Matchalot Mentalism

THE BLURB:
Author of OICUFESP, Mindespa and 666 Mentalism.

This is the ultimate book for those who appreciate simple,
self working mentalism and mental magic, done with cards and
other simple items. Over 350 page hardcover book with almost
500 illustrations!

Over 250 simple or self working effects. Matching effects,
open predictions, many off-beat concepts but NO complicated
sleight of hand. In many cases, the presentations are left
very open and can be adapted to a variety of bizarre,
mentalism or scientific themes.

Self working and mathematical magic is an interesting
creature. It is SO attractive because it does allow the
performer to focus exclusively on presentation- on the other
hand, it does challenge the performer to develop
presentations that make it into more than a puzzle.

In Matchalot, Howard is presenting over 250 simple self
working items, usually that involve matching, predictions or
the like. His items use small packs of cards, coins, or
numbers. Many can be adapted to ESP or picture cards- or
many other themes.

In fact, anyone who owns the book will be able to access the
Matchalot Support Page and see how other people approached
themeing and presenting some of Howard’s ideas in our recent
Howard Adams contest.

Howard’s style of writing is brief as it can be. He gives
you a framework of the theme or presentation he has in mind,
and follows a very simple structure of explaining the
procedures needed. His illustrations are numerous, and all
are simple visual references to the props or layout for the
routine he is sharing. Once you are used to his style of
writing, it allows you to very quickly get the gist of the
effect and start engineering what and how to use it. A Word
of warning: take your time with these. Many of the effects
are similar, and if you try to rush through or read them
through in a hurry you may become confused and find they all
run together in your head.

Also, we will begin a new contest soon, and include those
results as well- so, always something new and exciting to
look for.

Several performers have recently made features of these
types of self working effects, sometimes doing them remotely
or on the radio, with various themes that have turned them
into reputation makers!

For those who appreciate Howard’s work, this really is an
amazing collection of mentalism and mental magic!

ISBN-10:1-932086-55-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-932086-55-3

Pages 378 - Hardcover

MY COMMENTS:
The first few books of Howard Adams mostly self-working and
mathematical mentalism card effects sold so well that the
publisher decided to realease a beautifully printed $90
hardback filled with more of this material.

The format, like the rest, is that Howard takes one
principle and lays out a myriad of variations using that
principle. And we're talking 400 pages of this. Yes, there
are some interesting ideas that can definitely be used and
they can be adapted to other types of cards. There are also
many effects with ESP cards. And, yes, I the price does
seem a bit high when considering the content.

However, Howard's earlier books sold well and this one is
already doing so. This book certainly should satisfy those
who like to scour books like these for those great little
ideas that can be applied to non-playing card items. Of
coure, if this type of stuff interests you, then you'll
thoroughly enjoy this.