666 Mentalism

THE BLURB:
Howard Adams has been around for a LONG time, and his
specialty is self working and mathematical magic and
mentalism effects. I have no idea how his mind can generate
these kinds of effect with this much variety, but create he
does.

Howard's books and booklets have been released in series
(Such as OICUFESP and MINDESPA) and in books by a variety of
publishers. The commercial effect "Will the card match" is
based on one of Howard's principles. Look at any list of
creators of easy to do, self-working card effects and
Howard's name will be high on the list. Howard's
contributions can be seen in Simply Impromp2 by Aldo
Colombini and Howard's book Mathcasts Aspellonu is often
quoted as a resource for this kind of material.

In this book, Howard has created 66 self working packet
effects using 6 cards each. (thus the title, get it, 666
Mentalism?) Each effect is explained in Howard's straight
forward, no-nonsense and to the point fashion and we have
left them as he wrote them word for word. You can read a
sample here.

I think often, people ignorantly poo poo self working magic
because they don't understand it. It is true that you will
find NO sleight of hand, no finger flinging and no hard to
do gaffs in this book. Instead you get 66 (Plus a few extra
bonuses) simple effects and plot outlines that can be done
100% in the spectator's hands! Many of these do not require
the performer to touch the cards at all. Some could be done
over the phone or through the MAIL. I know of several
performers who have used this kind of magic over the phone
with radio DJ's heard by thousands and thousands of
listeners! To the listening audience, you could read minds
or predict an outcome that you have NO WAY OF INFLUENCING.

The material in this book is great stuff for brainstorming
and workshops. Sure you can do it As-Is, and with a little
thought and personalization, you can take a solid effect and
turn it into a publicity making miracle!

We select books for a variety of reasons. 1– We like them.
2– The author's are people we know of and respect. 3– The
ideas are just darned clever. 4– There is a niche or group
out there we know will enjoy the information.

All of these reasons apply to this book, but there is
another. Howard and Dolores Adams are really wonderful
PEOPLE! Though I was vaguely familiar with Howard and some
of his writings when he first contacted me, I have grown to
look forward to our correspondences and occasional chats by
phone. Howard and Dolores Adams are genuinely wonderful nice
people, and work together as a team very well. Dolores
transcribes most of Howard's hand written notes, and helps
to edit and proof read them.

As you will find, Howard's writing style is VERY brief and
to the point. It is clear, but he does not waste words or
ink. His descriptions are clean cut and straight forward,
and I really suggest you read his introduction before going
forward as I think it sets the stage for how he thinks and
writes very well. Howard is also a perfectionist! He is and
was adamant that we not touch any of his words. Dolores'
proof reading was so thorough, that we didn't have much we
could add or change anyway!

So, what you have here are 66 (Plus a couple bonuses)
self-working mentalism effects using packets of 6 cards
each. You can look forward to 888 mentalism- (88 effects
with 8 cards each) down the road as well. Howard has left
the presentations sketchy, because he intends this to be a
spring board for your own creativity and ideas.

Obviously, one would never do an entire act of such
routines… but the simplicity of them, and the way in which
they work on their own, means that wherever you do decide to
do these effects, you can devote your attention to
presentation and theatre!

Pages 132 - Softcover Perfectbound

MY COMMENTS:
66 mentalism effects with 6 cards. That pretty much says it
all. The blurb gives more detail in case you need it. If
you're not aware of Howard Adams, he's certainly a very
clever and well-respected creator. I'll also note that the
book includes many effects using ESP cards, and many of the
routines can be adapted to other types of cards. Finally,
as you might suspect, I'll mention that many of the effects
are procedural and can be considered by many to be mental
magic. There are some wonderful nuggets here, though.