Product Description

Mind-reading, fortune telling, uncanny predictions and other paranormal activities continue to baffle audiences throughout the world Marc LeMezma, a member of the Magic Circle, opens up the world of psychic magic and shows just how easy it is to "trick" your audience into thinking that you can read their minds, predict their futures and control their thoughts. This book contains 17 tricks that anyone with a little guile and patter can perform, it guides readers through a little history of the subject, moving into the realms of mind-reading, ghostly occurrences, fortune telling and mind control, creating atmosphere, stories and stunts to amuse and confuse. Including tips on what to wear, what food and drink to serve, and how to set up your room, Marc LeMezma also gives information on a growing interest - holding a paranormal party.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9353 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 96 pages

Customer Reviews

A Triumph for Style over Substance!
The outside of this book, which is covered in black velvet and silver writing, is a Goth's dream.
Unfortunately inside the font and illustrations are not at all in keeping with the cover and seem more like a cross between a kid's book and a self-help manual.

The actual writing style is quite bad, though it is at least clear.

A lot of the tricks are essentially fine, which is why I gave it two stars, though I have read most of them in better magic books than this.

A beginner magician would not really be helped by the presentations given for the tricks (overly detailed stories), which are ludicrous in both scenario and audience reaction.
Unless you are performing them on the very gullible or drunk (or friends and family who will humour you), the reader needs to spend time creating their own presentations for the tricks.

I guess these stories are supposed to inspire you, but the way Marc LeMezma has described them means that the tricks as read often rely on the friends (audience) saying and doing quite specific things without any kind of force!

It would have been better if he had just described the tricks and given more general ideas and rules for presentation.

On a personal note, I also have ethical problems with the suggested line of presentation, which the author states to be "lite bizarre magick".
I find the idea that the performer pretends to be a person with genuine psychic talent, rather than a magician, too close to the practice of fraudulent mediums/psychics etc.

Incidentally, when referring to bizarre magick, the author mentions that "the most astounding exponent today is Dr Marcus". According to Marc LeMezma's website this character is in fact his own alter-ego used when performing his version of mentalism.

Unless you want a pretty book for people to admire on your bookshelves, which would rather defeat the purpose of a magic book, then I suggest you pick something else.

Don't believe the hype
I bought this book having read the other reviews despite the wildly varying reactions expressed. Sadly I was let down.

The cover (as stated below) is the first clue - velvet effect embossing which does not like nice at all.

The content then rapidly goes downhill - if you ignore the dreadful style (more later) there are a couple of decent enough tricks in here, though none you wouldn't find in a less pretentious book. There are nowhere near enough to justify the asking price.

As to style, not only does it tell you exactly what dialogue to use (and it is the most patronising you can imagine) but the whole book suggests that maybe magic exists, and this book can help you appear clever to your friends. To me this panders to the lowest common denominator of wannabe magicians.

This will be going straight to the charity shop!

Excellent for the serious amateur mindreader
This is the first book that I feel I can recommend for the adult or older teenager who wants to make a start in mind magic. Comparable books assume that the reader is already familiar with the showmanship that is essential to make this kind of magic entertaining. Mr Lemezma teaches every effect (it's really not fair to call them "tricks") with loving detail - nothing is left out - and he covers a wide range of effects which you will otherwise only find scattered around in several other sources.

The production quality is magical in itself considering the asking price for the book (and bearing in mind the prices of some other books on the subject........) The cover is a work of art - black padded velvet, with silver lettering. The book is nicely illustrated, well laid out and entertainingly written. It includes a thorough index, glossary, and bibliography for those wanting to go into the subject further. But it's the author's attention to detail which, for me, is the most important factor in my recommendation.