The Artful Mentalism of Bob Cassidy Book-1st Ed-Stage Illusion-ESP-PK Magic-NEW!

Description

The Artful Mentalism of Bob Cassidy by Robert Cassidy
Title: The Artful Mentalism of Bob Cassidy by Robert Cassidy
Author: Robert Cassidy
Publisher: H&R Magic Books
Publication Date: 2004
Hardcover
Book Size: 6″x9″
Pages: 290
Edition: 1st Edition/1st Printing
Book Condition: Excellent-Sealed!
Dust Jacket Condition: Excellent-Sealed!
Note: Photos are from my personal copy, this book is new & sealed!
The first volume of THE ARTFUL MENTALISM OF BOB CASSIDY has already been acclaimed as one of the best books on mentalism ever written! In this follow-up second volume, Bob Cassidy has collected ten more of his e-books and created yet another must-have master-class in mentalism! Included in this volume of over 400 pages are dozens of practical and powerful effects, three complete acts (including Bob’s incredible 21st Century Q&A act), invaluable performance tips, and further examinations of Cassidy’s classic routines!
It has taken more than twenty years, but Bob Cassidy, a founding member of the Psychic Entertainer's Association and one of the most influential and colorful creators of modern mentalism, has finally written a worth successor to The Art of Mentalism! When the latter was first published in 1983, it was immediately recognized as a classic in the field and is still on the "top ten" lists of many leading mentalists. The first half of the book reprints his Art of Mentalism 2 (a complete professional performance thoroughly explained) and his for
Prinicipia
Mentalia
volumes. As if that were not enough, the second half gives permanent form to 3 limited distribution manuscripts: Theories and Methods for the Practical Psychic, Strange Impressions and But Stranger Still.
Contents
Page 007 ………. Preface
Page 009 ………. The Art of Mentalism 2
Page 009 ………. Part One
Page 009 ………. An Overview of the Act
Page 009 ………. The Logic of the Program
Page 013 ………. Part Two
Page 013 ………. Performance Details
Page 013 ………. The Psychological Forces
Page 022 ………. The Book Test
Page 027 ………. The Three Envelope Test
Page 035 ………. Card Memory
Page 042 ………. The Principia
Mentalia
Page 042 ………. Part One – Fire
Page 042 ………. Prologue
Page 045 ………. Principium 1
Page 047 ………. Riding the Web
Page 049 ………. Remote Viewing
Page 052 ………. Principium 2
Page 055 ………. Extra Sensory Switch
Page 059 ………. Principium 3
Page 059 ………. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
Page 061 ………. Principium 4
Page 062 ………. The Triple Prediction
Page 067 ………. Principium 5
Page 067 ………. The Phantom’s Thought Foretold
Page 069 ………. Principium 6
Page 069 ………. The Frisian Force
Page 071 ………. How I Found the Holy Grail
Page 073 ………. The M.C.A.M.N. Test
Page 075 ………. Introduction
Page 077 ………. Principium 7
Page 077 ………. The Journey Continues
Page 079 ………. Principium 8
Page 082 ………. Messing Around
Page 085 ………. The Microphone Switch
Page 086 ………. Principium 9
Page 087 ………. The Telepathic Diary
Page 091 ………. Take your Pick
Page 093 ………. Upside down and Backwards
Page 094 ………. Principium 10-
Page 094 ………. The
Monserrat
/Cassidy
Booktest
Page 097 ………. Return to the Web
Page 099 ………. The Synchronistic Crossword
Page 103 ………. Tossing things around, and other ruminations
Page 106 ………. Principium 11
Page 106 ………. Business Card Telepathy
Page 108 ………. The
Jaxian
Phone Book Test
Page 110 ………. Part Three – Air
Page 110 ………. Introduction
Page 112 ………. Principium 12
Page 114 ………. Blind Man’s Bluff
Page 116 ………. Principium 13
Page 117 ………. The Die and the Canisters
Page 120 ………. A Vibration from the WEB
Page 121 ………. The UFO
Page 124 ………. Black and White, and Red All Over
Page 128 ………. ESP Card Divination
Page 132 ………. The Options Force and a Murder Mystery
Page 134 ………. Part Four- Water
Page 134 ………. Introduction
Page 134 ………. Principium 14
Page 135 ………. On Originality
Page 135 ………. The Weird Revelation
Page 137 ………. The Writer’s Ditch
Page 138 ………. Principium 15
Page 140 ……….
Spellbilleted
Page 143 ………. Principium 16
Page 143 ………. Jazz Mentalism
Page 151 ………. Principium 17
Page 152 ………. Rip It Up
Page 154 ………. Principium 18
Page 156 ………. Conclusion
Page 156 ………. Principium X
Page 157 ………. Theories and Methods for the Practical Psychic
Page 159 ………. Difference between Mentalism and Mental Magic
Page 161 ………. On Creativity and Originality
Page 162 ………. Effects, Techniques and Devices
Page 162 ………. The Elemental Disks
Page 165 ………. Any card at any number
Page 168 ………. The
Moleskine
Divination
Page 176 ………. The Pocket Watch Premonition
Page 180 ………. Pre-show clipboard technique
Page 181 ………. The Secret Language
Page 183 ………. The Billet Switch
Page 185 ………. The Open Switch and Read
Page 189 ………. Simplified Baker Switch
Page 191 ………. The Eye of the White Dwarf
Page 195 ………. Brain Busting
Page 195 ………. The Magazine Challenge
Page 200 ………. Real PK
Page 200 ………. The Disconnect in Action
Page 203 ………. In Defense of the Dead
Page 204 ……….
Syd’s
Mystery Restored
Page 209 ………. A Magical Parable
Page 249 ………. Strange Impressions
Page 249 ………. The Enigma of #23
Page 253 ………. Epilogue to 23
Page 255 ………. Interlude – The Reverend Dr. Bob’s “Bank
Nite
”
Page 257 ………. Signed Twice
Page 260 ………. The Art of Pre-show
Page 260 ………. Creating the Best Impression
Page 264 ………. BONUS- THE ULTIMATE MIND TRIP
Page 272 ………. But Stranger Still
Page 272 ………. A Mind Reader’s Revelations
Page 272 ………. Doctor Bob Live and in Persona!
Page 274 ………. A Day at the Movies
Page 280 ………. Doctor Bob’s Opening Routine
Page 282 ………. Doctor Bob’s Killer Miller Caps
Page 285 ………. The Billet Reading Portfolio
Page 287 ………. Smear and Hear
Page 290 ………. AFTERWORD
Review
The Artful Mentalism of Bob Cassidy
Mentalism is an art, and is practiced most effectively by artists. Capitalizing on their own personalities, each puts his own unique stamp on the material he performs. It's been said that mentalism is easier to perform than traditional magic, but that it is far more difficult to perform well." On these points, Bob Cassidy and I agree. In fact, Mr. Cassidy and I agree on many things. Bob Cassidy and I certainly disagree on some things as well. The authors of The Federalist Papers once opined that there are some things about which "reasonable men may disagree" albeit that this would appear to leave out some of the self-styled mentalists I've come across. Nevertheless, when Bob Cassidy speaks, mentalists tend to listen and those who don't, probably should. And that's because he's one of the few mentalists I've encountered who really knows what it means to thoroughly entertain a paying audience. In a biographical account in the pages of this book, he proudly recounts some of his back-ground working in biker bars (an experience we also share), describing the extremely attention-getting opening of his show for such venues. He concludes with this thought: "Never say a word until you have everyone's attention, and do whatever you must to get it." Whether or not this is my kind of mentalist talking is besides the point; more to the point, this is my kind of performer.
The volume at hand, published by H&R Magic Books, is actually a collection of works that have been previously released, but have generally been either difficult to obtain for some time, or at the very least, far more expensive than this quite reasonably priced package. The works included are: The Art of Mentalism 2; the four installments of The Principia
Mentalia
; Theories and Methods for the Practical Psychic; Strange Impressions; and But Stranger Still. In total, the author offers that this represents the bulk of his most significant output over the past 10 years. The book begins with Art of Mentalism 2, which is a later expansion of Mr. Cassidy's neo-classic 1983 text, The Art of Mentalism. This second version is a superb book in itself, and it's probably not an exaggeration to suggest that the complete act described within it is worth the price of the entire volume to a working performer. Here he describes several of his core routines, including his opener (a series of quick psychological forces); a routine revealing the names of a thought-of famous name and famous place; a simple but strongly presented book test; a three-envelope test which is a masterful version of
Annemann's
"Fourth Dimensional Telepathy;" and a memory demonstration in which the performer instantly memorizes a deck of playing cards.
This first manuscript is remarkable because it represents a working pro's core repertoire, developed and refined over years of experience before paying audiences. Anyone wishing to assemble a commercial act of killer mentalism would do as well to study a program of this nature as would a close-up magician be advised to study the Stars of Magic or The Vernon Book of Magic. And any beginner—aspiring mentalist or close-up conjuror—would likely be equally intimidated by the nature of the material in either case, because you're not going to run out the door and start doing such stuff tomorrow. But there is an abundance of practical advice and experience here that makes these routines far more valuable than the mere methods or even the commercial scripts which are included. The envelope test is a billet routine, and I have found most uses of billets that I've seen to be painful exercises in self-deception on the part of the performer, as to what the audience finds convincing or entertaining. But when I saw Bob Cassidy do this routine for an audience of more than a thousand, those silly bits of paper were reduced to virtual non-entities. By the time the routine reached its conclusion he was on stage, standing back-to-back with a spectator, engaged in what was apparently a full-scale drawing duplication with no billets or envelopes anywhere in sight or awareness. And when I saw him teach the memory routine in one of the best mentalism lectures I've ever attended, I noticed him doing a perfect in-the-hands false riffle shuffle and thought to myself, well, here's a guy who's not afraid to do something difficult when its warranted and can strengthen the effect. In many ways, Bob Cassidy reminds me of the late Tony
Andruzzi
. For all Tony's posturing about tradition-al conjuring and card tricks, he possessed deep expertise about all forms of magic, from comedy to illusions and was equally fond of all of them, when done well. Tony appreciated all magic, and was far more likely to enjoy a performance of first rate close-up card magic than he would a demonstration of lousy mentalism or bizarre
magick
. I suspect that, in this, he and Bob Cassidy would have agreed and that would have made three of us.
The impenetrable mysteries of the author's ethical stance notwithstanding, there are a lot of good tricks in these pages, and plenty of utility techniques too. There are priceless bits of blunt performance criticism and insight throughout, to wit: "So many of today's mentalists have cultivated what I call a 'disc jockey (AM or FM) persona.' Others, equally phony, come on like they're either selling time shares in vacation condos, or selling you the benefits of the latest pyramid scheme. Still others sound like
tele
-marketers reading from a prepared script." To which he goes on to note that "Effective performance, impromptu or formal, requires well honed performing skills." And he adds that, "But that's the same as effective acting if it looks like you're acting you're not doing it right. Your per-forming skills must be subtle and being natural is the key."
The author details the "microphone switch," which I must mention has preceded this author, and has in fact been used for many years although not very obviously in the act of The Great
Tomsoni
and Company. That aside, the points about the handling here are subtle and extremely useful. This section also includes a version of the Question and Answer test which is ambitious, extremely clever, and utilizes elements of improvisation that in the end deliver what the author refers to as a "Jazz Q and A." Although I confess I've never been very fond of the Q&A routine, despite its appeal to certain types of lay audiences, nevertheless I will also say that anyone competent enough to put this diabolical combination of methods to use will end up with a result that will absolutely deceive any smart aleck who has heard of the one-ahead principle. I enjoyed reading this, even if I'll never use it. The next section is entitled "Theories and Methods for the Practical Psychic," and begins with this pithy epigram: "Why do I call myself a practical psychic? I cheat." There is plenty more material of practical use to be found here, and throughout the rest of the book, and I will not detail much more of it. There is a lot of work on technique here, including billet switches, billet reading, and a clever take on the window envelope. There's an excellent routine for the "Psychokinetic Pen" that will provide a definite improvement on most routines. There's a routine which should win the award for Best Title for a Living and Dead Test, namely: "Find the Dead Guy!" There's a routine about baseball and the World Series that would have been of great use this past fall, since only a
mindreader
could have predicted this year's outcome. There's material on making gimmicks and gaffs, including the author's detailed work on making impression clipboards. He makes such boards him-self commercially, and most of us will prefer to buy his excellent products rather than go through the trouble of making them ourselves, but the author is clearly parting with all the real work here, and if nothing else that will help you to keep even the boards you buy in tiptop shape over time and repeated usage.
If it isn't already clear, there is a striking quantity of practical, polished, useable work in these pages, from the mind of a creative and original thinker, a fun and engaging writer, and an experienced professional performer. What's more, unlike the insane trend of prices for mentalism material going higher and higher, apparently inversely proportional to the content, the price of this book is a basement bargain. That said, the book could have used the services of a careful and thoughtful editor, along with some more thorough proofreading. Since there are different manuscripts here that were written at different times, it would have been nice, for example, had an editor noticed that red lipstick, used as daub, mysteriously turns to black in a later reference. Also, illustrations do not make their appearance until late in the game, when the author obtained a digital camera and the skills to import images into his desktop publishing. But that doesn't mean that some of the earlier work wouldn't have benefited from the addition of an occasional illustration.
Jamy
Ian Swiss (originally published in Genii January, 2005)
Please examine the photos of this book. I have included photos of the index. I have also included photos of especially colorful, interesting or autographed pages. I will be happy to answer any specific question, just send me an Email!
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