looking for an easy to master fortune telling system with playing cards, check out 'Carotmancy For Magicians'. I have been reading the Tarot cards for over 20 years, and I can do a 45 minute numerology mentalism set which includes readings with nothing more than a pad and pen, but to my mind the ultimate, totally prop-less reading system has got to be palmistry. It is tactile and very personal and if you study it properly (not just canned readings) you'll be amazed (as will your audience) at just how accurate it can be. But be warned, learn your subject because you'd be surprised just how many of your audience members know a great deal about not only palmistry, but Tarot, Numerology, Astrology etc. And what's even better about palmistry is that the majority of people never leave home without their hands. So there you go, these are the three main books I'm reading (again) which to my mind come under the umbrella of mentalism. There are a couple more but they may be a bit too metaphysical for this blog so I'll save them for a later date. Incidentally, you may be interested to know that my Italian friend has never come back to me since I sent him the information he requested. He's probably not ready for it yet eh! Comments are closed.
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