COLD READING

[Delirium]

Hi. I’m currently starting in mentalism and I came across with a technique known as cold reading . Does anyone has good recommendations on book that have cold reading or books that are specific only for cold reading ?

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Do you mean real cold reading, or what most magicians call cold reading?

 

[Stu-pendous]

I'll start by saying I'm not a mentalist by any means and know of barely any cold reading sources, but I do know of Morgan Streblers Ice Cold, which I think is available in book and DVD, unless the book is out of print.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I would highly recommend checking reviews for that book/video before spending any money on it.

 

[Delirium]

Do you mean real cold reading, or what most magicians call cold reading?

I mean the magician type of cold-reading. I saw magicians using it as a way to deduce what card the spectator is thinking.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Ah. Read the horrorscopes in women's magazines and memorize a bunch of those lines.

"Magician" cold reading is, in general terms, just reciting Barnum/Forer Statements and hoping people think it hits. It's not actually cold reading in any way, but it's a lot easier to learn.

 

[obrienmagic]

I mean the magician type of cold-reading. I saw magicians using it as a way to deduce what card the spectator is thinking.

So I think what Christopher is talking about is that there are two definitions of “cold reading” in play here:

1. Technique: This is an actual technique that investigators use to determine if someone is lying or telling the truth. You pick up in visual queues such as pupil dilation, fidgeting, speech patterns, etc. This will take years to perfect and is not really practical to use in a performance piece unless you plan to do an actual cold reading demo.

2. Performance: 99.9% of the time if am magician or mentalist says they are cold ready, they are not really using the technique. They are more than likely pretending to use cold reading as part of their performance.

I can not elaborate on this much more without walking the exposure line. But basically it comes down to whether you want to learn real cold reading or want to use cold reading as the performance for a trick you are performing. There are tons of effects you could use cold reading (performance) with. Even super simple card tricks can be adjusted to look like you are using cold reading to figure out their card.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

What he said.

I guarantee you a magician did not use cold reading to divine a playing card value. Probably something more like "Isolation" by Michael Murray or "Cog" by Ben Seward, dressed up with psychological mumbo-jumbo to make it seem like cold reading.

 

[Al e Cat Dabra]

So I think what Christopher is talking about is that there are two definitions of “cold reading” in play here:

1. Technique: This is an actual technique that investigators use to determine if someone is lying or telling the truth. You pick up in visual queues such as pupil dilation, fidgeting, speech patterns, etc. This will take years to perfect and is not really practical to use in a performance piece unless you plan to do an actual cold reading demo.

2. Performance: 99.9% of the time if am magician or mentalist says they are cold reading, they are not really using the technique. They are more than likely pretending to use cold reading as part of their performance."

These are good points, but I have a recommendation for how you can combine elements of both the investigation aspect and the performance aspect, particularly since you mentioned that your goal is to use cold reading (well, at least a facsimile of cold reading) as a means of "deducing what card the spectator is thinking."

That's It, by Eddie Fechter can be a highly entertaining and fun card trick that directly involves the spectators. In case you are not familiar with it, the basic plot is that a card is selected and "lost" in the deck. The magician shows the spectators cards, one at a time. Each time they are shown a card, they are to say "That's it," regardless of whether or not the card truly is the selection. They can be told not to change the tone of their voice, their facial expression, or their body language when they are shown a card and say "Thats it." But you tell then that try as they might to hide when they are not telling the truth, you will be able to deduce what their card was by the look in their eyes, the tone of their voice and their overall body language. And that's just what you are able to do, even though they believe you have failed, and as a bonus, there is a very surprising and magical revelation of the correct card at the end.

 

[ID4]

What he said.

I guarantee you a magician did not use cold reading to divine a playing card value. Probably something more like "Isolation" by Michael Murray or "Cog" by Ben Seward, dressed up with psychological mumbo-jumbo to make it seem like cold reading.

Think by Silas Linden is a newer approach.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Yeah. Isolation came out recently, too. I haven't read it but I do have it. They're all usually pretty much the same few basic systems, just refined in different ways.

 

[ID4]

Does Isolation work in other languages yet?

Think has no language restrictions.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I genuinely don't know, because I haven't read it yet.

 

[sleightofhanddeception]

'The dance' by Brad Hederson (I might be wrong with the name) has a lot of good theory of Cold Reading in it, however if you are going to get it you need to have a basic understanding of Cold Reading, but it has some great advice and I highly recomend it.

 

[Delirium]

'The dance' by Brad Hederson (I might be wrong with the name) has a lot of good theory of Cold Reading in it, however if you are going to get it you need to have a basic understanding of Cold Reading, but it has some great advice and I highly recomend it.

Saw the reviews on magic cafe forum. Was wondering the difference between the technical side and the art side

 

[Lord Magic]

Barnum statements are the best. And it legit makes me SO mad when I see psychics on TV recite stupid barnum statements and fool people into thinking that they are real psychics.

Ah. Read the horrorscopes in women's magazines and memorize a bunch of those lines.

Hmmm...
1) Exactly.
2) Sexist. XD