Books on mentalism or stage magic can be found in libraries, bookstores and even online.
But quite frankly, not every one of them is easy to grasp.
Many of the writers often write in their own understanding and assume that their readers are familiar with the trade itself.
We are going to talk about what some of the books cover and what you should be reading if you are not a master performer yet.
For someone who is just starting out, it is important to learn the terminology of mentalism such as cold, warm, hot reading, mind reading, mind control, extra-sensory perception (ESP), clairvoyance, hypnosis and psychokinesis.
These are often covered in basic books on the topic.
If you are already practicing some form of magic tricks whether out of leisure or professionally, then you should be moving on to literature that cover the technical part of the trade, ie the actual execution of these skills and hand tricks.
Card tricks, sleight of the hand and misguide and concealment are some of the acts that should be second nature to you which means that at this stage you do need to know these.
For those who are more advanced in their learning and knowledge and in fact are doing shows professionally, intermediate soft core skills such as the art of persuasion, mind control, mind reading and manipulation should be acquired.
As for those who are beginners and intermediate magicians, books like "Killer Mentalism Manuscript" and "Master Mentalism" should be what you should be reading.
These cover a whole range of techniques and secrets of the trade such as street magic, mind reading, levitation, card tricks, illusions, hypnotism, etc.
Experienced practitioners should consider becoming a protégé or apprentice of a master performer.
After all, books on mentalism are a good place to start but can only teach you so much.
A lot of the most mind boggling magic, illusions and acts are created out of imagination and a good grasp of physics as well as experience.