Unexamined inferences,
misguided assumptions,
and errant conclusions
masquerading as mind reading
Eight chapters.
Sixty-nine pieces of mystery.
One unsettlingly
innovative collection.
“
“How does your brain come up with this stuff?”
DAVID BLAINE
“
“I’ve been waiting years with bated breath for another Joshua Quinn book. Every chance I get I’m jumping back in and smiling from ear to ear at the sheer genius that leaps from each and every page.”
PETER TURNER
“
“If M.C. Escher and Christopher Nolan procreated, and that child fell in love with mentalism, I’m pretty sure his name would be Joshua Quinn.”
DREW BACKENSTOSS
What's Inside
In Immaculate Misconceptions, Joshua Quinn reimagines mentalism from the inside out and rebuilds it with elegantly calibrated ingenuity. Inside are practical methods that feel impossible, fresh solutions to long-standing problems, and deep explorations of routining, structure, and impact. Every idea is pressure-tested for real-world use, yet shaped by the bold, unconventional thinking that has earned his work a valued place in the repertoires of today's leading performers. That's because Joshua understands that the strongest methods aren't the most cleverly hidden; they're the most effortlessly mistaken.
Chapter 1: In Plain Sight
If you simply want to be impressive, revealing a prediction after someone makes a choice is... adequate. But if you'd rather rewrite their entire understanding of everything that came before that choice? Reveal that your prediction has been in view all along, imperceptibly influencing their every decision. These pages explore that terrain.
Chapter 2: Binarities
Who has 10 thumbs and loves binary codes? You, after this chapter! Binary codes are among our most powerful tools—and also our most overlooked, because they're so often cumbersome and misused. That ends here. You'll discover multiple ways to make them cleaner, more deceptive, and easier to use than ever before.
Chapter 3: Cards Against Telepathy
Ahh, playing cards. Useful. Familiar. And let's face it: boring. You know what's never boring? Question and answer cards from everyone's favorite party game for horrible people. Enter these routines: classic playing card plots reimagined with a wicked makeover that HR would never approve. Oh, the humanity.
Chapter 4: Equivocalities
The difference between an adequate force and an imperceptible one is often found in the details. Traditional equivoque and a couple of its friends get a thorough overhaul, creating experiences that leave people swearing they could have chosen any option—while you smile quietly.
Chapter 5: Chunneling Reloaded
Thoughts that have only ever existed in people's minds, arrived at through untraceable free associations, are nonetheless revealed with impossible accuracy. Refinements, extensions, and entirely new applications of the versatile tool that first put Joshua Quinn on the mentalism map.
Chapter 6: Utilities
A varied buffet of practical techniques and indispensable tools to make your life easier while making your audience's experience more unbelievable—each with the kind of unexpected twist that will leave you wondering why no one thought of it sooner.
Chapter 7: Singularities
An assemblage of top-shelf material that didn't quite fit the particular theme of any other chapter, but still earned a place in this collection. Original presentations, reimagined classics, and performance pieces that transport familiar plots to unfamiliar destinations.
Chapter 8: Truth and Other Lies
Explorations of honesty, deception, and the shadowy territory between them. From the familiar and lighthearted to the unconventional and not messing around, these pieces offer an unflinching look at the truth and our often uneasy relationship with it.
Want more details?
From the Repertoires of Leading Performers
"Some of Mentalism’s most exciting experiences are the moments when we discover a new principle. Recall the first time you learned about one-ahead, two-way outs, or the secret of the Tossed-Out Deck. An even better, and much rarer experience is encountering a creator who generously shares new thinking and fresh ideas. Joshua Quinn is just such a creator."
—Michael Weber
“Joshua Quinn approaches the mystery arts with a unique perspective—like obsessing over a puzzle until all the pieces fall into their perfect place. I use several of his ideas every day in my own live shows, so I know they’re strong. Not only will his performance pieces blow you away, the thinking behind them will leave you dumbfounded as well!”
—Eric Dittelman
“You, my friend, are a genius.”
—Jonathan Levit
Who Is This Book For?
It's definitely not a collection for beginners. The material assumes a well-honed working knowledge of the nuts and bolts of mentalism. If you're still finding your way though the fundamentals, the author encourages you to stay with it, and revisit this book at a later time.But...If you understand why having someone peer into your mind to reveal your private thoughts is a fundamentally different category of experience than watching a card rise to the top of the deck...If you've used crib sheets to create mysteries more often than to cheat on tests...If you have a preferred pronunciation of equivoque and are prepared to defend it...If you get more props from Office Depot than from magic shops...If you've amassed enough peek wallets to be at least mildly embarrassed about it...If you get the joke where the Grim Reaper asks Max Maven to choose life or death, and Max chooses life, and the Reaper says, “Okay, so we’ll eliminate life...”If you appreciate nuanced structure as much as clever mechanics...And especially, if you enjoy methods that rely on meticulously corrupted reasoning over procedural camouflage...Then you've come to the right place.
About the Author
Joshua Quinn is known for outside-the-box methods, elegant constructions, and a borderline obsessive fascination with the assumptions that make mystery possible. He’s performed and lectured on multiple continents, and consulted for televised specials and live performances by some of the world’s best-known mystery artists. He likes coffee, and plays piano to support his mentalism habit.
