39 Steps to Mentalism.pdf

The Thirty-Nine Steps

A Mentalists Library of

Essential Works

Recent Thread on an Internet Magicians’ Forum:

Question:

“What book or books are essential reading for someone just starting out in magic, particularly

mentalism?”

First Answer:

“Annemann’s Practical Mental Effects and Corinda’s 13 Steps to Mentalism are essential reading

for every mentalist.

Second Answer:

“Annemann and Corinda are out of date. The best book is T.A. Waters’ Mind, Myth and

Magick.”

Third Answer:

“Waters wasn’t a performer and most of his effects aren’t very practical. All you need to study is

Corinda.”

Fourth Answer:

“A great book for the beginner is Henry Hay’s The Amateur Magician’s Handbook.”

Fifth Answer:

“Don’t forget Larry Becker’s Stunners !”

Sixth Answer:

“Banachek’ s Psychological Subtleties and Richard Busch’s Peek Performances top my list of essential

reading for the modern mentalist.”

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While all of the respondents mentioned valuable works, I agree with only one of the answers - the

fourth. It is the only suggestion that answers the original question. None of the other books are

particularly suitable for those “just starting out in magic, particularly mentalism.”

The Amateur Magician’s Handbook provides a broad based and practical foundation in

the psychology and techniques of magic. While most magic books aimed at beginners start out by

teaching self-working effects, Hay wisely devoted the first half of his book to the “hard stuff.” In

his words

"…If you start off with a few self-working tricks that you can plod through undetected, you may

puzzle people, but you won’t entertain them. Worse, you won’t have entertained yourself. Easy

come, easy go. Familiarity breeds contempt… Some notion, at least, of magical acting can be

taught in a book; but it takes time to sink in. The time required to memorize a self-working trick

is not long enough… The time required to learn a fairly simple sleight probably will be long

enough for you to absorb the acting that goes with it.

"In short, you can learn to do a moderately difficult trick more easily than you can a perfectly

easy trick. On a sleight of hand trick you can’t skimp; on an easy trick the temptation is almost

irresistible. You won’t dare to show a feat of skill that is only half practiced – and this is one of

the basic axioms in all conjuring. "

It is quite possible to create a complete mental act based on subtleties and self-working

effects. Because of this, magicians who have an aversion to “practice” occasionally decide to go

into mentalism because they think it is “easier” than straight magic. Their inevitable failure and

embarassment is a fate they could have avoided if someone had recommended Henry Hay’s book

to them in the first place.

The section on “mental magic” [see note below] comes in the second half of the book and

it is, unabashedly, based on the works of Theodore Annemann. Hay recommends that those

wishing to specialize in this branch of the art should obtain a copy of Annemann’s Practical

Mental Effects.

I don’t think it’s accidental that Hay doesn’t discuss mentalism, or recommend

Annemann, until after the student has “paid his dues” by developing a facility with fundamental

sleights.

As you may have guessed, The Amateur Magician’s Handbook was, back in 1962, my

gateway into the world of magic and my first step to mentalism. It would be another five years

before I heard of a guy named Corinda.

Note: The distinction most of today’s mentalists make between “mentalism” and “mental

magic” was rarely, if ever, observed until the 1970’s, over twenty years after The Amateur

Magician’s Handbook was written. By 1978, the majority of magicians and mentalists who said

there was no real difference between “mentalism” and “mental magic,” no longer held that

opinion. (Basically, this was because of death - Nature’s way of illustrating that, in the great

scheme of things, she doesn’t give a shit what you think.)

Postscript:

Henry Hay (pseudonym of the late Barrows Mussey, 1912 - 1985) wrote his book in 1949 and it

was first published the following year. It has remained in print on the mass market ever since.

When I worked in a magic shop in the 1960’s and early 70’s, I often recommended the book to

customers, but was surprised that very few of them bought it. Instead, they usually opted for

more expensive, though in my opinion, distinctly inferior, books that were not available to the

public. When I began asking customers why they didn’t want the Hay book, then available in

hard cover for $9.95 and paperback for 95¢, a majority answered that their goal was to become

“professional” magicians. Why would they want to buy a book obviously intended for amateurs?

I honestly believe that if Hay’s book had been given a different title - Hay’s Handbook of

Magic, for example, it would today be ranked among the top twenty magic books ever written.

There’s an important lesson here, I think:

While people will agree that you can’t judge a book

by its cover, they do it anyway.

__________________________________________________________

(It saddens me when I hear newcomers to the art advising neophytes that classic texts on the art

are “outdated” – these are usually the same guys who are surprised when they learn that the

latest “miracle” on the market was actually introduced in a 1939 issue of Annemann’s “Jinx,”

or that the actual inventor of the “missing puzzle piece “effect – a current controversy among

those unfamiliar with “outdated” material - has been dead for several years now. He introduced

the effect almost forty years ago.)

________________________________________________________________

What’s on the List, What’s Not, and Why Not

Following is my annotated list of thirty-nine works that I believe will, if they are carefully

studied, provide the student with a well-balanced background and a respectable degree of

expertise in the art of mentalism.

The most important books to me, of course, are the ones I pored over and studied in the

sixties and seventies. They provided me, after all, with the knowledge that enabled me to develop

my own style and approach to the art. And all of them, I believe, are still worthy of serious

attention. But succeeding generations of authors, building upon the foundations laid by their

predecessors, have made valuable, and important, contributions to the literature. I’ve included a

representative sampling of those modern works that I predict will be called “classics” by future

generations.

Some readers may notice that several excellent books do not appear on the list. That is

because this is a list of those works that I feel are “essential” in one way or another, to a well-

rounded education in mentalism. It is not intended to include every mentalism book I have ever

read or found interesting. I’ve included books that introduce, develop, and lucidly explain

important principles, as well as those that deal with the psychology of mentalism and important

presentational skills.

And, besides, the list is called “The Thirty-Nine Steps,” not “The Forty-Seven Steps” or

“The Hundred and Twenty-Five Steps.” After I set the list parameters, I reviewed my entire

library and selected all of the books I thought would qualify. From those I selected the top thirty-

nine. While I do feel that some of the books are more essential than others, I did not want to

engage in the subjective chore of ranking them from one to thirty-nine. They are, therefore, listed

in alphabetical order. I will, though, explain why I think that two books deserve to be at the top

of the list.

Because of my self-imposed restrictions, books that deal with important related subjects

such as business methods, stagecraft, acting, comedy, etc., are not included. Neither have I

included any videos, electronic publications, lecture notes, or single routines published in booklet

form.

My own works are not on the list, although they are obviously on my shelves. I leave it to

others to determine which, if any, of them might be considered essential. My opinion can hardly

be considered objective.

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