Mentalism - a definition

Mentalism is "Magic of the Mind," that is, recognition, telekinesis, telepathy, psychometry, ESP and pyrokinesis among other mind-related effects. It`s one thing to pull four aces from a deck but it`s something all together different to divine how much money a stranger has in his pocket or what the headlines for the New York Times will be the following day.

Mentalist Library

I include this separate article because most magicians generally avoid mentalism. For me, personally, I believe there is no branch of magic that is more mystifying and perplexing. It´s one thing to pull four aces from a deck but it´s something all together to divine how much money a stranger has in his pocket or what the headlines for the New York Times will be the following day. I´ve never had as good a reaction to my magic as when I do mentalism. But, of course, it´s not for everyone; not everyone feels comfortable presenting a mentalism trick.

I would suggest that, as every magician should acquaint himself with a dozen or so card tricks, I believe that every magician should know at least a few mentalism tricks. There are books that every mentalist will need to procure. I suggest the following resources:

Books:

1. 13 Steps to Mentalism by Al Corinda
2. Practical Mental Magic by Ted Annemann
3. The Art of Cold Reading by Robert A. Nelson
4. Sequel to the Art of Cold Reading by Robert A. Nelson
5. Magic of the Mind by Bill Severen
6. Self-Working Mental Magic by Karl Fulves
7. The Encyclopedia of Mentalism Vols. 1 - 3 (Hades Publication)
8. Complete Course in Magic by Mark Wilson
9. Tarbell Course in Magic by Harlan Tarbell
10. The Buckley Trilogy: Gems of Mental Magic by Arthur Buckley
11. How to be a Fake Kreskin by the Amazing Kreskin