Every so often I head over to the Green Latrine to see the “Latest and Greatest” tricks for sale. I’m not a fan of the site or its toxicity, but I find it’s an effective way for me to find out what I’m missing out on. I was begrudgingly doing my periodic search back in March, when I found a new post by Atlas Brookings himself: “Hello all! After eight years in creative isolation, I bring you: Decoherence.”

As an original fan of Atlas Brookings, I was trying hard to not pee my pants. There was only one thing I had a reservation about. Was this new thing about to be hard as hell? Don’t get me wrong, I like practicing. The fellow writers on this blog who know me and the effects I perform will concur. I liked Train Tracking in the day, and was able to do it with relative ease. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready to commit to that level of practice again with everything going on in my life right now. That was until I read a reply from Atlas on the Decoherence thread: “If you can remember a phone number, I think you’re probably going to be okay”.

It was that reply, and his performance on The Daily Magician’s YouTube video that really cemented my decision to purchase. I was quite fooled when I watched the video, and so were most of my magic friends that I shared it with (apart from two, but they are never fooled). When it came, I cracked it open two days later and devoured the whole book.

“I would say: As long as you can remember a phone number that is told to you on the spot, and recall it a minute later with no errors, I think you’ll probably be okay.“

I found it hard to find anything to not like. It’s jam-packed with fantastic effects. He starts by explaining the principle with cards. He begins by teaching an easy training wheels version with three cards, then slowly adds more cards as the book progresses. Anyone who simply reads the explanation of the three card version should be able to do it instantly. It really can be described in a sentence (or two) like Atlas said.

He teaches the principle in a very clear direct manner, with easy to follow diagrams and pictures. The more objects you work with, the harder it gets. That’s where the difficulty comes into play. He works you up to an eighteen card version, which I find personally challenging to do without concentrating. He doesn’t include a presentation for you, so you’ll have to create your own to affix onto the effect (the shock, the pure horror). People have really reacted well when I’ve shown them this card divination routine. When pressed, no one had any idea. Faux muscle reading is something I really like when doing this. I hold their wrist and have them hover over each card before I flip it over. I leave their selection as the only card face up at the end.

What comes after are the non-card effects. His “High Five” effect is something that would be really fun to do at a friend’s house, or while out on a trivia night with a group. What happens is that five movies are named at random, and someone ranks them from best to worst movie in their opinion. Using this principle, you can reveal their list with complete accuracy.

His effects with people are more oriented to stage performances, although I could see them playing well at a party or at a get-together at a friend’s house. I think these are really fun, creative effects that are bound to have some great reactions. I unfortunately haven’t performed the effects from this section yet (no real opportunity), but I definitely will do when I have a chance. You can watch full performances of some of these effects on the Daily Magician product page.

Now, the bonus effects. He was very generous to include the effects that he did, because they are of a very high calibre. Your brain can take a break because they are all very simple to do. His take on the book test is genius. Doctor Jones, the ACAAN effect, is basically a reworked The Crusade to be test conditions, as well as performable to one person. It has gotten huge reactions when I’ve done it. I recommend doing the marked deck version.

My personal favourite is “The Hidden Crossroads”. It’s incredibly clean, fooling, and easy to do. It’s tempting to say it’s my favourite thing in the whole book.

All in all, is Decoherence hard? Well, it’s a principle that you can work with within your limits and comfort level. If you have a weak short term memory, you’ll find it challenging to take the principle to the heights that Atlas has. Most of you reading this will be able to do what Benji showed in the video I linked with no problems at all (a 5 card spread). His phone number statement needs to be qualified. I would say: As long as you can remember a phone number that is told to you on the spot, and recall it a minute later with no errors, I think you’ll probably be okay.

Someone else on the Latrine had a similar comment, to which Atlas had this to say:

Thanks for the feedback. It is a fair point, and my guess was a subjective statement. I should’ve qualified it by saying that I am me and so only have the baseline of my own brain and lived experience from which to make a judgment, and based on that, I think if you can remember a phone number then you should be okay. I obviously meant that in the context of remembering it when someone tells it to you on the spot and based on the length of the number. I know you know me well enough from our back and forths over the years to know I’m doing my best to answer questions honestly, so my apologies again that the assertion wasn’t the best fit in this case.

All in all, this is an incredible book with a real unique approach to mentalism. It has my highest recommendation. And no, I was not paid to do this review nor was the book given to me. If you plan to get it, I would do it soon. At the time of writing this I believe there are only five copies left.