Found a new interest in mentalism?
Want to learn more about it?
If only there was a book for dummies that will help you.
Well, there is!
The Mind Magic and Mentalism for Dummies is a book that focuses on teaching budding mentalists about how tricks work and how to perform them. It has both conceptual and practical exercises.
However, we know that not everyone is willing to shell out money for a book that they’re not sure about. This is why, here, we’re going to give you an in-depth review of Mind Magic and Mentalism for Dummies book.
Let’s get started!
Mind Magic and Mentalism for Dummies: A Book Overview
The Mind Magic and Mentalism for Dummies was written by James Clark for one purpose – to introduce mentalism and magic tricks to beginners.
This includes teaching you the main concepts of tricks, how they are performed, and how you can project your act in front of an audience.
Even if you know very little about mentalism, you’ll learn more about it in the book.
Although you won’t be an advanced mentalist after reading this book, it does have a few lessons on how to better understand human psychology, which is a foundation of mentalism.
What’s more, this book includes the most common tricks done in performances and what materials you’ll need to be able to do them yourself.
So it’s basically a how-to guide and a crash course on starting your mentalism journey.
You can find this book in a paperback or e-book version. Part of the package is CDs showing several tricks and a few tutorials. If you’re buying an e-book, you can access these with a link after you’ve purchased it.
Mind Magic and Mentalism for Dummies: About the Author
James L. Clark is a jack-of-all-trades individual. He’s known to wear a lot of hats – author, humanitarian, adventurer, producer, and speaker.
He has a Masters of Global Security in the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. He has also pursued law school.
To top it off, he’s a practicing mentalist, hence, he was able to author the book we’re talking about now.
James L. Clark has done several mentalist performances for private events and business conferences. His natural talent for captivating the crowd has been very useful in engaging them in various mind-boggling tricks.
During the times he doesn’t do shows, James can be seen doing humanitarian deeds.
He sometimes helps in in-field emergency assistance and those affected by typhoons or struck by hunger in other countries.
Mind Magic and Mentalism for Dummies: A Book Review
Now, let’s review the actual book. We’ll look at its:
- Content
- Depth of discussion
- Ease of reading
Content
As the title suggests, this book is made for beginners and not advanced mentalists. So we don’t recommend this book to people who have been practicing for a few years.
However, if you are a beginner, we have to warn you that some tricks are not as easy as they are described.
It’s more like a compilation of popular magic and mentalism tricks rather than a compilation of easy starter tricks that you can do at home.
Nonetheless, the number of tricks you can practice is enough for you to be able to do an act or two.
It’s also helpful that all the tricks discussed in the book are supplemented by a DVD.
The DVD gives you a better idea of how to present your tricks to an audience. And until you see it on screen, the concepts in this book could be a little difficult to visualize.
Depth of Discussion
Marketed as both a magic and mentalism beginner’s book, it’s a disappointment that the exposure of mentalism wasn’t equal to that of magic.
There are more discussions on magic tricks and how they are done, rather than on the psychology of why mentalism works.
For new mentalists, this topic could have been advantageous in teaching the foundations of mentalism. Unfortunately, it wasn’t talked about as much as a lot of us hoped.
However, we can say that when it comes to learning about showmanship, James L. Clark did an impressive job in making it comprehensive and easy to learn.
Ease of Reading
Even if you have no idea what mentalism means, the writing of the author makes the concept easy to understand.
James L. Clark uses very conversational English so there’s no need to worry about being lost in all the mentalism jargon.
Since this isn’t a fiction book, don’t expect colorful language to fill the pages. Rather, you’ll be greeted with tutorials, bulleted and numbered how-to’s, and a commanding narration of magic and mentalism.
Moreover, we found that the best way to go around this book is to read the concepts and understand them first before practicing the tricks.
And when you practice the tricks, do them one-by-one and watch the supplementary videos on the DVD so that you can see how they are performed.
It’s also a great practice for you to take time in going through this book. This is because a big part of getting the most out of it is by practicing the tricks as they are discussed.
Mind Magic and Mentalism for Dummies: The Pros and Cons
Of course, it isn’t a perfect book. And so we’re here to tell you the pros and cons of buying this book.
Pros
- Comes with a free DVD
- An in-depth explanation on how to do popular magic and mentalism tricks
- Easy to understand
Cons
- Not meant for advanced magicians and mentalists
- Some tricks are not originally from James L. Clark
- Does not have an equal focus for both magic and mentalism
Conclusion
Overall, Mind Magic and Mentalism for Dummies is just an introduction to the complex world of mentalism and magic.
While this book covers a lot of tricks and even teaches you how to better present them, it does not go deeply into the concepts of mentalism.
So if you’re already experienced in mentalism, this book might not give you the depth that you’re looking for.
But if you’re only starting out and you’re looking for other sources than YouTube, we’d say this is a great resource. You should definitely give it a read!