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The Thirty-Nine Steps
A Mentalists Library of
Essential Works
©2002,2003 by Robert E Cassidy
Recent Thread on an Internet Magicians’ Forum:
Question:
“What book or books are essential reading for someone just starting out in magic, particularly
mentalism?”
First Answer:
“Annemann’s
Practical Mental Effects
and Corinda’s
13 Steps to Mentalism
are essential reading
for every mentalist.
Second Answer:
“Annemann and Corinda are out of date. The best book is T.A. Waters’
Mind, Myth and
Magick.”
Third Answer:
“Waters wasn’t a performer and most of his effects aren’t very practical. All you need to study is
Corinda.”
Fourth Answer:
“A great book for the beginner is Henry Hay’s The Amateur Magician’s Handbook.”
Fifth Answer:
“Don’t forget Larry Becker’s
Stunners
!”
Sixth Answer:
“Banachek’
s Psychological Subtleties
and Richard Busch’s
Peek
Performances
top my list of essential
reading for the modern mentalist.”
_________________________________________________
While all of the respondents mentioned valuable works, I agree with only one of the answers - the
fourth. It is the only suggestion that answers the original question. None of the other books are
particularly suitable for those “just starting out in magic, particularly mentalism.”
The Amateur Magician’s Handbook provides a broad based and practical foundation in
the psychology and techniques of magic. While most magic books aimed at beginners start out by
teaching self-working effects, Hay wisely devoted the first half of his book to the “hard stuff.” In
his words
"…If you start off with a few self-working tricks that you can plod through undetected, you may
puzzle people, but you won’t entertain them. Worse, you won’t have entertained yourself. Easy
come, easy go. Familiarity breeds contempt… Some notion, at least, of magical acting can be
taught in a book; but it takes time to sink in. The time required to memorize a self-working trick
is not long enough… The time required to learn a fairly simple sleight probably will be long
enough for you to absorb the acting that goes with it.
"In short, you can learn to do a moderately difficult trick more easily than you can a perfectly
easy trick. On a sleight of hand trick you can’t skimp; on an easy trick the temptation is almost
irresistible. You won’t dare to show a feat of skill that is only half practiced – and this is one of
the basic axioms in all conjuring.
"
It is quite possible to create a complete mental act based on subtleties and self-working
effects. Because of this, magicians who have an aversion to “practice” occasionally decide to go
into mentalism because they think it is “easier” than straight magic. Their inevitable failure and
embarassment is a fate they could have avoided if someone had recommended Henry Hay’s book
to them in the first place.
The section on “mental magic” [see note below] comes in the second half of the book and
it is, unabashedly, based on the works of Theodore Annemann. Hay recommends that those
wishing to specialize in this branch of the art should obtain a copy of Annemann’s Practical
Mental Effects.
I don’t think it’s accidental that Hay doesn’t discuss mentalism, or recommend
Annemann, until after the student has “paid his dues” by developing a facility with fundamental
sleights.
As you may have guessed, The Amateur Magician’s Handbook was, back in 1962, my
gateway into the world of magic and my first step to mentalism. It would be another five years
before I heard of a guy named Corinda.
Note: The distinction most of today’s mentalists make between “mentalism” and “mental
magic” was rarely, if ever, observed until the 1970’s, over twenty years after
The Amateur
Magician’s Handbook
was written. By 1978, the majority of magicians and mentalists who said
there was no real difference between “mentalism” and “mental magic,” no longer held that
opinion. (Basically, this was because of death - Nature’s way of illustrating that, in the great
scheme of things, she doesn’t give a shit what you think.)
Postscript:
Henry Hay (pseudonym of the late Barrows Mussey, 1912 - 1985) wrote his book in 1949 and it
was first published the following year. It has remained in print on the mass market ever since.
When I worked in a magic shop in the 1960’s and early 70’s, I often recommended the book to
customers, but was surprised that very few of them bought it. Instead, they usually opted for
more expensive, though in my opinion, distinctly inferior, books that were not available to the
public. When I began asking customers why they didn’t want the Hay book, then available in
hard cover for $9.95 and paperback for 95¢, a majority answered that their goal was to become
“professional” magicians. Why would they want to buy a book obviously intended for amateurs?
I honestly believe that if Hay’s book had been given a different title - Hay’s Handbook of
Magic, for example, it would today be ranked among the top twenty magic books ever written.
There’s an important lesson here, I think:
While people will agree that you can’t judge a book
by its cover, they do it anyway.
__________________________________________________________
(It saddens me when I hear newcomers to the art advising neophytes that classic texts on the art
are “outdated” – these are usually the same guys who are surprised when they learn that the
latest “miracle” on the market was actually introduced in a 1939 issue of Annemann’s “Jinx,”
or that the actual inventor of the “missing puzzle piece “effect – a current controversy among
those unfamiliar with “outdated” material - has been dead for several years now. He introduced
the effect almost forty years ago.)
________________________________________________________________
What’s on the List, What’s Not, and Why Not
Following is my annotated list of thirty-nine works that I believe will, if they are carefully
studied, provide the student with a well-balanced background and a respectable degree of
expertise in the art of mentalism.
The most important books to me, of course, are the ones I pored over and studied in the
sixties and seventies. They provided me, after all, with the knowledge that enabled me to develop
my own style and approach to the art. And all of them, I believe, are still worthy of serious
attention. But succeeding generations of authors, building upon the foundations laid by their
predecessors, have made valuable, and important, contributions to the literature. I’ve included a
representative sampling of those modern works that I predict will be called “classics” by future
generations.
Some readers may notice that several excellent books do not appear on the list. That is
because this is a list of those works that I feel are “essential” in one way or another, to a well-
rounded education in mentalism. It is not intended to include every mentalism book I have ever
read or found interesting. I’ve included books that introduce, develop, and lucidly explain
important principles, as well as those that deal with the psychology of mentalism and important
presentational skills.
And, besides, the list is called “The Thirty-Nine Steps,” not “The Forty-Seven Steps” or
“The Hundred and Twenty-Five Steps.” After I set the list parameters, I reviewed my entire
library and selected all of the books I thought would qualify. From those I selected the top thirty-
nine. While I do feel that some of the books are more essential than others, I did not want to
engage in the subjective chore of ranking them from one to thirty-nine. They are, therefore, listed
in alphabetical order. I will, though, explain why I think that two books deserve to be at the top
of the list.
Because of my self-imposed restrictions, books that deal with important related subjects
such as business methods, stagecraft, acting, comedy, etc., are not included. Neither have I
included any videos, electronic publications, lecture notes, or single routines published in booklet
form.
My own works are not on the list, although they are obviously on my shelves. I leave it to
others to determine which, if any, of them might be considered essential. My opinion can hardly
be considered objective.
_______________________________________________________________
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