I've had a lot of PM and email requests for more information on my book test that I've mentioned on the forums. Since it was getting to be a pain replying to
all the various PM's and emails, I decided to put up a post here so that I could answer questions. This is not a commercial post, because I don't know when I'll
be selling it, if at all. I'm looking into various options now but price is a huge factor. I don't plan on making money off of this, but recouping my costs would
be a good thing. So, here is the information those of you have been asking about...
A few years back, I decided that I was going to work on various plots of mentalism. I wanted to have new and different presentations that I could add to my show.
One of these plots was a time tested plot - the book test. I wanted to incorporate several key points into my version. One, I wanted the book to be FULLY EXAMINABLE.
By that, I wanted every page to appear un-gimmicked. Not only that, the book had to be fully readable, and actually make sense. No mis-numbered pages, no repeating words or pages, nothing of the sort. In short, I wanted this to be a book that you could give to a spectator as a gift, and they could read it. At some point down the road, perhaps visiting them at their house, you could take their own book off the table, and prepare to read their minds. Not only would it be a remarkable test, but with that specific presentation it would almost feel more akin to mind reading than other book tests, because the contents of the book were already in their mind!

Well, I managed to accomplish that - and much, much more.

I built the book from the ground up, writing a novel that would flow in a linear fashion, make sense, and yet by memorizing as little information as possible, you would have access to just about everything in the entire book. Sounds impossible, I know, but it wasn't. All you need to know is one piece of information - either the page number or the first word on the page. If you know either of those, you then know the information on the page, as well as the next several pages. Specific information, as well. If you know what the page number is they have selected, you also know specifically what the first word on the page is. If you know what the first word on the page is, you know what the page number is. And no, you don't have to memorize 200 word/page corellations. The system is simple. You can memorize the basics of it in under an hour.

That's not to say that you won't need to practice it. You will, for sure. But the power behind this system lies in that the more you use it, the more you can add, and
the more information you can divulge.

There really isn't any limit to what you can do with this test, and there are many other specific effects built into this as well.

Using a passage in a book, a spectator can draw on their own memories relating to that event. Without any questions or pumping, you can reveal THEIR specific memory - not what was written in the book, but a memory seemingly plucked out of their own head.

Drawing duplications are possible.

A spectator can dial a phone number they are thinking of in the book, and the recorded message on the end will reveal yet another word they are thinking of.

There are mini-effects built into the introduction, and author's bio. Beginning and end of chapter pages allow you to divine a word freely selected from the block of text on either page - no questions, no pumping.

One routine involves describing an imaginary route a driver takes in the book - and indeed, diverting from it but still ending up at the correct destination. The spectator can check GoogleMaps and find out that yours is a more direct route than the one in the book.

Predictions are possible with this as well - words thought of highlighted, or printed on the back cover of the book.

To summarize all this up, the possibilities are endless.

These are the props.

First of all, the book. I have painstakingly designed this to look like a REAL BOOK that you would find on the shelves at a bookstore. Aesthetically, it looks perfect.

Front cover, back cover, all the pages in-between - a normal paperback book all around. It has an ISBN number, and even has a price sticker from a bookstore on the back.

For all intents and purposes, it is a REAL BOOK. Your spectator can read it, and won't find anything wrong with it.

There's also a 50+ page instruction manual that includes the workings of the book test, the memorization guide, and all possible effects you can do with this. I was VERY thorough in writing this. More than an instruction manual, it is a course on how to best utilize the Remembrance book test. While Remembrance does have some pretty nifty principles built into it, a lot of what makes it such a powerful tool are the presentations that I use.

When I first got into magic, one thing I read always stuck with me - magic is 10% tricks and 90% showmanship. Upon focusing on mentalism, I realized that mentalism
required even more presentation. Sure, we all like playing around with the latest gadgets and tricks to hit the marketplace, but sometimes in magic you can just perform a trick and it will go over well, with a bare bones presentation. I'm not saying this is what you should do; on the contrary, this is what you shouldn't do. But while magic can have flash, mentalism requires something more subtle, for the magic to truly happen in the minds. That is why I am releasing the presentations I have used in paid performances over the last two years. Sure, I could just give you the book and the methods, but then all some of you would have would be a toy to play around with for a little while. Many of you mentalists would take the book and run with it. However, I wanted to show you the difference the presentation can make. While many of you know that already, it never hurts to provide real world examples.

Originally, this was what I was going to release - just the book and the manual. My reasons for releasing this were simple - I thought people might appreciate it and get use out of it, and I've also completely redesigned my own book test. This is version 1 of Remembrance, and I currently use version 2 in my shows. In another few years, if I decided to either revamp it again
or drop it from my act, version 2 will be released.

However, there are 4 added things I use in version 2 that I felt would make version 1 EVEN better.

Number 1 - Included would be a personalized "receipt" with your name on it. It will look like you bought the book at a commercial store and paid via credit card. Obviously, all information except the name will be fake - but your spectators won't know that. Not only does this give the book a level of credibility AND provide you with a natural bookmark, the total sale price of the purchase is ten dollars and eighty-nine cents. Experienced mentalists will know what that means. And if
you don't, it's in the instructions. Specific numbers could be printed as well.

Number 2 - A list of the major words in the book and what page(s) they are found on is included. This can be used for effects in which a spectator is going to "pick" a
word from, say, a newspaper or magazine. You know where that lies in the book and can make a prediction in the book. This is useful, because you can use up to date newspapers and different words all the time. Of course, multiple other effects are possible with this, but experienced mentalists will be able to come up with ideas.

Number 3 - In the author bio page, a website is listed for the author. This website will appear to be simply about the author and some other fictional works. However,
effects that work in tandem with the book will be posted up on there. I'm also building a forum for additional ideas that can be tossed about and added to the website.

Number 4 - I have found a way of gimmicking the book so that you can toss it to the spectator, have them open to any page, remember the information, and close the book.
There will now be a hidden break at that page for you to access whenever you want. This is not a one-time thing like the Silver Bullet. It can be used over and over again. Also, the spectators can STILL examine the book, and not find ANYTHING wrong. They won't have a clue.

So this is where I'm at right now. I'm hoping that these could be carried by a major magic dealer, but I might have to sell them by myself at first, as I'm not sure what the interest level is. I've never released any products before, so I don't have any name or any sort.

I honestly have no idea what the price would be right now, but it would be under 100 dollars. I'm not sure of the price because I'm still checking out some printing options, and I may or may not include an impression device that could be added to the back or front cover. I put instructions in the manual on that, but I may end up installing them myself, to have a more "complete" package to offer.

Finally, I wanted to upload a sample of the book test, so that you could see the quality of writing and see for yourself how there is no way the spectator will be able to catch any gimmicks. This is NOT a sample of the actual Remembrance booktest, but rather the first draft of it I wrote before rewriting the one I used for my shows. It is in PDF format. I put the first 4 chapters in. This originally was a short story, then I added my system to it, rewriting it a little, and later wrote another 150 pages or so. I uploaded it to a free file upload website; as far as I'm aware, there are no pop-ups on this site, but if there are, and you know of a better site to upload it on, please let me know.

http://s26.quicksharing.com/v/504194/UDBT.pdf.html

If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks,

Rick Orvec