“There is too much good stuff in here for me to list. When you read Blessed by Demons it feels like a gift.”

“This book definitely lived up to expectations. Kaleb in my opinion, has already become a pioneer in mentalism. This is going to be an instant classic.”

“Kaleb is a worker. It’s the highest compliment I ever give anyone in the mentalism / magic community. Because a worker needs to deliver hard hitting, direct effects that have a real and measurable impact on paying audiences. This book is FULL of these type of effects and routines. Kaleb knows from experience how to get the most out of every effect he performs and this book is a distillation of that knowledge. He shares his full close-up and full stage show; all the details, no holds barred. All the material is top-notch, but more than that, this is a book about a worker and why he does this material and why he’s made the choices he has. I highly recommend it.”

“Best book I’ve read in…well, today. Just kidding, read it yesterday. Kidding again, lol. Blessed by Demons is the best mentalism book I’ve read in a while. It’s obvious Kaleb has worked this material extensively. And not only that: there are a bunch of routines in here I’ve already marked to try in performance as soon as possible (which for me is a rare thing when it comes to other people’s material). Exciting yet solid stuff - highly and fullheartedly recommended!”

“Kaleb is a rare breed in the mentalism world. He manages to create and perform hard hitting mentalism that is NOT boring! It’s not boring but he also doesn’t make it comedic (which is the only way I manage to make mentalism “not boring”).”

“If you’re new to his work, this book makes it obvious why he’s developing a reputation. If you already know what he’s released before, you’ll see how much further he’s pushed things here.”

“Blessed by Demons is a great book on close-up and stage mentalism. I think any performer will find something solid to add to their repertoire. The routines include full scripts, and the essays are a really nice touch too. Well done, my friend!”

“Blessed By Demons is an exciting new release from Kaleb Wade, an independent and somewhat underground creator based in the UK. The book is structured into two distinct sections. The first half is dedicated to intimate, close-up, and casual effects, while the second half scales up to focus on routines designed for parlour or stage performances. 

As a close-up performer, I found the most value packed into the first part of the book. My favourite effect, Secventa, is a masterclass in construction. It cleverly utilises a simple, classic method to accomplish a routine that feels truly impossible and impressive to participants.

This and other effects such as ISP, Slither, and Death By Acid, showcase Wade’s ability to layer classic methodology with modern subtleties and psychological ruses. The result is mentalism that is incredibly easy for an audience to follow, yet almost impossible for them to deconstruct.

Beyond the strong material, the physical book itself is a joy to read. The routines are written clearly and are easy to digest, and it is beautifully presented, featuring clean, helpful drawings wherever visual clarification is required.

Whether you are looking for hard-hitting strolling or casual material, or mind-reading that plays to the back of a room, Blessed By Demons is a fantastic addition to any mentalist’s library. Kaleb Wade proves that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to create powerful mentalism; you just need to know how to spin it in exciting new ways.”

“Kaleb Wade is an excellent creator of modern mentalism that genuinely works in the real world. I’ve used several of his effects over the years, and one of them is currently part of my stage show. Beyond that, he’s also a strong creative thinker, one of his ideas even helped inspire the finale of my show.

Blessed By Demons is packed with tried-and-tested, workable material you can take straight into performance. The routines are layered intelligently, often using methods you may already be familiar with, but applied in far more deceptive ways. There are also some great insights into how audiences process what they’ve seen, particularly how they try to reverse-engineer effects, along with practical thinking on how to stay ahead of that.

Kaleb’s style is very direct and no-nonsense, which is refreshing. Everything is explained clearly and thoughtfully, without unnecessary filler.

I’d highly recommend checking out Blessed By Demons, as well as Kaleb’s wider body of work.”

“I’ve been waiting for this new book for a long time, and I started reading it as soon as it arrived in the mail!

I highly recommend Blessed by Demons. It really feels like Kaleb has poured everything into this book. His approach to mentalism is practical, entertaining, and, most importantly, deceptive.

If you enjoy Kaleb Wade’s work — or simply enjoy strong mentalism that you can actually perform — this book is definitely worth your time.”

“I became familiar with Kaleb’s work after he published some ebooks with Black Cat Magic, a process he talks about early in Blessed by Demons. If you’ve read those, you’ll already be familiar with not only the fantastic format he uses to teach his effects, but also the way he takes simple and often overlooked principles and combines them with clever subtleties to produce devastating effects for audiences.

Blessed by Demons is a big book! Broadly speaking, it’s split 50/50 between close-up effects and stage/parlour effects. As a semi-professional close-up guy, I naturally consumed the close-up material with keener interest, but there is plenty here for anyone working in a stage or parlour environment too and to categorise them strictly like that does the effects a disservice as there is so much that can be taken from the content of each and used across a spectrum of performance situations. Even if you were only interested in one or the other you would not feel shortchanged.

Despite its size, the way the book is formatted makes it a pleasure to read. I found myself ploughing through page after page very quickly. The effects are described in the context of a script, which really helps you visualise how a participant would perceive the effect as it plays out. It also allows for some great comedic moments in the writing, which Kaleb does ever so well.

The method is then discussed afterwards, along with Kaleb’s thought process about why he chose a particular route. This is one of the things I enjoyed most about the book. You’re not simply given a method and told how to perform it. Kaleb explains the thinking behind the choices, offering alternative methods or different directions in which you can take an effect.

Right out of the gate, he talks about his use of a well-known gaffed deck used by workers around the world. His lines, subtleties and approaches to its use are, to use a clichéd line, “worth the price of the book”!

From the conversations I’ve had with Kaleb, you immediately get the sense that he is primarily concerned with the directness of an effect and, more importantly, its impact on the audience. That comes through throughout the book. A number of the effects are built around simple principles that are easy to learn, apply and remember, but the simplicity of the method doesn’t come at the expense of the impact.

There is also a very practical aspect to the material that I particularly like. A good number of the effects can be prepared on the fly or carried around with minimal props, which makes them genuinely usable rather than things that require a dedicated setup every time you want to perform them. Kaleb also explores ways of taking familiar magic tools and gimmicks and applying them to mentalism and mental magic. I found this particularly interesting as it opens up possibilities for looking at familiar props in a completely different way.

There are some brief chapters that you might describe as theory through anecdotes, and they really add to the book. In one of these, Kaleb recalls a time when he was practising an effect on his mother, who he liked to get feedback from, and recounts how the process was, to paraphrase, boring her witless.

This is something, we know, that far too much mentalism falls victim to. An effect can be technically brilliant but still fail if the participant is spending half of it wondering when it’s going to finish. Kaleb’s work really cuts to the heart of what is important in an effect and you can tell that this refining process is constantly ongoing. His revision of his superb standalone release Cinematic, which is included in the book, is a perfect example of this.

As a consumer of magic and mentalism, my passion is definitely in mentalism. But my anxiety about performing effects that are too drawn out and lose their impact, or too short and become trivial, has meant that when I perform socially or professionally, I’ve always had a foot in both camps.

This book has made me rethink that.

The effects, lines and approaches Kaleb covers are genuinely inspiring. There is material here that I can see myself actually performing, rather than simply enjoying reading about. I feel that I can go out armed with minimal props, often with things I can prepare at the last minute, and blow people away.

I’ve read so many mentalism books, and many are superb resources, but there hasn’t been another book that has inspired me not only to perform the content within it, but to completely rethink the way I do things, in a very long time.

That, for me, is probably the biggest compliment I can give a magic or mentalism book. I finished Blessed by Demons itching to get out and perform.

I’m absolutely positive that anyone who has this book is going to be just as delighted with their purchase as I am. If you’re interested in mentalism, mental magic, or simply creating stronger and more direct performances, I can’t recommend it highly enough.”