A Thought Well Stolen – Ben Harris
$29.95
http://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=56353

The Hype:

A Thought Well Stolen combines two of magic's great card effects - Any Card At Any Number, and Paul Curry's Out Of This World - into a wicked hybrid; morphing them into a mind-blowing frenzy. Can you even imagine what this resultant offspring would look like?

As in Any Card At Any Number, the performer reveals the identity of a freely thought-of card - and its position in a deck - without asking a single question. Seriously, this is solid and gripping mentalism; there is no force, the card is a free MENTAL SELECTION and NO questions are asked. Having read his spectator's mind, discerning his card and its position in the deck, the performer follows with a visual display rivaling the wonderful separation of colors in Out Of This World. Your audience is left reeling by:

1. Your amazing ability to read minds.
2. Your insane skill with a deck of cards.

The combination of effects is mind-boggling and capable of closing any show - be it one-on-one, at a party, on T.V., or in a theatre of hundreds. U.K. card expert Michael Vincent has chosen to perform A Thought Well Stolen during his "Champions Of Magic" season at the Jersey Opera House. That's how strong A Thought Well Stolen is. Here's what Michael has to say:

In the book's introduction, the author sets out his goal clearly:

"A quest of mine - lasting decades - has been the search for a perfectly rendered illusion of mind-reading with a deck of cards. As a close-up performer - who loves cards and mentalism - this effect would be something where the performer identifies a freely thought-of card without any questions; without the spectator uttering a single word. Achieving this, or even getting close to it, creates a profound effect on the spectator. It's also one that ripples through your entire audience, no matter what its size.

"A Thought Well Stolen is 100% pure as regards its intention: the identification of any freely thought-of card without any questions; without any prodding, probing, dual reality or ambiguity. And, without any limiting procedures. None at all. The result is a selection process about as fair as it can get:

'Do you have a favorite playing card?' the performer asks.
'Yes, yes I do,' the spectator replies.
'Okay, that's great,' the performer confirms. 'Don't tell me. Keep the identity of your card secret, okay?'"

Is there an approach any more fair? I don't think so.

The author fully explores the effect(s) in a detailed and friendly manner. Even a beginner can master A Thought Well Stolen because it requires nothing more than "basic card skills." Advanced versions are discussed in the various appendices, but if you can do a single False Cut, or a False Shuffle, then you are in business; ready to astound audiences of any size.

A Thought Well Stolen requires the use of no gaffs or gimmicks of any kind, just regular playing cards. The book runs 40 pages of detailed text covering the simple and beautiful series of almost self-working procedures that bring about the amazing results.

My Take:

One of my all time favorite card routines is X-Ray by Ben Harris and Steve Shufton. http://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=51162  It is a truly devastating effect. I once performed it for the former president of the Psychic Entertainers Association and he had no clue how it was done. So, I was very anxious to take a look at this new release.

The routine comes in a nicely printed booklet with glossy covers. It has quite a few accolades on the back from such luminaries as Michael Vincent (who also wrote the Foreword to the book), Jon Racherbaumer, Andi Gladwin, Paul Romhany and Luca Volpe. I don’t believe any of these performers would agree to his name being used for a product they did not believe in. So, this was a good sign to me already that I was going to see something special.

This trick plays out exactly as described. A card is simply thought of, the cards are dealt down face up while counting through the entire deck and the spectator remembers the position of his card. Using a second deck he and the magician both deal to that position stopping one card early. The magician names the card and the top card of each deck is turned over to show that he is right and both cards match. A snap of the fingers and the next few cards are turned up from each deck and shown to match. Another snap and now none of the cards match. A mind boggling effect.

This is powerful magic and there just is no way to back engineer it. You will devastate magicians and laypeople alike with this. Plus, it is super easy to do. There are a few phases but they progress logically and are not hand to memorize. Do take the time to practice this and become comfortable with it and you will have a reputation maker.

Now for the negatives. It is truly a great routine but this is a one trick booklet for thirty bucks. I personally think it is worth it and if someone performed it for you, you would, too. Second, there is a lot of counting going on. When I do a routine involving even minimal counting, my friends’ eyes roll back up into their heads. And this has a lot of counting. So, know your audience and be aware of this. Lastly, in several places you are instructed to do a false cut. Then in the next paragraph, you give the deck to your spectator and tell him to cut it. Since the spectator gets to cut the deck (several times if you would lie), I see no purpose in making your cut a false one. If you do a regular cut, it will not change a thing.

Conclusion: Absolutely killer card trick. Very easy to do and it will devastate your audience. The booklet is attractive well written. (Apparently Ben’s day job is as an author of fiction so he knows how to string words together.) I am personally adding this to my repertoire (and if they don’t like the counting, tough! Some of these I like doing just for myself) So this is highly recommended with the reservations noted.

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