Secrets of Drtao

THE BLURB:
Three Original Close-Up Monu-Mental Effects Designed For
Walk Around Cocktail Parties.

From the Secret Books of Dr. Tao come three original tricks
of the mind. In this tome the mysterious doctor also reveals
three of his innermost ancient secrets to effective
mentalism. Each lesson is more than merely an outstanding
original effect, it's a lesson that can be applied to
mentalism students already perform.

Desire - A participant writes an item she desires on a piece
of paper and leaves another paper blank. No matter how much
the participant mixes the two papers; no matter how well she
hides them from his sight, without even a glance in her
direction, he is able to reveal which paper has the desire
and where it is! This is repeated until finally the paper is
burned. Although any item imagined was written on the paper
and Dr. Tao never handled it, the ashes seem to form the
desire in front of the participant's eyes!

Twin Swans - Dr. Tao writes a fortune for a young couple on
a borrowed scrap of paper. The woman mentally chooses a
card. Her partner is shown the faces of the cards and
reaches out to take a card of his choice. It is the same
card as that in his girlfriend's mind! And the fortune also
has the name of the mentally chosen card written on it.

Bound Blossoms - Dr. Tao shows a large red envelope. A man
goes through a borrowed deck of cards one at a time. A woman
goes through a handful of page corners cut from a magazine.
A third woman tells them both when to stop. The red envelope
is opened. Inside is a sealed yellow envelope. A member of
the audience removes a folded sheet of paper. Written on it
in large black writing is a prediction containing the chosen
page number and the chosen card! Everything is examinable!
And with the exception of the prediction, can be borrowed.

Each trick is a reputation maker, specially design by Dr.
Tao to be used at cocktail parties or banquets.

But there is much more to this little book than just three
fine mentalistic tricks. The lessons hold ancient secrets
that demonstrators of true mystery must know. Most of the
secret books of Dr. Tao were lost, but in a dusty bookshop
in Chinatown, Docc Hilford has uncovered Volume IX, Book 6
in this monu-MENTAL series.

"And after all is said and done, it's really all a lot of
fun."
-Dr. Tao

Pages - 28 - Saddle Stitched

MY COMMENTS:
I don't think I have to tell you that the bit about the
secret books in a dusty bookshop is a cute conceit. In
other words, I'm fairly certain you'll be searching
hopelessly for a very long time if you try to search the
internet for the rest of Dr. Tao's lost books, or even Dr.
Tao himself. I think that the intelligent person won't
criticize Docc for using this creatively fun approach to
presenting this material and not hold it against him as
additional proof of his advertising deceits.

As stated in the blurb, the three effects are designed to be
used at cocktail parties or banquets. Each of the three
effects also teaches a particular technique: reverse value,
repeated action, and control placement, respectively. These
aren't new techniques, but ones that bear continued studying
as they certainly add quite a bit to the effectiveness of a
mentalism routine, and more so in their use when one creates
new routines and presentations. The effect themselves are
quite solid, and I'd expect no less from Docc Hilford.

The blurb is pretty accurate. However, for the record,
these effects are not all suitable for walkaround and are
stated as such in the introduction. "Desire" works best at a
table, "Twin Sans" works best with a small group sitting or
standing, and "Bound Blossoms" is essentially a
parlour/stage effect. So there is a variety of types of
effects and, as such, you may or not find all three
effects which suit your style, but they are all certainly
worthy of study. As with the rest of Docc's booklets, this
is a saddle stitched, 8.5" x 5.5", 28-page booklet. And,
admittedly I'm biased towards Docc's work. I think he's one
of mentalism's greatest thinkers and creators. It should be
no surprise then that I recommend this.