Bend It Like Gellar - Ben Harris
$49.95
https://www.vanishingincmagic
.com/mentalism/bend-it-like-geller/%22

The Hype:

On November 23rd, 1973, the landscape of mentalism changed forever when a young Israeli man seemingly bent a borrowed spoon with his mind on national television. His name was Uri Geller and he’d soon become one of the most infamous and influential performers to ever live.

Bend It Like Geller is part history, part technique, and part review of why we should all be bending metal. This one-of-a-kind book was written by Ben Harris, who has followed Geller’s story and has been one of his closest confidants for 50 years. Besides Geller himself, there is nobody more qualified to help us understand how this phenomenon captured the attention of the entire world.

Every time Uri Geller stepped in front of a camera, it fanned the flames fueling the war between the believers and non-believers. Did he really have superhuman powers? Or was it a simple magic trick? These conversations transformed the simple effect into a global sensation that completely revolutionized the art of mentalism as we know it.

Included in Bend It Like Geller are explanations for original bending techniques used in the 70s, as well as several new techniques for bending forks, spoons, coins, and keys. Ben also shares conversations with mentalism legends such as David Berglas, Richard Osterland, Alain Nu, Peter Turner, Richard Busch, and more discussing Uri Geller, his presentations, and how you can improve your own spoon bending.

Both mentalists and magicians will enjoy this veritable treasure trove of metal bending history, psychology, and technique from an all-star lineup of mentalists, sharing some of their best work, exclusively in this stunning book. Bend It Like Geller is an absolutely stunning book filled with fascinating insights you will return to often.

My Take:

This is the third Harris book that I have had the pleasure to review. This is a beautifully designed and printed book that calls to mind what are referred to as "coffee table" books. Rife with gorgeous graphics (both art quality photography and top notch line drawings by Ever Elizalde. A few of my favorites are the cover which is a shot of a fork with depth of vision set to focus strictly on the tips of the tines and the rest of the fork is blurred. This is a photo that would look great framed on my wall. Another great piece is a painting by Drew McAdam called "The Aberdeen Spoon". It is a pastel illustration showing a spoon to be both straight and bent at the same time. Drew is Scotland's foremost mentalist and also had written an essay for this book. To steal an old cliche, this book is "a feast for the eyes."

The first thing you will notice is the format. It is 11 inches square, not the rectangular books we are all familiar with. When I got my copy I started a quick scan of the pages and had to slow down as the layout is a real eye catcher. All illustrations are of a size that makes it easy to see and figure out, The kerning on the print makes it much easier to read and absorb.

Unlike a lot of you, I was around to remember Uri coming on to the scene. The newspapers and magazine all said that he had been pronounced as real by scientists who had tested him. A lot of kids spent some time trying to move things with their mind. (I remember sitting in church trying to move the chandeliers. I was unsuccessful). They even had a spoon bending contest for kids in 1975 sponsored by the Daily Express in London.

This book will teach you everything you might want to know about the bending of keys and utensils. It starts off with a number of techniques for bending keys. It starts with a technique so easy you will want to try it immediately. It also shows you how to get the bend put in secretly with several techniques.

Of course, the bent spoon takes up the lion's share of the explanations. But you are once again given a number of practical methods to achieve the effect. He also tells you about mechanical benders that you can purchase, However, once this book is read, the gimmicks should be superfluous. You are told that it will require building up some muscle in your fingers to accomplish the bend.

A number of essays have been included by persons who actually perform the bend.

Pablo Amira - Transcending the Phenomena - discusses how to create a real experience and not just do a trick.

Richard Busch - The Geller Effect Meets the Busch Effect. Why it is sometimes good to make an error. It makes your performance that much more real and believable. Learn just how powerful suggestion can be. If you have ever seen Docc Hilford do his ball and tube routine, you know what a powerful tool suggestion is.

Drew McAdam - Coming Full Circle - Reveals the unseen side of Uri Geller showing what a generous, thoughtful and humble man he really is.

Alain Nu - Bending Spoons was a Manifestation - Four reasons why spoon bending is Alain's favorite.

Richard Osterlind - Something Special - Richard gives an autobiographical sketch of how he got into magic and then switched exclusively to mentalism. He tells why he thinks the effect is so special. And if the creator of the Osterlind Breakthrough Card Systems thinks something is special, you know it is.

Steve Shufton - Walking Around the Bend, - As the editor of this book, Steve has a little more invested here than the others. I have seen some jawdropping mentalism from him and Ben over the years. While most mentalists stay away from "magic tricks", Steve (as a magician) loves doing the spoon bend and describes how he performs it and why people ask him to do it again even years later.

Peter Turner - Is This The Real Secret? -   After reading this, you will want to meet Peter's grandmother. His reverse approach to performing the spoon bend may make you reconsider your performance, And he finishes up with a letter to him from Richard Busch who got an advance peek at what Peter was submitting for the book. 

There is also a nice little vignette on the relationship between Uri and David Berglas.

The next section teaches two of Banachek's routines, the Twisted Spoon and the Tine Bend. I first became aware of the tine bend after watching Morgan Strebler's Liquid Metal and it is sensational. The two Banachek effects are taught in detail.

The book ends with a Genre Map detailing the entire history of the effect by year. Very interesting reading. An, of course, a complete Bibliography listing many places where you can go to do more reading on the subject.

To this day, Uri insists that what he does is real and a not a magic trick. I remain firmly on the fence but "Bend It Like Geller" (besides teaching some killer methods) may make you reconsider your stand on Uri's legitimacy.

As are all of Ben's books, this one is a treat to read (or just scan through and see the illustrations). I think that Ben is one of the more intelligent authors writing books on magic today. The three that I have read are beautiful on the shelf, highly informative and each of them is on a widely diversified subject. It will be interesting to see what his next book holds.

In case you couldn't tell, I consider this book to be highly recommended. It deserves a place on your shelf. And, as Ben does, you just might end up adding a couple of keys to your key chain..

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