Street Mentalism

I agree that illusions have their classifications. Ill agree that knowing a card location does not make you a mentalist. I just wanted to hear some ideas on how people approach other people with such sensitive material that mentalism contains and what techniques, if any, they use to quickly invoke trust and belief in the mentalists abilities. I apologize if this was unclear in my original posts. I sincerely did not wish to start the usual debates.
 
Sep 1, 2007
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EDIT: Maybe you could elaborate your thoughts on this issue. You could start a new thread if you think it will start a heated discussion.

When I feel like it.

How is psyc illusions not mentalism

Two reasons. One, it doesn't even sound like a real thing. It sounds like something a Golden Age sci-fi writer crapped out when he wrote himself into a corner.

Two, for the previous reason you can make it mean whatever the hell you want it to. And when you introduce that kind of thing into the equation it proceeds to take a huge steaming dump on the whole purpose of genres in the first place.
 
May 21, 2009
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If your worried about people turning you down because of the nature of the effect, try starting out with a simple magic effect, or a mentalism effect with cards. Theres something about cards. When they are present in the effect, it seems more innocent and welcoming. After said card/mentalism effect, go into a more serious level of mind reading or prediction now that you have connected with the person( ie. exchanged names.) I find this works alot smoother than approaching someone and instantly claiming to have power over their mind.
 
Sep 1, 2007
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I'm pretty sure Dee was referring to the "supernatural vs pseudo-scientific" question.

And I stand by my stance that knowing a generic card location trick does not make you a mentalist. There is a difference between mental magic and mentalism. You don't get to call yourself a mentalist just because you think it makes you a bad-ass.

Buddy im 21 ive been performing since i was a tiny little boy ive performed mentalisim for the greatest minds in magic saying your a mentalist doesn't prove you are anything your performance should speak for you any magic of the mind making it seem like you can read peoples minds or make them think of a card is a "psych illusion" which is thats right people a mentalist the only thing thats different is how you choose your presentation at that point in time
 
May 25, 2009
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i think that the magic of the mentalism is for the person that you use for the experience. I think that the people always will think that you have a asistant, careless were you show mentalism

if my english is bad, sorry
 
May 31, 2008
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super sharpie

carry a super sharpie nw, and post it notes.

To warm people up do stigmata. Then predict the number they'd think of.

People will simply run away if these effects are presented properly. Dead easy and very very powerful.
 
I realize this is an older thread, but I was browsing through the forums and it caught my interest. I read through some of the replies, but the trivial debates over semantics were dizzying. I figured I'd offer my two cents here to see if anyone cared.

As previously stated, traditional mentalism probably isn't best suited for the spontaneous distractions of a street setting. When I was younger, I attempted doing mentalism in such environments for fun, but I was never able to capture people's attention as well as I could with close-up magic. I believe the difference between the two is where the focus lies in performance. Magic is primarily focused on the magician. It's easier to just sit back and watch someone else perform sleight-of-hand. In mentalism though-- the focus is primarily on the actual spectator. As the performer, you're not manipulating a deck of cards or sponge balls-- you're actually playing with the spectator's own thoughts and secrets. It requires them to be more involved as an active participant in what you're doing. So on the street, guerilla-style... most people aren't willing to even give you the time of day for mentalism because you're essentially askin them to put their lives on pause.

That isn't to say mentalism won't work in other similar settings. I find that in pubs or lounges, mentalism works very well. In these settings, you get the same spontaneous guerilla vibe you typically look for on the street, but it's more relaxed and casual. People go to bars and clubs to meet people. I find that women are especially more responsive in this type of environment. And since mentalism revolves around the type of rapport you can build with people, I find these types of settings are ideal. There's so much you can play with too-- reading a person's mind by buying them their favorite drink which they never said out loud. Predicting a person's phone number. Accurately guessing everyone's names and birthdays. These types of effects are easily accomplished in mentalism and fit the social atmosphere of a pub or lounge very well.

In closing, I do believe mentalism has its own place in appropriate performance venues. I think it's important as performers that we recognize the differences in magic and mentalism to see what makes each avenue work effectively.

RS.
 
Sep 24, 2007
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It's difficult but possible. You can't just straight off get into it like a magician can, but if you start off with "I was just walking and couldn't help but notice your blahblahcoldread."

Spectator: Really?
Mentalist: Yeah. Genuinely. I was thinking that you were the type of person who might not neccecarily carry around a lot of money with them, is that right?
Spectator: Well... not really
Mentalist: actually, I think i can accurately guess how much money you have on you
Spectator: Oh yeah?
Mentalist: I'll write my prediction right here. Let's check
Spectator: Hell no. You're just going to mug me.


Experiment failed.
 
Oct 2, 2008
336
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UK
Jinai.deviantart.com
I tend to do psychological card forces the most if one the street doing these sort of things; in actual i only do it in Parks or quite areas of the city. Like Starbucks, or stairways, Bus stops, Train Stations etc. Still works.
 
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