Book of the Month: Annemann's Practical Mental Effects (with Comments by Max Maven)

[Bob Postelnik]

Thanks, the Solomon trick is very clever and I am sure it is a real stunner under the right circumstances.

[TheFireEater]

Is there anyone out there using this amazing material?

In a word: "Yes!" Matter-of-fact I DID do a Halloween-ish version of "Safalaljia" this past year.

I have also adapted/adopted some of that chapter on Slates... and, you know, slates STILL can be found. More-so, you can Make YOur Own... buy the proper paint.

But, the quality won't be as good.

Then, too, it IS true that 'White Boards' have really made slates seem a bit odd... but if you just go into any toy store, you will find that CHALK has, if anything, enjoyed quite a 're-birth' of popularity... BUT this is in the format of 'sidewalk' usage.

So, MAYBE a BLack Board can still be used without arousing too much suspicion ? Thing is, I just came to THIS topic after reading the review of Magicomedy, so I am rather acutely aware of using a so-called "Normal" looking and/or 'common' object.

I do suspect that for anyone younger than, say, maybe 30, a Blackboard will seem very rare, if not out-and-out an oddity. Anyone half that age probably won't know what they are at all !

Oh, well... Max, you did a GREAT JOB, not just a review, clearly, of a book, but an entire TREATISE on the history of 'modern' mentalism ! Thanks for an obvious 'labor of Love' !

As Maz observes, even IF slates are passe', the material STILL has merits, even if the specific effect needs to be altered.

A GREAT BOOK, one that I often keep near 'The Throne' and will pick up randomly to read.

I would thus give it "Four-and-a-half Flushes" on a scale of Five Flushes. No "Four Flusher" this one !