THE BLURB:
With a foreword from Looch (author of Simple & Direct
Mentalism) this 158 page book contains fifteen pieces of
strong mentalism suitable for stage, close-up and impromptu
settings.
Contents:
Swami Thing
Looch's Swami Thing
The Ambitious Peek
Rub-A-Dub DD
Philtrum*
WANT
37th Deception
In Dramatic Fashion
Deck Head
Leave An Impression
Thief of Thoughts
Tel.*
Love Hate
Miser's Peek Wallet
Nine Bob Note*
*Also avaliable in Triptych
Praise for Hybrid Mentalism:
"BRILLIANT!"
Paolo Cavalli
"Alex has put some great material and thought provoking
ideas between the covers . . . You would be very, very hard
pressed to buy this book and not be able to take something
of value from it. Great contribution to the community Alex"
Paul Brook
"When I first read his ideas I was delighted in the
simplicity & strength of each effect. Not only that but I
could immediately see within his writings that he was a
worker.
Alexander...has given you an insight into his diabolical mind.
The routines and ideas in this book will far outweigh the
price you have paid for it."
Looch
"For a number of months now I have used his routine 'The
37th Deception' and his brilliant, 'In Dramatic Fashion'
process and revelation in my professional work and
performances. Within a book filled with very clever, useable
and strong routines, I have found this one piece and
subtlety worth the price of the tome many times over, and
this, (without hype and at the risk of sounding totally
cliche) is absolutely true.
Alex has a desperate and sincere passion for his art and
performances which I find lacking in many of today's
students and performers of mentalism. The love is there and
the material is here in his wonderful first offering"
Jerome Finley
"Alexander Marsh is a bright man whose work will provide
valuable to those who want to play it real"
Dale A. Hildebrandt
"A real blend of classic, bold and modern styles"
Andy Kannon
"This is a no-brainer"
Sean Waters
MY COMMENTS:
Here I go saying this again: I always enjoy reading texts
by people who are passionate about the art and adding their
own spins to it. The principles may not be ground-breaking
and revolutionary, but the thinking is original, solid, and
creative. Such is the case with Alexander Marsh and this
book. I think what makes this book so refreshing is that
Alex is humbly upfront about the fact that he has combined
older principles in order to create his routines. In fact,
the very title of the book indicates that.
"Well, there are several reasons behind the title, first and
foremost I personally think of mentalism (and in particular
my mentalism) as a hybrid. A hybrid of traditional conjuring
techniques, applied psychology, showmanship and the tricks
and techniques of mediums and spiritualists from days gone
by . . . You will also notice that the effects contained
within this book are hybrids in their own right. Almost all
of the effects are fusions of psychological gambits,
classical methodology and modern twists."
So, if you expect to find any groundbreaking, game-changing,
new principles within the fifteen routines included in this
book from this, you'll be disappointed. I should also note
that, as an English teacher, it could have used a bit more
careful editing. There are a fair number of spelling and
grammatical mistakes, but not enough to justify this as a
serious drawback.
My only real criticism is that Alexander Marsh can sometimes
be too witty for his own good. In his credits for a
routine, he writes, "Also massive credit to the inventor of
the Swami Gimmick... Mr. Swami Boon I believe his name was,
although he did sometimes write under the alias of Neil
Writer." By this being the only thing he writes regarding
the gimmick, I'm not sure he's doing anyone any service by
it.
This is solid, well thought-out material which I found quite
enjoyable. Professional mentalists will certainly
appreciate the material and probably find a few effects that
will find their way into their repertoire. I was impressed
enough by the variety of the well thought-out material
within this book that I featured Alexander Marsh in a recent
issue of my Journal of the Mind.
