"Feckin' Spiders" ebook by Andy Regnauld
Suggested Retail BPS£14.99
Available direct from Andy Regnauld
In a Blink: 8 Out of 10

Andy Regnauld has put together a selection of 29 effects covering a wide spectrum of mentalism and mental magic, combining refreshing new examinations of classics with original thinking. This is a great sourcebook for mentalists looking for inspiration as well as being good to go in its own right.

The effects are varied, from a Russian roulette routine using a child's “cap” gun to mental card tricks, but it's also clear that the material has been worked through and performed. This lends a “matured” feel to the work.

Each effect comes with background and attributions where required, complete preparation details, a fully scripted routine, extra subtleties, and even why the effect works in cases where that's needed. Where gaffs are required, there are also black and white illustrations at critical points in the description of how to construct them.

Where the material is classic in origin, the original thinking Andy brings to bear provides an interesting twist. “Saints and Sinners”, for instance, is Andy's take on Paul Curry's “Out of this World”. It uses pictures of people cut from newspapers, with either SAINT or SINNER written across the back, to which is also pasted the first few paragraphs of the news story that accompanied the picture on the front.

Is this a rehash of old ideas? No. It's a rejuvenation of some classic thinking with some new thoughts. But why is it called “Feckin' Spiders”? Other than a rather a rather angry looking tarantula on the front cover, there's no clue. Checking with the author, he said: “It has absolutely nothing to do with anything in the book. I suppose I could have put 'The mental magic of...' or whatever, but that would be boring. Its something someone I know always says when he is surprised by something.”

So, now you know!

"Feckin' Spiders" ebook by Andy Regnauld
In a Blink: 8 Out of 10

Material: 9
Good, solid, and varied mentalism and mental magic. There's nothing too difficult here. Learn it, practice it, and perform it.

Quality: 8
The quality of the effects is without doubt. Based on so many classics, it delivers a large number of fresh angles and well-worked material. Andy's writing is clear, the descriptions are logical and thorough and, despite the comic sans font of the main text, is easy to read.

Illustrations: 7
Illustrations are black and white, and clear enough to illustrate the point being made.

Presentation: 8
Watch out arachnophobes! There's a big spider on the front cover (a Chile Rose if I'm not mistaken, raising its front paws and baring its fangs for the camera). It's also good to see material presented in a large format soft back book (180 pages), which makes annotating the text easier.

Jon Thompson