THE BLURB:
If you are one of those who hasn't yet discovered the
ingenious, almost diabolic, manner in which Richard Mark
approaches his craft, then you are in for a surprise.
Imagine:
You show a sealed envelope (from the "Fantasy House Clearing
Sweepstakes") which remains in full view. An audience
participant freely selects and names aloud a celebrity and
three sweepstakes prizes. He is given the envelope - no
switches - to open and read the contents. The letter inside
announces, in typical advertising 'hype', that the
participant is a finalist in the sweepstakes and that the
celebrity named will present one of three prizes - the very
same prizes selected by the participant!
You tear a page from the daily newspaper into dozens of
pieces. A participant indicates which of the pieces is to be
used, takes that piece, and points to a word on it. He opens
an envelope, in view before he selected his piece of
newspaper, and reads the letter inside which perfectly
predicts the selected word!
Secret celebrity identities are assumed by three audience
participants. While your back is turned, each helper freely
selects, from a box containing a large assortment of plush
stuffed animals and gag gifts, a present for himself and
conceals it in a paper bag. Without asking a single
question, you can name not only the celebrity personality
assumed by each helper but also each particular gift chosen!
These routines (and many more) are revealed in this volume.
Many of these impressive and creative presentations have
previously been available only to Mentalism insiders, who
often paid more than this book's price for a single routing!
Richard Mark "...has dedicated himself to developing
innovative routines and techniques...He understands why
certain routines work, and others do not work, and his
thoughts are valuable to any performer of this type of
entertainment." From the second edition foreword by Ken
Weber, author of Maximum Entertainment.
Pages: 176 - Softbound
MY COMMENTS:
I am bittersweet about this classic being re-released. I'm
happy that it's now available for those who've been seeking
and watching the prices on eBay soar over the past few
years. On the other hand, I kind of wished this book would
stay limited, because there is material in here that is
classic.
This 176-page 6"x9" (approx.) softbound book contains about
60 effects and articles. So, you know there is a great
variety of stuff here. Richard's style of writing involves
a brief description of the routine and then an explanation.
He does not give full scripts and leaves that up to the
professional worker to create. This is not a criticism, but
simply a description of what you'll get inside.
I remember when this came out, right about the same time as
Barrie Richardson's THEATER OF THE MIND, Chuck Hickok's
MENTALISM INC, and Banachek's PSYCHOLOGICAL SUBTLETIES.
There were several routines that many talked about and
instantly put into their repertoire. If you don't have this
book, you should quickly correct this oversight. It does
belong alongside the aforementioned titles and will be a
book that you'll refer back to time and again, like the
others.
NOTE: To those with the first edition and want to know what
the differences are with the newer one, let me say there are
no brand new effects included in this edition. For those,
you'll have to get MIND WORK, his follow-up. However, there
are new routines and presentational ideas for many of the
effects in MIND WARP that Richard and other mentalists have
developed. Most of the sections in the book contain two new
pieces entitled Presentational Postscript and Mark My Words.
Most of the new ideas are there. There's also a new
introduction, a new afterward, and some crediting updates.
Honestly, it's not absolutely necessary to purchase the
second edition if you have the first. But, if you're a fan
of the material, then you'll probably want it to find out
all the additional ideas for some of the strongest routines
in the book, which are probably the ones that you're
performing. Which means you'll be probably be quite
pleased with your purchase of this second edition.
