Larry Becker – Stunners! Plus!

Larry Becker – Stunners! Plus!

Larry Becker’s magnificent opus, Stunners! was first published in 1992. In 1993 at the Society of American Magicians annual convention in New Orleans, Larry Becker received the Milbourne Christopher Foundation Literary Award for this outstanding contribution to the art of Mentalism and Magic. The first hard bound edition sold out in 90 days at a retail cost of $235. So did the soft cover edition in 1996 at $100. Stunners! has become a collector’s item bringing anywhere from $300 to $500 and more on eBay.

After ten years it was expanded so that you were able to delve into the many variations, improvements and new effects that were created during the decade following the publication of Stunners!

Stunners-Plus!, which in the meantime is out of print, contains every word of the original Stunners for a total of more than 100 killer mental routines using books, coins, paper currency, cards, pencils, pens, watches, newspapers, boxes, props, no props, and so much more. You’ll get some of the most baffling and entertaining mental effects ever created, all bearing the Becker hallmarks of maximum entertainment potential and simplicity of working. These inexplicable mental mysteries are guaranteed to catapult you to a higher plateau as an entertainer. In addition, this exciting new ebook also includes the instructions and presentations for many of Larry’s commercially produced effects. Even though some use apparatus which are probably too complicate to rebuild on a DIY basis, the explanations, secrets, and performances are highly educational and will make you so much more mentalism-savvy.

You also get the history, secret and performance of Larry’s original presentation of his death defying “Russian Roulette”, an effect that has almost cost Larry’s life, an effect that baffled some of the most knowledgeable mentalists. Larry doesn’t hold anything back in his detailed descriptions. It is fascinating to read how some of his most famous effects evolved from great effects to outright miracles. Interspersed between those miracles you will find Q&A from an interview with Larry. The wisdom will change your life, and if it doesn’t change your life it will certainly make you a better magician and mentalist.

Stunners! Plus! is packed with major improvements to such effects as Casino Royale, Ultimate Flashback, Serial Killer, Sneak Thief and so many other powerful effects created over the decade following Stunners! Outstanding professional stage and close-up material is explained in great detail by their originator. And as if that isn’t enough to whet your appetite, imagine peering into the inner workings of Larry’s many commercial effects. The presentational ideas alone would make this one of the greatest educational journeys you’ve ever taken. Effects like Chameleon Chest, Versadex, Blockbuster, Incredible and Insight wallets. PsiClops, Casino Light, Zenneristic and more.

The Stunners! material is re-typeset and all original art and illustrations are preserved and updated. Stunners! Plus! is a must for mentalists from amateurs to professionals and for magicians who want to make the transition, there’s no better place to start.

1st edition 2003; 680 pages.

Foreword by Larry White

(“Foreword” is not a Larry Becker Book Test, it’s about Larry Becker)

Approximately ten years ago, just before heading out for a “get away” weekend at a motel overlooking a beautiful New England beach a friend handed me a copy of Larry Becker’s World of Super Mentalism and said, “Just in case you get bored with the beach.”

He should have warned me. I never put it down. In fact, I never saw the beach!

That weekend Larry Becker became my hero – Annemann, Dunninger and Al Koran rolled into one. To my mind he’s fully as entertaining and mostly more clever than all three. Larry’s brilliant effects, all wonderfully-simple and simply-wonderful, have earned their deserved place in the genre of “miracle class” mentalism.

A few years later fate chose that we should meet and become friends. Our friendship has only deepened my admiration. And, when Larry invited me to write the foreword for this, his most prodigious and, alas, final book I was deeply honored. So, it is now my sincere pleasure to introduce, or probably in most cases, re-introduce you to – with some embarrassment to him I’m sure – my friend, the diabolical Larry Becker.

First, Larry Becker is not an earthling! He comes from Jupiter, or more likely from someplace more than 20 light years beyond. How else can we explain him?

Larry Becker, you see, knows too much about the elementary human mind and uses these “powers” to totally confuse us Earthlings. (And, although it hurts to admit, “us Earthlings” includes us knowledgeable magicians and mentalists!)

I think, most likely he’s a descendant of one of those “Ancient Astronauts” – but then, perhaps he disembarked from one of the more recent “saucers” or, might it be that, “They chose him to be an instrument of their purpose,” as Uri Geller once claimed “they” did for him?

All kidding aside, and getting “down to earth,” although he and his lovely wife/assistant/confidante, April, are quite emphatic that they are of mortal origin and that Larry possesses no extra-terrestrial, extra-psychic, extra-mental, extra-ANYTHING powers, in this book, you’ll come to realize that Larry Becker is indeed “Extra-Ordinary!”

Since the late 1940’s Larry’s joy in life has been to create “mental illusions,” and he has become a world-class master of the art. Like an Academy Award winning actor has mastered the art of convincing us that he or she is the character they portray, Larry has mastered the art of convincing the public that he is a “mentalist” as we envision one.

Larry’s “tricks” work fast, are powerful, dramatic and decidedly entertaining. He combines such effects with his engaging personality, dynamic presentation, immaculate dress, and command of language to create a criterion for preforming mentalism we must all strive for.

And, that’s what this book is all about! Larry is about to share what his fifty years in the business has taught him and to teach us what he has created. The Becker brand of mentalism. Magic that “might be real” and definitely looks like it!

Finally, for his creations you are about to encounter, Larry has received worldwide accolades. He has presented them personally, in England, Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Sicily, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and throughout the United States. Regardless of language, culture, or customs, these original and refreshing mental effects have captured and captivated everyone, knowing magicians, mentalists and lay-people alike.

His chilling “Russian Roulette,” the highlight of his act (the method revealed in this book for the first time) is internationally known and acknowledged as one of the finest versions ever performed. And, if you question the price of the book you’re holding, I will tell you that Larry has several times been offered more than a thousand dollars for exclusive rights to this one effect – but, he’s been saving it for you.

So, I hope I’ve convinced you that you have a real treat in store as you open the following pages. In the foreword of Larry’s first book, Al Cohen wrote, “Once you’ve delved into the brilliant usable material…you too will become an avid fan of Larry Becker.” I, with thousands of magicians and mentalists around the world, plus those on Jupiter and light-years beyond, know you will! In fact, I’m so certain I’ll leave you with a final warning:

Choose carefully when to turn the following pages.