Title: Mind Sight
Author: Andreu
Publicist: Andreu Fajardo Bermudez
Retail Price: $75.00 USD
Reading Difficulty: Easy
Length of Book: 74 Pages
Notes: All TV performance rights for all material inside the book is reserved by and for the author.
Features:
• Paper Back
• Gimmick Cards
Mindsight is a book by mentalist Andreu Bermudez and teaches some powerful mind reading style mentalism routines that can be done on stage and play to a big audience using only minimal of props. The effects in this short book appear to the spectator to be probably one of the closest things to real mind reading they’ll ever experience.
The first routine in the book that is explored is a game of 20 questions similar to what Derren Brown performs. In fact Brown, along with Devin Knight, and Leo Boudreau are credited as being an inspiration for this particular routine being created. This routine Andreu calls “Direct Mindreading Masterpiece” starts with a spectator mentally choosing one of forty different objects to hold in their hand. After a short amount of time the mentalist knows the position of the object, and what it is.
The method used for Andreu’s DMM is a cleaver combination of methods and the principle will repeat itself throughout the book. I can tell you this: You won’t need a stooge, and there is no duel reality. Nothing is written down or spoken by the participant. Andreu gives you not only the method but also the script to follow as well. The bonus gimmick cards that come with the book look nice, and also help in the routine.
Without giving away the workings of this routine, and others like it explained in the book, I can say that Andreu provides you with multiple options for handlings. Some of the handlings are a lot harder and less guaranteed with the results, while others guarantee 100% accuracy but sacrifice a little in how you handle things. With all the options presented, one of the options will work for you.
Real ESP. With this routine, still using the same principles as you learn in DMM you present to the audience five ESP symbols. The spectator mentally chooses one of them, and without saying anything you’re able to divine which one they are thinking of. There is no force and it’s not a progressive anagram.
Senti Mental: With the Senti Mental routine the mind reader mentions several emotions, and explains how we’re able to connect to some of them more powerfully than others. The participant thinks of an emotion he actually felt within a couple days or so, and the performer is able to correctly identify what the participant is thinking.
Secreto Arcano: Without having to verbally answer any questions the performer is able to correctly divine a spectators thought of Zodiac sign with impossible accuracy.
All of the routines in the book, using the same principles, provide for some powerful mind reading experiences. This entire book is a good exercise in performing stage quality mentalism with minimal props. There is a lot of scripting involved, and a strong emphasis placed on skill as a performer to deliver this material in a way that is fun and entertaining without being dry and boring, but if done right this should be some really powerful bits of mind reading you may ever do.
There’s a lot to be learned from Andreu’s system. It can be applied to many different types of presentations, and if you study, practice, and rehearse all the material in this book then you’ve got a solid thirty minute mentalism act without having to really do anything else. The drawback comes at the price tag. You’re paying $75 bucks for a paperback book that has a couple mentalism routines in it all using the same principle. If you end up not liking the principle outlined in the book, you’re out a fair amount of change. If you’re into mentalism, this very well maybe something you’re going to want to read up on. If you’re just looking for the next quick thing to learn to do for friends, then you may want to pass on this.
When I give my product scores below I am measuring them on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 Being absolute the worst score possible, and 10 being the absolute best, making a score of five average. The four points that I grade upon is Product Quality, Teaching Quality, Readability and Overall Quality.
Product Quality: 5
The price is steep for a book this size and with only a couple routines in it. Granted it’s a virtual study in its own right on the principles being used, but at $75 dollars this is only going to appeal to serious performers of mentalism.
Teaching Quality: 6
There are lots of charts and tables that make learning the system easier. There are also multiple handlings so you can find what works for you with relative ease.
Readability: 7
I found the book to be a pretty quick read.
Over All Quality: 6
I wouldn’t recommend this to the person with a passing interest, just because the price is too steep, but if you are a student of mentalism, or a performer of such things then this maybe something you’ll want to pick up. It’s a good study in the use of the principles in play while performing these routines.