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The 16 Best Books On Mentalism
Table of Contents
In this article, we will talk best books on mentalism. The best way to understand the subject is to do some reading. The books about the art of mentalism are good for adding knowledge and gathering introductory information should you want to understand more about the topic. So here is a review of the best books on mentalism to inspire you to learn more about this universe and to find the book that is right for you.
And What Is the Right Book?
Each individual is unique and seeks different ways to learn and how to do it. With this in mind, more than just one book is needed since it is assumed everyone needs the same approach. You can seek to learn more about the history of mentalism, mentalism periodical, psychological principles, modern mentalism, the practice of mentalism, books on card tricks, Standard Memory Effects, or elements of mentalism.
1. 13 Steps to Mentalism - Tony Corinda
This will be a classic read, an essential reading. It is one of the most popular best books on mentalism ever written. The 13 Steps, even with the passing of the years, remains one of the best reference sources of reading for talented readers who want to understand more about it and its fundamental principles.
The book brings the 13 most popular mindset tricks that can be performed at least once in your quest for knowledge, priceless volumes of knowledge. Although many other schemes are not covered in the book, the 13 are essential and must be memorized. They are swami tricks and telepathy.
The cool thing about the book, which makes many people enjoy reading it, is that each chapter is dealt with in-depth, a real mentalism journey. So, it is about how the trick and magical skills work and what is necessary to improve your performance.
And no need to worry, in case you are a beginner in the world of mentalism, this is the best book for mentalists, whatever their level of knowledge and considerable skill.
It is a very precious work that makes it difficult to put its value into words. Many magicians spend a lot of money on investments and innovations every year and forget that incredible techniques are properly under their noses, like in this mentalism book.
However, in the book, some references are outdated, serving as a warning. Because the book was written in 1961.
However, it is a great read and valuable material, and you will learn a lot about the subject as this is the first time you have seen it. And anyone over 12 can read it, whether for beginners or professionals.
2. Encyclopedia of Mentalism & Mentalists - Tony Corinda, William Rauscher
This book is rich both technically and historically. It provides a deeper grounding in the fundamentals of mentalism. The book examines mentalism tricks and how improving upon these aspects of mentalism is possible. It offers a balance between history and knowledge. If you are a beginner looking to learn more about the best mentalists, this book is for you. It is essential reading.
3. Confessions of a Conjuror - Derren Brown
Although this book on effects is not a trick guide, it is an exciting and in-depth look into the life of a mentalist. Author Derren Brown takes you on a fun ride through the pages of his book, making you laugh and learn as well.
It is possible to understand a bit about his life, to get a glimpse behind the scenes and into his mind, offering you inspiration and interest in the art. Expert guidance, witty attitudes, and a positive perspective contribute to the quality of the work.
4. Practical Mental Magic - Theodore Anneman
This book, which makes you see mentalism differently, is easy to read and follow. The author discusses mentalism techniques and tricks to help you perform well.
The most impressive results in a good magician’s arsenal include mind reading, prophecies, card tricks, idea transmission, and many psychic abilities. Theodore’s work in theater brings unparalleled surprises that bewilder audiences with impressive magical performances.
The primordial practices behind these implications contain pseudo-psychometry, which is based on one of the best psychological effects of an individual ever. It also has audience-pleasing means; all are well described and illustrated in the book. It also has information about staging, tactics, patterns, distractions, crops, and confederates.
The book is written for beginners. You will notice that all the tricks mentioned are guided by a step-by-step. This is how mentalism books for beginners are recognized. The author includes 12 mentalism divisions, which are as follows:
- 1 Effects with Billets and Pallets;
- 2 Advertising Effects;
- 3 Necromancy Envelope;
- 4 Miracle Slate Routines;
- 5 Dead or Alive;
- 6 Money Mentalism;
- 7 Predictive Thinking;
- 8 Book Tests;
- 9 Card mentalism;
- 10 Various Mental Masterpieces;
- 11 Blind Reading;
- 12 Psychic Codes.
5. Prism: The Color Series of Mentalism - Max Maven
Even before the publication of his book, Max was writing booklets about mentalism. Which became known as The Colors Series of Mentalism.
These booklets sold out quickly and were hard to find. So the author turned all five of these booklets into one book. However, just like Max’s five booklets, his book Prism is also hard to find, with limited copies published in its early years.
But it is an excellent recommendation for your introduction to mentalism for those who still need to learn about their own style of mentalism. Because in case you have yet to notice, there are several styles of mentalism, and you may not like many tricks.
So if you are at the beginning of your journey with mentalism, at the presentation of mentalism, and discovering your style, you must read this book.
6. Pure Effect - Derren Brown
An entertaining writer, this book is a break from the seriousness many books on mentalism have.
It is a book made for beginners and also for experienced mentalists. Made for those who want to understand more about the tricks and concepts of contemporary and current mentalism and elements of mentalism.
Importantly, this book is focused more on concepts and the reasons behind the tricks of mentalism. It will not offer you a step-by-step way to learn the strategies.
It will deal more with the “why” and “how” mentalism came about. Moreover, Derren tells brief stories of inspiring mentalists and advanced mentalists.
7. Fundamentals of Professional Mentalism - Bob Cassidy's
The book is about the fundamentals and basic principles of the craft. It is a work to be read along with others. The concept of this book is expected, so the background is necessary. The author offers two points that most mentalist books need more, a practical guide, and misconceptions about mentalism.
The misconceptions that the book addresses are beneficial for those just beginning the mentalist journey. Thus, understanding what mentalism is not to be able to distinguish it from other models of performing art.
The author also has a guide and teaches you how to practice your tricks, the art of mentalism. The little book covers this topic, so it is good to have someone articulate. If you are working on schemes, this book will be helpful too.
8. Naked Mentalism - Jon Thompson
This book is one of the most underrated books of all time, essential reading. It received an “Amazon Publishers’ Favorite Book of the Year” award. The book has valuable material of powerful and actionable insights. A strong point of the book is the “Naked Book Test.”
The author divides the book into four distinct parts. The first is an exploration of the whys of psychological forces. Section number two will deal with the Naked Book Test. Number three is a progression into Brown’s perfect coin prediction.
And the last section is on miscellaneous bits and bobs. The book has a glossary that provides a statistical model for the book test and a quantity of data for the psychological strength section.
9. Psychological Subtleties - Banachek
This is a recent book and is a better option for some people. This book is recommended for beginners, is a presentation of mentalism, and is known as a good companion for mental magic, magic tricks, and practice. A read is full of helpful information on performers of mentalism.
For quite some time, the author’s books have been used by many mentalists worldwide as a “secret weapon.” For this reason, these mentalists did not want the public to know how powerful the contents of these books were and the performance material.
In the first volume, the author explains the human brain’s responses that can be used during a stage presentation.
In the second volume, the writer all usable material put together complex and complicated routines, as the examples, he explained in volume one. So volume two contains complicated routines of famous mentalists and magicians. Something that the first book should have covered.
In volume three, there is a continuation of volume two, with even more routines from Benachek and 27 other world minds. Some of these routines exemplified in the book are perfect situations, optical illusions when applied to psychic abilities, essential techniques, and others.
Suppose you want to read only one book in this series. In that case, we recommend reading the first one because it is interesting that they are read chronologically. However, when you have money to invest, buying all that magic warehouse would be great.
10. Mind, Myth & Magick - T.A Waters
The book describes the author’s life with mentalism. He explained mentalism so that, as you read, you can see his progress in the area. Like the 13 steps to mentalism, the author’s work is not easily found.
Mind, Myth, and Magick have 200 effects spells and mind readings. The author includes a review of other topics such as divination, turtle work symbol testing, psychic abilities, direct effects, and psychometry.
11. Absolute Magic - Derren Brown
The book is a masterpiece. More tricks, more focus, more techniques, and written even better. A book you need to read, entertaining reading. The author shares much knowledge and talks about close-up magic interestingly and excitingly. So we can’t help but recommend it, a classic for professional mentalists and anyone interested in performers of mentalism and charm.
12. What Every Body Is Saying - Joe Navarro
The book is the most well-known work of the former FBI agent. It is outstanding work for any mentalist. Although it may not seem so at first glance. The content is beneficial and directly connected to art.
By now, you already know that analyzing, reading, and understanding body language, psychological principles, reactions, facial micro-expressions, and other tips are essential to becoming a good mentalist.
This is what the book is about. It straightforwardly teaches you how to read people, which is how you can quickly identify the main physical characteristics of your targets.
This way, you can tell if someone is lying or not. It gives you insight into what the other person might be thinking and reading their mind during a presentation because the physical attacks will tell you the answer. It teaches you to understand non-verbal communication is then effective mentalism.
The book can be considered one of the best books on mentalism. It has amazing effects due to the simplicity of the steps. Therefore, with it, you can learn more about the body language of other individuals, and it also teaches you how to control your tongue.
This reading will make you a good judge of character and help you understand people’s real intentions. The cool thing about all the information in the book is that you can reveal to another person their true intentions before they even know you exist.
13. Buildings Blocks - Luke Jermay
The author decided to describe his mentalism routines to surprise his audience worldwide. In this volume, Luke gives tips on the fundamental workings of using suggestion techniques and mentalism performance. Luke also discusses the theory of definition and creation and other methods and teachings.
All this and his innovative applications of the four convincers are essential for extending and transforming your performance. So this is a book about suggestions, a form of mentalism that makes it possible to turn tricks into crucial skills.
14. Mind Control - Derren Brown
The book of Derren Brown begins by teaching principles of dark psychology before moving on to tactics that will help you in your everyday life.
The book covers ways to study and understand people and psychological principles, fundamentals of dark psychology, how to convince an individual, deception, transmitting subconscious signals, affecting the human mind, manipulation, and hypnosis.
By the end of each book chapter, you will have learned everything you need to control and influence the human mind and psychological principles. You can also put everything you have seen into practice if you wish. It would be wrong to say that this book is not a guide to controlling and exploring the human brain.
15. Cold Reading - The James Bond
This book, unlike many, teaches principles and techniques to master the art of cold readers.
The texts are written with great excellent descriptions and explanations. It is a good book for both experienced and novice mentalists. The book has received many reviews since its release.
Many reviewers stressed the quality of the book’s content and all the comprehensive articulations of the information. In this reading, you will have all the tools to understand and predict people’s intentions and their true thoughts.
Suppose you want to learn about cold reading and to manage this technique well. In that case, this book is excellent and will be worth your investment.
16. Tricks of The Mind - Derren Brown
In this description book, the author shares insider secrets, how to perform mind-blowing maneuvers and intense tricks that only street performers, illusionists, and mentalists can do.
Although you rarely hear about this book, it is priceless work. We recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about psychological principles, mastery of mentalism, reading skills, the history of magic, and mentalism performance.
The book is very detailed. Besides the secrets of becoming a great street magician, it describes many techniques for achieving high levels of memory retrieval, mind reading, deck of cards, and other mentalism tactics.
Best Books on Mentalism: Final Thoughts
So mentalism is a powerful form of magic because it can fool hundreds of people into believing that you have mental abilities with simple tricks with blindfold reading, for example. There are many books on mentalism and aspects of mentalism on the market. With this list of books, the path to understanding the subject will become lighter.
Reading these books will help you master and learn popular and complex tricks, common misconceptions, and the art of mentalism. And you will understand and know how to practice the tricks, mentalism performance, mastery of mentalism, psychological principles, and cognitive abilities. If the contents could be more substantial online, turn to books.
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