Dennis Hermanzo is back – this time with a new approach to writing mentalism. Structured similar to a novel, The Mystery Man features chapters following the travails of an anonymous psychic entertainer, simply referred to as ‘The Mystery Man’. At the core of this book is twenty super-strong, and well audience-tested classic mentalism routines, plus eight thought provoking essays, all starting on high note with a foreword by Marc Salem.
Those who have followed Dennis Hermanzo’s previous books will know that his approach to making memorable mentalism involves everyday items, a bare minimum of props or sleights, and by using classical mentalism principles, and this book follows that same blueprint.
In this captivating novel you will learn effects and routines for both stage and close-up, including telepathy, blindfold work, Q & A, mind control, predictions and even two-person codes. Storylines are varied, and include his acclaimed effect with roses, some killer headline predictions, and a diabolical Russian Roulette method, all of which will deeply connect with your audiences on various levels.
Hardbound with 274 pages, the book is full of illustrations, images and photos as well as content. Overall the book has been production edited, including a cover design, by Steve Drury and published by Inner Rapport Publishing.
Reviews:
“There’s so much to like about this book – the character of the Mystery Man, the essays, the charming stories that Dennis uses to describe the effects, the originality of the effects themselves, and the practicality and relative ease of the methods. Dennis’ instructions are excellent, and it was easy to visualize him performing the different effects. Even better, I could see myself performing most of them, too. I haven’t, for instance, done a headline prediction in years, but after reading the two excellent versions in this book, I’m already looking for an opportunity to perform them. This book is full of effects that made me pause to wonder where and when I’d be able to present them. After finishing The Mystery Man, I read all the stories again for the pure pleasure of it. This is a wonderful book, and the production is superb, too. To top it off, the layout and illustrations are excellent, and the cover is a work of art.” – Richard Webster
“First of all: It is a beautiful book with a gorgeous layout and a joy to read as it is written in the style of a novel! It is “Dennis Hermanzo’s” 4th book, so he obviously has to tell us a lot, and indeed he has. Dennis offers more than 25 completely worked out routines and several essays of which “The Routine is King” caught my special attention – it is that good and thought provoking. What I like so much about the routines is that there are really coming from Dennis’ active performing repertoire, no pipe dreams, real world pieces of mentalism you can perform. Not so often you find books with so detailed description of the effect itself which is so useful to fully understand the outer “Gestalt”. Here, you have it! The methods he uses to creates his gems are all classical and time tested; and in each routine you find several principles interlaced which at the end creates inexplicable wonders and makes it literally impossible to backtrack a method. It is simply great thinking and superb routining. I see myself using more than one of the routines. But even if you won’t do (and I don’t see why not), each piece will inspire you as the book will juice your own creativity – and if you are in a temporary state of hitting your own creative wall this book will help and inspire you a lot. Dennis’ thoughts and use of “dual reality”, “open (!) preshow” and “verbal staging” (this is so important!) are fantastic and great lessons in general. In his routine “Beyond the Twilight” (one of my personal highlights) you find it all – simply beautiful. So, it does not matter if you are seasoned pro or probably a beginner, this book is for you without any doubt. Several times it made me look in my library as Dennis offers a lot of credits, tips, hints and things which you should (re)read because you forgot about or they faded away in your memory and awareness. I give “The Mystery Man” my highest recommendation!” – Jan Forster
“Back in 2016 a fellow named Dennis Hermanzo sent me a book called ‘Mentalism from Copenhagen.’ I was delighted with the contents as he used classic methods in a variety of ways to create new and exciting Mentalism effects all based on established principles. I gave it a very good review. Now Dennis has a new book called ‘The Mystery Man’ and I am no less thrilled. Within this 275-page book you will find excellent material that uses traditional techniques that have been time-tested over the years to create fresh and intriguing presentation pieces. What’s more, you can take these effects and easily weave them into your own performing style as they all use universal methodologies. Dennis also offers his own idea on the philosophy of Mentalism along with some great chapters on presentation. Like his first book, I highly recommend ‘The Mystery Man.” – Richard Osterlind
“I will say that now this tome in front of me, my mind is blown. Dennis really is clever in the best sense too – not in a ‘ha-ha I fooled you’ way – like a brilliant lawyer he draws you in and then it’s too late for anyone to backtrack.” –Marc Salem
“I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book and was not disappointed. It features more of Dennis’ classic style of mentalism and is full of fantastic content that you can add immediately to your own repertoire. I can tell you right now, if you perform routines from this book you will be seen, as a real MYSTERY MAN too!” –Luca Volpe The Italian Mentalist
