Fundamentals

THE BLURB:
The foundations of mentalism. Acclaimed as "a definitive
resource for all who are interested in mentalism and
probably for most in magic generally." Bob's list of 39 most
important books to read, which is included in this ebook, is
by itself hugely valuable, because you not only get a list
of books but the reasons why each one of them is so
important. This allows you to judge for yourself if you
should read a particular book or not. Fundamentals can be
seen as Bob's extraction of the most important concepts from
these 39 books.

1st edition 2002; updated 2005; 89 pages

MY COMMENTS:
Without a doubt, if I had to pick one e-book from Bob
Cassidy that every mentalist must have, it's this one.
Granted, experienced mentalists may already know much of
what's here in terms of theory, but there's also some
incredibly insightful routines, as well as a reference to
Bob's most important books in mentalism. And, before I go
any further, I want to thank profusely Chris Wasshuber for
making this easily available to the mentalism and magic
community.

For some reason, I had mistakenly thought the material in
this e-book was reprinted in The Artful Mentalism of Bob
Cassidy. Though some of the discussions on principles and
the philosophy of mentalism are discussed there, most of it
is not. Important topics covered include a history of
mentalism, presentational principles, rehearsing for
mentalists, the 30 second rule, the persona and the
subscript. All of these topics are essential to the
successful working mentalist and many of these can also be
transferred and used by working magicians, as well. He also
discusses how each different type of mentalist (telepathist,
body language expert, human lie detector, remote viewer,
clairvoyant, spiritualist, psychokinetic, hypnotist) can
make an effect unique and provides exercises to help doing
this.

Another invaluable section is a discussion of "An Essential
Secret." In this section, Cassidy relates an anecdote of a
mentalist who performs just one routine. He selects one
individual and performs a classic book test. This situation
is discussed at length and Cassidy reveals just why this
wasn't a memorable or effective routine. He discusses a few
key points which are essential to performing mentalism
effectively and which anyone who performs mentalism should
be aware of.

Oh, yeah, I did say that there were some effects in here,
too. And though the effects are quite good (some of
Cassidy's best, in fact), each of these routines is used to
illustrate very important principles and ideas in performing
mentalism. One effect is "Scary Movie Routine," which
features the Bulldog Deck. A movie is selected from among a
bunch of cards that contain movie titles. The performer
reveals the movie's title. "Shuttled Newspaper Test" is a
great impromptu newspaper effect that involves tearing up a
freely selected page into sixteen pieces. The participant
chooses one and selects any word printed on that piece. The
performer reveals it.

"Get the Lead Out" addresses the old plot of having a
participant write down five items, the first of which is the
selected items. The performer reveals that item. Cassidy
supplies a neat sure-fire method for this effect. "Three
Canisters and a Bill" is an effect which I saw Cassidy
perform and explain during a lecture many years ago. It's a
great little item involving with multiple revelations, such
as a bill's serial number. Finally, "A Startling Thought
Reading Effect" is a very strong mental card effect.

One of my favorite sections is Cassidy's discussion about
making miracles from cheap, classic effects. In this
instance, he discusses the classic Princess Card Trick.
Sadly, this effect has been ripped off and marketed and
re-marketed and is sold by many dealers for just a couple of
bucks. The instructions are never good and if performed as
written it becomes simply a cute puzzle. Like many of the
effects found in basic magic kits, the proper handling can
make this a miracle and Cassidy explains what is needed to
do this.

Though a good third of this e-book devotes space to
discussing classic texts of mentalism, the book as a whole
contains invaluable information that any mentalist could
use. This is truly a must-have e-book and is on my short
list of recommendations of books that any mentalist,
especially a beginning mentalist, should have and read.