Used paperback bound book in very good condition - 2007 Edition

Kenton Knepper – Mystery by Association

This work is so important we asked Kenton himself to talk a bit about why you need this material. I am passionate about everything I release, but some works are life-works. This book contains one of the most important secrets in mentalism, magic and all artistic endeavors. Like Wonder Words, when this first came out it was not easily categorized or understood. At first Wonder Words sold only to the true insider, and deepest thinking performers. The rest of the world thought Wonder Words was "just patter routines." So it is with "Mystery By Association." People cannot easily explain it or categorize it, but the few who have this work swear that it changes all that they do. We are told that we ought to make magic and mentalism more meaningful, more artistic. We are reminded to relate what we perform to an audience in some way. We are told to engage spectators and have our magic and mentalism be about something more than props or ego. The trouble is most books don’t tell you HOW to do these things in a detailed and practical way. Association is the secret simple principle that allows for all of this and much, much more. You will discover you can create your own tricks, and do so with ease too. By using association in your presentations, you get spectators to stop being spectators. Association actively engages onlookers, causing more of an experience and relationship with your audience. Rather than preach, instruct, tell stories or bore an audience, association quickly and easily creates meaning out of even the most basic effect. The audience becomes an active force in your performance. They do not feel left out of the act. With association, the audience is a willing and active participant, rather than an antagonistic force to be won over by manipulation. Best of all, magic and mentalism can easily be made into legitimate art by applying association to standard tricks and presentations. In a sentence or less, with one object, or less, association casts its spell. Immediate ART and MEANING can be had without hard work, once you apply this underused and oft ignored principle of association. I know these sound like impossible promises, but they are true. Artists and psychologists have proved these claims reliable for ages. Association is the secret standard used in video, persuasion psychologies, advertising, art, music and theatre. Yet mentalists and magicians use it unknowingly, as if by happenstance. We are taught surface aspects or effects of the principle only, but rarely are we taught the actual principle itself. This is perhaps the most hidden of all of my works, as it, like Wonder Words, can't easily be explained in advertising sentences. Like Wonder Words, once you learn what is in this work, it will change how you perceive and perform everything.