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This is one reason I rarely perform for someone first time I meet them. Similarly, I don't mention my work (acting). I don't want to me known as the actor, or the magician, or the mind reader. These things are an important part of who I am - but they don't dominate my interaction with my...

If you do it right, I prefer one or two letters. As I mentioned, I use a letter divination ploy by Banachek in PS1 - it's a good investment, although I can understand not being willing to buy it based off one little tidbit. What it basically means though is that I generally reveal two to three...

Yep, I know. I guessed Electric Touch as well, but that's alright. I meant more the plot of the effect. But it's great that you're finding an interesting way to use quite a powerful gmmick.

Derren Brown has some wonderful thoughts about entering someone else's space and then subsequently establishing control. Other things? Develop rapport. Smile. I also made a most a little while ago about performing to the alpha male - especially in the context of performing for a couple.

I don't think there's anything wrong with using strong words. Think about scary movies for example. You go see them precisely to be scared. That's alright - nothing happens because of it. I don't think you should be scared about that. From what I understand, the idea itself probably isn't...

Mmm. I generally go by half a dozen envelopes and index cards. I mean, it's not really about what is necessary - more what I feel like performing. If I want a deck, I'll grab it, if I intend on performing for an extended period of time, or repeatedly, may grab a notepad instead, something like...

Keep avoiding having to think, my friend.

lol. Just get what you want dude... They're cards, get the ones you like.

Actually, good point - on that note, I have bought everything recently from people I would bet that most people, including the OP, had never heard of.

Read my above post. In brief, it is due to the nature of mentalism, and its perception by audiences that necessitates a different approach. Unfortunately, you may have used the word segregation, but a large part of your post deals with categorisation - with the exception of a waffly...

An ethically sound reply (read: two and a half lines of generalised, vague waffle), that unfortunately says absolutely nothing and makes no attempt to engage with my criticism of your argument. You were questioning TheatreHead on things like why magic is different from mentalism for example -...

CurvyLines (lol), You have touched on an important aspect of mentalism that seems very well known to serious practitioners, but almost completely unheard of within the less experienced magical community - namely, that of persona. This is the key thinking, that you've talked about, that explains...

I'm not sure what you mean by nasty, but Apocalypse contains a huge amount of great magic. Whilst I have heard good things about Bebel's DVD, I don't think picking it up is a good idea if you cannot speak French. As you say, you will miss out on presentational points and verbal aspects of...

I think the OP means his post well. I hope that it just came across wrong. Nonetheless, I also more or less agree with what TheatreHead is saying. Yes, there is a lot of segregation. Yes, it sometimes hurts magic. But there are good, practical reasons why it occurs. Taking for example the...

Don't overthink it. What do you want to do? What would be best to do? If you think it's worth it, for your trick, in your situation, for your body, then do it. If you think it's worth the practice, then do it. The line, I think, is drawn as a function of time, effort, desire and payoff.

Confirmation that almost no-one really gave a **** about getting better. They just wanted to prove how much better they were than everyone else already. If you can't show that you're better someone, and get points for it, why bother?

Start with Paul Curry, the originator of the plot, Ed Marlo, who was the first to put it in print, and Stewart James, who later altered the plot slightly with his 51 Faces North. From there you should be able to find everything from the classic methods (including what I consider the best) to a...

One question: why? Why can't you turn your body to change the angles, as opposed to change hands, for example? It's not like you're walking around the audience - it's not a big a movement as you make it out to be, and even if it was, it doesn't really matter if you know your theatre. I...

My thoughts exactly. Nothing good or bad inherent in magic, only what you make of it. There may well be some hurdles along with card magic, but that's no different to any other type of magic; not enough to make such a generalised statement.

Get a girlfriend? :P