Mentalists on JREF?

[Norm!!]

I'm one myself, with leanings towards hypnosis and the use of suggestion in general. Anyone else?

[Senex]

I'm one myself, with leanings towards hypnosis and the use of suggestion in general. Anyone else?

I would have said those exact words when I was young.

We would love to hear what you perform.

[Lanzy]

cite?

[Garrette]

Not a performing mentalist (unless you count the odd one-offs for family, friends, colleagues, and such), but it has been the focus of my collecting for the past many years. Quite the library I've accumulated...

[Norm!!]

Hi, nice to meet you:) I haven't performed much for a while either, I got more into writing about how to do it. One of the things that interests me in particular is adapting material - and the alleged mechanism behind what you do, the 'Geist' - to the beliefs of the audience wherever possible. I know this isn't an option in some situations, but it's something that helps get better results.

[Garrette]

Hi, nice to meet you:) I haven't performed much for a while either, I got more into writing about how to do it. One of the things that interests me in particular is adapting material - and the alleged mechanism behind what you do, the 'Geist' - to the beliefs of the audience wherever possible. I know this isn't an option in some situations, but it's something that helps get better results.Have you been to the Cafe or other such sites? Some argue vehemently that it's the only option.

I'm not convinced they're right, but I'm not onvinced they're wrong, either.

[Norm!!]

Have you been to the Cafe or other such sites? Some argue vehemently that it's the only option.

I'm not convinced they're right, but I'm not onvinced they're wrong, either.

Yes, I've been a member for a long time, but I have to admit to not being fond of the in-fighting there, so don't visit often now. My co-author and I were the first to write about having a mental list of potential geists that would allow you to change material for those you perform for on the fly - and initially the idea was met with some skepticism as it would mean keeping a performance in a state of fluidity rather than being something that was scripted in just one way. It isn't ideal if you're playing a short slot and don't have time to get to know what your audiences believe in, but it makes you err on the side of caution and stops you leaping to claim say, supernatural powers in front of an audience of stern-faced scientific types:)

Who we portray ourselves as and how we pretend to do what we do is just as important as the effects themselves.

[marplots]

Who we portray ourselves as and how we pretend to do what we do is just as important as the effects themselves.

That's where I have trouble with mentalism effects. I just don't see the "magic" in them. For me, there doesn't seem to be that moment of astonishment. Even "psi" type effects with metal bending have a visual cue and clarity I just don't see with mentalism. I get the emotional hook part, but mentalism doesn't really seem like entertainment to me. Even when I see the big names doing it, it leaves me nonplussed.

[Norm!!]

That's where I have trouble with mentalism effects. I just don't see the "magic" in them. For me, there doesn't seem to be that moment of astonishment. Even "psi" type effects with metal bending have a visual cue and clarity I just don't see with mentalism. I get the emotional hook part, but mentalism doesn't really seem like entertainment to me. Even when I see the big names doing it, it leaves me nonplussed.

Yes, me too. The trouble is that nobody has hit on something that makes me think "he/she (seems) to be doing something I don't understand that is remarkably clever and somewhat spooky..." so I'm evaluating a process rather than being entertained by it.

I can appreciate the cleverness behind an effect, of course, but I can't buy into the back story, so the atmosphere of the trick - and to a greater degree the wonder - is lost on me. Mind you, having said that I still like effects that use psychological manipulation and suggestion rather than 'other methods', they appeal to me to watch and do. They're risky, so when they work there's some satisfaction in them.

[Senex]

Yes, me too. The trouble is that nobody has hit on something that makes me think "he/she (seems) to be doing something I don't understand that is remarkably clever and somewhat spooky..." so I'm evaluating a process rather than being entertained by it.

I can appreciate the cleverness behind an effect, of course, but I can't buy into the back story, so the atmosphere of the trick - and to a greater degree the wonder - is lost on me. Mind you, having said that I still like effects that use psychological manipulation and suggestion rather than 'other methods', they appeal to me to watch and do. They're risky, so when they work there's some satisfaction in them.

You say you want to be a mentalist but when I was in my early teens I wanted to be Kreskin. I don't see that desire in you.

Kreskin performs a "hypnosis" act that is brilliant. If your library is as extensive as you state you know what Kreskin does is as close to whatever you might call "real" hypnosis as is in America.

However the hypnosis part is problematic to recreate without his authority.

[Garrette]

I'm the one who said I have the large library.

[Senex]

I'm the one who said I have the large library.

We seem to all do. Who can translate that into performance?

[NeilC]

I also find a lot of mentalism performances pretty dull. I think this is mainly because I'm a skeptic so psychic and supernatural powers are not suitable explanations for me. I don't believe it it for one second and so the insistence that it is that grates on me. I also find much of it over-serious or plain idiotic.

Two performers I like watching are Derren Brown and Luker Jermay. Derren especially seems to have an almost perfect persona for the job and he successfully blurs magic, mentalism, psychology and hypnosis into an act that keeps people guessing. He also is very sharp witted and entertaining so even if I don't believe some body-language explanation I still find him watchable.

On a personal level I like performing mental magic but I am confused as to how to present it. I cannot present it as psychic powers because I find it clashes with my personality and people who know me wouldn't believe that I believe what I'm saying. So i find myself more drawn towards the psychological explanations. I'd rather present a scientific looking ESP card effect than a tarot effect. But as a skeptic I'm not 100% comfortable with making people believe in pseudo-science.

[Norm!!]

You say you want to be a mentalist but when I was in my early teens I wanted to be Kreskin. I don't see that desire in you.

Kreskin performs a "hypnosis" act that is brilliant. If your library is as extensive as you state you know what Kreskin does is as close to whatever you might call "real" hypnosis as is in America.

However the hypnosis part is problematic to recreate without his authority.

You're confusing me with another poster, I'm already a mentalist.

[Alan]

I'm a big fan of mentalism, when not portrayed with pseudoscientific explanations. But I haven't really worked on any mentalist effects for a long time. But I should. I suppose any card force effect could be given a mentalist presentation and I could make my way back into mentalism through a little bit of that.

[Garrette]

We seem to all do. Who can translate that into performance?

I liked your first response before editing (mocking and kicking ass). Seriously.

But to answer this question: Translate a large library into effective performance by ignoring most of it.

[NeilC]

I'm a big fan of mentalism, when not portrayed with pseudoscientific explanations.

So what sort of explanation do you like?

[Senex]

On a personal level I like performing mental magic but I am confused as to how to present it. I cannot present it as psychic powers because I find it clashes with my personality and people who know me wouldn't believe that I believe what I'm saying. So i find myself more drawn towards the psychological explanations. I'd rather present a scientific looking ESP card effect than a tarot effect. But as a skeptic I'm not 100% comfortable with making people believe in pseudo-science.

I'm with you 100%. Several years ago I decided to I wanted to perform woo without any of my friends being present. I offered my services at a Beltaine festival for free (free campsite but a crap stage). I was so good the next year I got a real stage AND a food voucher. hehehe...

[Senex]

I've told this story before but who can't stand a good story a second time?

So when I e-mailed the woman running the Beltaine festival (a Wiccan priestess who did readings) offering my services she wrote back that they weren't looking for mentalists, however, they were in need of a magician who could entertain children while their parents were out taking expensive woo classes. It is no surprise they needed a children's entertainer because they had no budget for one. I said I would do a show for the children (and I am/was capable of doing a fine children's magic act) in return for a stage for my mentalist act. I had to work for a place to perform my woo act but I did.

The woman running the event watched my children's show (you can't blame her because she didn't know me) and I kicked butt. She was pleased. She also watched my mentalist act (which wasn't perfect because of inexperience, but it was well received). The woman running the event was impressed.

The reason I am telling this story is because the woman running the show had a live-in partner the first year who was a warlock. The guy dressed in black and had piercings and tattoos all over. He was the grand ass woo. She had a difficult break up with this guy after my second year performing.

No bulloney -- I was the only performer at that festival those two years who was an out atheist (and by "out" I mean I told the woman running the festival I wasn't a pagan but I have to admit I was pretending to be a pagan while running around a few maypoles.

My point being the woman running a pagan festival with many hundreds of attendees who are all bona fide woos has e-mailed many times and wants to be friends with me. Her previous partner was completely freakish looking. I'm completely unpierced and untattooed and unwooed.

hehehe...

[Alan]

So what sort of explanation do you like?
A comic explanation that nobody would take seriously for a second. A sufficiently self-deprecating style allows claims of it involving great skill and elaborate gimmicks out the wazoo to work well for small effects.

But my invisible deck routine involves two decks, an invisible one and a visible one, and the explanation that they are twins..."not identical ones, obviously". I'm morally pretty fine with that.

[NeilC]

I wonder how you do a comic explanation whilst leaving any vested interest in the effect through? Doesn't it just become a comedy act with a bit of puzzle? Seems to me that the belief in the effect being somewhat supernatural or super-psychological makes up a large part of it being at all worthwhile. After all most mentalist methodology is very simple - it's commonly about obtaining information secretly or producing information secretly and very often using the exact method the person initially thinks of. Much of the ruling out of that method seems to rely on the possibility of there being a mysterious alternative available.

[Alan]

Not any more than a mysterious/psychic presentation makes it a funeral with a little puzzle. It's about the balance. A joke or two in places, being serious at other times and so on. :)

And laughter at the right time is great temporal misdirection. And seems to make people less critical (in terms of noticing things), I've heard Teller say. People believing it isn't the only way to make people less critical.

If a method is as easily discovered as that, I don't perform it. I have a confidence problem and so I have high standards about about how hidden the method can be. It still leaves lots of effects to choose from and someone doesn't need to perform all that many effects.

[Brown]

I also find a lot of mentalism performances pretty dull. I think this is mainly because I'm a skeptic so psychic and supernatural powers are not suitable explanations for me. I don't believe it it for one second and so the insistence that it is that grates on me. I also find much of it over-serious or plain idiotic. I find that, for mentalism, the presentation is especially important. An audience can give a "mentalist" a pass on things that they would never let a "magician" get away with, and a "mentalist" can get screwed up--intentionally or not--in ways that would never bother a skilled "magician."

There are two things about mentalist performances that are difficult for me. The first is "milking" an effect. There is a prominent performer who does a trick (whom I will not name and whose effect I will not describe), in which the secret is a prop that costs less than a penny to make, and that if lost or damaged can be constructed from scratch in about a minute. This effect could be performed in three minutes and could be very effective in that time, but this particular prominent performer draws out the effect for ten to fifteen minutes. The effect isn't so stunning that it is worth the extra time, not really; and if you know the secret is in this cheap prop, you feel a sort of pain that the mystery is being dragged out as long as it is.

The second is that mentalist performances on television are almost always edited to remove signs of trickery or to convey impressions that are incorrect. This editing is not necessarily done with the intent to aid the performer, although this is often the result. It's just that certain lead-in and prepatory stuff is deemed to be "not a part of the effect" and "nothing happens there, anyway"; so it therefore gets edited out. In fact, that is where a lot of the dirty work is done. The eventual television presentation therefore seems to be more mysterious.

[firecoins]

I perform mentalist in my stand up comedy act.

[Max_mang]

I was self employed for a while as a magician and a mentalist. I haven't performed in a few years, but do the occasional effect for friends and such.

Two of my favorites are Derren Brown and Max Maven.

[NeilC]

I'd say Maven is a mental magician these days. He doesn't seem to be be remotely serious about pretending his "powers" are real. Plus his effects seem to me to reveal a magical thinking rather than a pure mentalist one. Brown on the other hand is very much a mentalist.

[firecoins]

I went to see "psychic" John Edward. He has a great mentalist show. Or the dead people have a great mentalist show.