Once More into Their Minds, Dear Friends!

Ask working performers, who has created the most practical and impressive mentalism in recent times and one of the first names you will hear is Barrie Richardson. Curtain Call is Mr. Richardson's third major collection of mentalism, and in it he has held nothing back. He opens with the full details for his entire professional act, follows up with dozens of wonderful tricks, routines and tools for the mentalist, and concludes with a unique piece that always brings a strong emotional response and a spontaneous ovation from his audiences.

Barrie Richardson has a reputation for devising impenetrable mental mysteries that float upon multiple layers of deception. This is combined with a disconcerting directness that achieves the effect with minimal procedure and maximum power.

Whether you are a fan or are encountering Barrie Richardson's work for the first time, if you enjoy theatrical, commercial and cunningly constructed mentalism, Curtain Call will fulfill your desires and expectations.

Curtain Call gathers the finest fruits of Barrie Richardson's creativity during recent years and embellishes the material he has been perfecting in performance for a decade and more. Included are many of his most guarded pieces...

• An old key that turns and crawls eerily in the hand. Is it haunted? Is it psychokinesis? The effect meets and exceeds that accomplished by expensive mechanical keys, but uses an ungimmicked key that may be thoroughly examined before and after.
• An ordinary pencil, lying across the open hand levitates in full light. Then, when someone is asked to lift it off the hand, he finds it impossible! Once the magnetic suggestion is removed, the pencil may be effortlessly taken and examined.
• The mentalist writes down a target word. Someone then takes an imaginary stroll through a bookshop, chooses any book, any page and any word. When the word is revealed it proves to be the performer's target word! The person is then asked to concentrate on the mentally chosen page number in the imaginary book - and someone from the audience divines it!
• Incredibly powerful tools for the mentalist are revealed. Among them are some of the most deceptive billet peeks and switches ever published; a new gimmicked envelope that permits the contents to be glimpsed or stolen, yet can be freely handled by spectators; a perfected standing switch of a full deck of cards. All have fooled expert performers as well as the public.
• In the past, Mr. Richardson has gained a reputation for coming up with some of the best and most practical methods for the elusive Card at Any Number effect. In Curtain Call he reveals what he considers his finest version, done with an ordinary and legitimately shuffled deck.

In this book you needn't worry about what is behind the curtain. The reality will be thrilling!

263 pages in deluxe hardcover.

Contents

Introduction—David Berglas ix

Preface xi

Chapter I: A Banquet Program 1

Choices Have Consequences 5

Mesmer’s Pencil 13

My Second Spot 21

The Propensity to Be Influenced 26

Quartet 34

Concluding Thoughts 50

An Unforgettable Night 51

Chapter II: Mind to Mind 55

Zebra2  59

All Gone 67

The Eye of the Target 71

Giuoco Piano 81

Eric Mason 85

Chapter III: Intimate Mind Games 89

Symbologic Revisited 93

A Glimpse of Milton 100

The Devil’s Dictionary 106

Spoo-Key 111

The Bhutan Key 119

Chapter IV: Card at Any Number 123

Impromptu Card at Any Number (Close-up Version) 127

Card at Any Number (for Platform Performance) 135

David Berglas 139

Chapter V: Modest Miracles with Business Cards 143

Zingg’s One-Handed Billet Switch 147 A Color, a Number and a Letter 151

Spooky Writing 153

A Dessert and a First Love 155

The Happy Peek 161

The Triangle Peek 166

Double Deception Billet Routine 170

Anthony Blake 174

Chapter VI: Osmosis 177

The Osmosis Envelope 181

The Happy Story 184

Memories of the Sun and Moon 189

Fourth Dimensional Osmosis 194

Gil Eagles 200

Chapter VII: Hidden Devices 205

Devious Deck Switch 209

The Click Switch 213

Forcing Flip-Pad 217

Slippery Jack’s Side Steal 219

The Stranger’s Trick 224

The Bluff Riffle Force 227

Derren Brown 233

Chapter VIII:

Water & Frost 237

Birches 241

Palmero Ranch 247

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