The Progressive Kicker

“This is an exceptionally strong book test I have ever seen!”
Jack Goldfinger, Entertainment Director at the world-famous Magic Castle

A book test is one of the strongest demonstrations in mentalism: a participant thinks of a word on a page, and you reveal the word they’re thinking of. Michael O’Brien’s Progressive Book Test is easy to use, requires no memorization, and offers multiple applications for the working performer.

Michael structured these books so the methods are clear and intuitive. You can divine any word your participant thinks of without fishing, guessing, or asking a long series of questions. The book tells you the word your spectator is thinking of, and it’s easy enough for them to navigate without feeling pressured onstage.

Many book tests require you to memorize a set of words, which can be difficult under performance pressure or while concentrating on your presentation. With the Progressive Book Test, there is nothing to memorize. The book tells you exactly which words your participants are thinking of.

Mind-reading can become repetitive, so the Progressive Book Test includes multiple routines and variations across several popular book titles. Perform the routines individually or link them into a coherent sequence that progresses from one effect to the next, increasing the impossibility and excitement.

The introduction of “The Kicker Book Test” opens up additional possibilities with a customized experience you can create for your audience. Predict a word before the spectator chooses it, shoot a bullet hole through a page, make a page vanish, and more. All of this can be done completely hands-off.

What methods are included?

• Flashback: Know the first word on any page without forcing the page or knowing the page number.
• Flashforward: Know a word on the first line of the next page, again without forcing the page or knowing the page number.
• Inception: Instead of fishing for a thought-of word, plant the word you want in the spectator’s mind. Surefire, simple, and clean.
• Any Word on Any Page: Let the spectator choose a word from anywhere in the book. You don’t even need to hold the book, and the effect can be performed completely hands-off. There is no peeking, forcing, or guessing, and you can be in another room when the word is chosen.
• The Progressive Book Test: Use a single book to divine three thought-of words from three different parts of the book at once. There is no fishing, forcing, or guessing. You instantly know all three words as soon as the spectator chooses a page, with each word becoming progressively more difficult to know.
• Tossed Out Book: Toss out one or more books and read the minds of six spectators at once. Nothing needs to be memorized, and the words can be chosen from anywhere on the page, making this a clean Tossed Out Book routine.
• Hands-Free Forcing: Force a word or a specific page without touching the book.
• The Kicker Ending: Reveal a thought-of word without asking a single question, predict a thought-of word before it is chosen, shoot a bullet or arrow through the spectator’s word, make a page vanish and appear in an impossible location, and more.

Creator’s Note: I truly hope you enjoy these books and find inspiration in them, just as I did. Huge shout-out to Josh Zandman and Kaleb Wade for their contributions and inspiration for the project you see before you.