I understand that you guys are "old timers" and probably know what you're talking about. You state that a "true mentalist" has to stay in character 24/7 and present it as real. That's my biggest hang up. I'm sorry but I can't tell people I'm a REAL psychic and a REAL mind reader.
THEN DON'T DO MENTALISM!
Based on your comment here, you don't get it. . . and I'm not saying that out of spite but because you are missing what we've been saying.
You don't have to claim to be a "Psychic" for starters; Mentalism includes Memory Expert type demos, Hypnosis or Suggestion (linguistic) type acts, Math based programs and of course a very long list of psychological foundations. The point is, you present the work as factual and real or else you don't have a show or a reason for people to willingly put out money to hire you as an act.
Going a step further. . . an act that holds to this long proven formula earns the bigger pay day. Those that still think like magicians and see what we do as Mentalists as being "tricks" or "Illusions" (boy do you need an education on that thought) will be paid accordingly and believe it or not the general public don't place as much value in a magician as they do psychics or mind readers.
I mean seriously, if it was all REAL, I wouldn't be doing a show for them. I'd be winning myself the lottery every week and not doing a damn thing else.
For starters there are actual Psychics that have hit big lottery wins and rather than holding the cash, they donate it all to charity. The more legit workers in the Psychic world aren't in it for the cash. I know that's hard for a rationalist to wrap their head around in that they are always looking for "the angle" and doing things for the sake of heart & soul just don't add up in their mind. But this is reality vs. the cynic's fantasy as to how things "are".
Secondly, you are assuming something based on a bias vs. actual thought. If you were to see me work you would find that I give people reason for skepticism but likewise, I give the skeptically minded a reason to reconsider the issue of belief and see things on a greater sense of common ground. My objective is to bridge the gap between believer and cynic, which means I need to give the lay public something to believe in rather than brow beating them as so many "skeptics" tend to do. They yell at those of us that work the Psychic/Metaphysical angle about morality and taking responsibility for our actions and yet, they don't apply this same rule to themselves, nor do they feel the least bit responsible for the lives their assholiness have devastated.
Bob Cassidy has billed himself as a Mind Reader for decades and sells himself as such 24/7 . . . he's far from being alone, so would you say that he's wrong?
If you haven't done it yet, download my
pdf on Mentalism, it's free . . . I'll even toss in a couple of others you might benefit from;
Cold Reading pdf
BIZARRE MAGICK
I like the illusion of reading ones mind. If you want to call it mental magic, then fine, it's mental magic that I'll put in my show. Not your beloved mentalism. My question was what the difference between the two are. You've pointed that out and fine I'll stick to my MAGIC and MENTAL MAGIC. It makes for a great show.
I tend to believe you didn't get it. . . you just want out of this discussion so you can go ahead and do what you want to do vs. learning and understanding the difference between the two and more importantly, what we, as mentalists, see as being Magic Show appropriate and thus "Mental Magic" vs. programs that step on "our" toes, as it were.
When a magician (and worse, someone in clown face) does Mother of All Booktest he/she has crossed the line; they've taken a solid piece of mentalism and devalued it by putting it in a Magic Show . . . put another way, the performer that does something like this is shooting themselves in the foot because they aren't able to benefit from the optimum impact of the effect, nor is their audience able to enjoy that optimization. But in their selfishness and self-righteous belief that "it's a trick and I can do any trick I wish" they are hurting those performers that have INVESTED into that same effect so they can present it in the way it was designed to be done.
If, on the other hand, a Magician were to do a bit like Dream Vision or Casino Royale. . . well, go for it! They are obviously tricks and suitable to a magic show even though working Mentalists, such as I, might use them in their shows for the sake of production value . . . we are "entertainers" after all, but there is a psychological reason for such additions as well; Mentalism can get very emotional and intense and in order to relax the audience a bit of "theater" is needed -- something that's fun.
And P.S., I'm not a kid and I certainly don't think a "newbie that doesn't know his anus from a hole in the ground" would be making a living performing.
"Newbie" doesn't always mean that you're "new" to Magic as a whole but new and inexperienced to a given arena which, in this case, is Mentalism and its contrast with Mental Magic.
Not being "a kid" is a matter of perspective too. . . to me most everyone here is a kid in that I'm one of the handful on this forum that's over 50 and has more than a couple of decades worth of background actually working in this industry. But there is another side to the "kid" issue and that's how defensive the 19-25 age group can get when someone calls them "a kid". . .
KUDOS if you are making a living by doing nothing other than performing, you represent about 2% of the greater whole in this business, the majority of us (including some very big names) have to maintain a day job in order to actually cover all the bills. Multiple streams of income tends to be the only way any entertainer survives. BUT, busking on street corners don't count.
OMG I've committed sacrilege! Denouncing sidewalk magic that way. . .
Well, in my day that's what we did in order to come up with rent, not as a profession. We might do pitch work or bark on a midway, but those aren't the same as passing the proverbial hat. We worked lines at night clubs and if we were on a boardwalk it was typically a sponsored gig; out act was a lure to get people to patronize the business we stood in front of. More importantly, most of us sought out gigs that we could put on a resume, not just an arena to show off in.
Sorry to all whose toes I've just stepped on, but this is how most of those in my age group remember the whole busking game not how Criss & David painted it in the late 90s.
RK. . . Mental Magic is commercial and I would encourage you to go for it, but do us all a big favor and stick with the things that look like a trick rather than the stuff that was designed specifically for our side of the craft.
Thanks!