Best place to start learning Mentalism?

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Dec 29, 2011
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Corinda's 13 steps to mentalism is getting on in its years, but there is plenty of usable stuff in there, a lot of it tends to suit the old medium style presentation, as opposed to what mentalism currently is. But it will also give you an excellent idea of what getting into mentalism is like, and the basis of most general modern techniques used in mentalism.
You'll get a whole lot of people here telling you that you don't know what its like to get into mentalism, and how difficult it is, they aren't wrong, and 13 steps will show you very well.
Wait till Craig Browning posts in this thread, then do exactly as he says.

Since you posted this in the Card Magic forum, and not general, are you meaning to get into real mentalism? Or mental magic? The difference being something like Cold Reading for example, or presenting Out Of This World as the power of the subconscious? Both are quite different.
 
Yes ive heard very good thing about this book!
Ill try get my hands on it.

yeah, I posted in the wrong forum XD

I would like to be able to do both, but real mentalism would be better I believe, as I could use it for magic?
Again, I dont know much at all about mentalism
 
Apr 6, 2011
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Lansing, MI
If you are using mentalism for magic than I assume you are trying to do mental magic. Although I am not much more versed than you I would assume. A highly recommended book for intro into mentalism is Practical Mental Magic, also check out some of Mr.Browning's free pdfs: Here, here and here. All definitely worth reading if you have an interest in mentalism.
 

WitchDocIsIn

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Sep 13, 2008
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First thing you need to do is stop thinking like a magician, if you want to do Mentalism. They are not the same thing. The biggest difference, in my mind, is that Mentalism doesn't always work. What do I mean? Simply this: When you do a trick, it works pretty much every time. When you're doing 'real' mentalism, it might have a success rate closer to 50% per 'trick'. This is because you're not doing tricks, you're using principles that generally work one way or another. Not always.

Corinda is more like a textbook and it's not what I'd actually recommend one starts off with. It's too dry in my opinion, and works far better as a reference for someone who's more experienced. It also tends to overwhelm the reader by giving them too much to work with. A mentalist will probably only have maybe three effects (though many methods for each effect) that they do, but they hone those effects to perfection. This is when you realize that the words 'trick' and 'effect' are not synonymous.

Start with Craig's PDFs, which Tyler linked to. Then read through this blog post by Steerpike: http://pittandpendulum.blogspot.com/2010/08/beginners-guide-to-mentalism.html
 
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Dec 12, 2012
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As this is in the card magic forum, I thought I'd explain a couple of good ways to do mentalism card tricks (which may or may not be the same kind of mentalism you desire to learn, but I'll throw it out there nonetheless).

Being able to force a card is probably the best way for a beginner to do a mentalism trick. Lets say you force the three of clubs and have the spectator return it into the pack. They will be under the illusion that their card was a free choice, you can then ask them to think of their card and look you in the eyes. Don't just go 'I've got it! Three of clubs!' build it up a bit, like you are actually reading their mind, say something like "Its a black card... Definitely not a court card... Can you focus on it a bit more?... Its a low card, a two, a three, a four, or a five... I'm getting a three... Yes that's it three of clubs!"

Other ways to achieve a similar effect would be using a key card to find the spectators selection, or controlling the card to the bottom and getting a glimpse of it.
 
May 14, 2015
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I'm pretty new to mentalism, but I am currently working really hard at learning the tricks of the trade! There are so many things to learn that I found it hard to just go from video to video but something that has helped me accelerate my learning came from www.mastermentalism.com ! Anyone who is looking to learn/master mentalism should check out how I and so many others have learned it!
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
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I'm pretty new to mentalism, but I am currently working really hard at learning the tricks of the trade! There are so many things to learn that I found it hard to just go from video to video but something that has helped me accelerate my learning came from www.mastermentalism.com ! Anyone who is looking to learn/master mentalism should check out how I and so many others have learned it!

Looks like a scam to me!
 
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Jul 9, 2015
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Mentalism is a kind of magic trick that mentalists do where they tend to pretend that they can easily read people's minds. Its just like cold reading( A type of magic trick where magicians can judge the character and traits of a person just by looking at them). So my recommended site is mentalismworld.com. This is the site where you can learn different magic tricks and buy stuff related to mentalism.
 
Jan 17, 2015
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Check out Richard Osterlind's Mind Mysteries if you find books difficult to obtain. Presentation and patter is really important in mentalism, unlike some other branches of magic. Of course try to study the books if you can, but always remember you're there to entertain, not recite paragraphs from Corinda.
 
Jan 17, 2015
132
8
Yes ive heard very good thing about this book!
Ill try get my hands on it.

yeah, I posted in the wrong forum XD

I would like to be able to do both, but real mentalism would be better I believe, as I could use it for magic?
Again, I dont know much at all about mentalism


There are largely two types of mentalism:

Mental Magic and Pure Mentalism.

As Bob Cassidy puts it, MM is the type regarded as tricks and PM is regarded more like powers or abilities (by laymen).
For example, take the classic Poker Deal. The audience will be convinced that you have very fast hands or is very skillful with a deck, but will not believe in explanations like "I made the deck arrange itself with my mind". Similarly, reactions to mental magic will be more like "how did you do that?". PM however, is more like X-men type abilities. People will usually gasp or walk away or scream because they are convinced you have some kind power they don't have and/or will never have.



That's kind of a brief description, it is not 100% correct, but I hope you'll get the hang of it.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
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This is a really old thread to use to pimp your site, Cal17 :) One might think you were just trying to advertise which I believe is frowned upon here.

The best place to start with mentalism? Put the tricks down and learn how to socialize well.
 
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