666 Mentalism by Howard Adams
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Howard Adams has been around for a LONG time, and his specialty is self working and mathematical magic and mentalism effects. I have no idea how his mind can generate these kinds of effect with this much variety, but create he does.
Howard's books and booklets have been released in series (Such as OICUFESP and MINDESPA) and in books by a variety of publishers. The commercial effect "Will the card match" is based on one of Howard's principles. Look at any list of creators of easy to do, self-working card effects and Howard's name will be high on the list. Howard's contributions can be seen in Simply Impromp2 by Aldo Colombini and Howard's book Mathcasts Aspellonu is often quoted as a resource for this kind of material.
In this book, Howard has created 66 self working packet effects using 6 cards each. (thus the title, get it, 666 Mentalism?) Each effect is explained in Howard's straight forward, no-nonsense and to the point fashion and we have left them as he wrote them word for word. You can read a sample here.
I think often, people ignorantly poo poo self working magic because they don't understand it. It is true that you will find NO sleight of hand, no finger flinging and no hard to do gaffs in this book. Instead you get 66 (Plus a few extra bonuses) simple effects and plot outlines that can be done 100% in the spectator's hands! Many of these do not require the performer to touch the cards at all. Some could be done over the phone or through the MAIL. I know of several performers who have used this kind of magic over the phone with radio DJ's heard by thousands and thousands of listeners! To the listening audience, you could read minds or predict an outcome that you have NO WAY OF INFLUENCING.
The material in this book is great stuff for brainstorming and workshops. Sure you can do it As-Is, and with a little thought and personalization, you can take a solid effect and turn it into a publicity making miracle!
We select books for a variety of reasons. 1- We like them. 2- The author's are people we know of and respect. 3- The ideas are just darned clever. 4- There is a niche or group out there we know will enjoy the information.
All of these reasons apply to this book, but there is another. Howard and Dolores Adams are really wonderful PEOPLE! Though I was vaguely familiar with Howard and some of his writings when he first contacted me, I have grown to look forward to our correspondences and occasional chats by phone. Howard and Dolores Adams are genuinely wonderful nice people, and work together as a team very well. Dolores transcribes most of Howard's hand written notes, and helps to edit and proof read them.
As you will find, Howard's writing style is VERY brief and to the point. It is clear, but he does not waste words or ink. His descriptions are clean cut and straight forward, and I really suggest you read his introduction before going forward as I think it sets the stage for how he thinks and writes very well. Howard is also a perfectionist! He is and was adamant that we not touch any of his words. Dolores' proof reading was so thorough, that we didn't have much we could add or change anyway!
So, what you have here are 66 (Plus a couple bonuses) self-working mentalism effects using packets of 6 cards each. You can look forward to 888 mentalism- (88 effects with 8 cards each) down the road as well. Howard has left the presentations sketchy, because he intends this to be a spring board for your own creativity and ideas.
Obviously, one would never do an entire act of such routines… but the simplicity of them, and the way in which they work on their own, means that wherever you do decide to do these effects, you can devote your attention to presentation and theatre!
