Creating a mentalism routine?

[Sam Hardy]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to put together a mentalism routine to perform at Christmas for some family, of about 10 or 12 people.

So far I've got

• Emotional Intelligence by Luke Jermay
• Daniel Madison's Blood Deck
• A very simple force, with a duplicate in a "prediction" envelope, enforced by strong presentation

I just need some ideas of a couple of extra bits to add in, and what sort of patter I can link all of them together with?

Thanks very much,

-Sam H.

 

[magicbrutus]

Emotional Intelligence is great and you can never underestimate the power of a force and a prediction. I prefer a peek then "read their mind" to reveal the card myself. But on penguin there is some good stuff, OZ has an effect called Perfection and a dvd titled Into The Abyss. Also, have you looked into doing anything with a clear switch bag? You can also look at doing a center tear, if you get Into the Abyss you can learn it there but they also have a luke jermay download for the center tear.

 

[Sean_Raf]

What you've got there sounds like you could make it last for a good half hour with some awesome presentation.

With regards to handling patter... You gotta sit down or walk around and think of some sort of angle that suits you. Don't try and make yourself fit the patter, find the patter that fits you, find some sort of angle or theme that you can keep running throughout the whole routine. You'll be much more interesting to listen to and interact with.

Once you've got that you'll find it much easier to link pieces together because everything will fit, rather than trying to make something fit... If that makes sense.

Hope this helps buddy. Let us know how it goes.

- Sean

 

[Sam Hardy]

What you've got there sounds like you could make it last for a good half hour with some awesome presentation.

With regards to handling patter... You gotta sit down or walk around and think of some sort of angle that suits you. Don't try and make yourself fit the patter, find the patter that fits you, find some sort of angle or theme that you can keep running throughout the whole routine. You'll be much more interesting to listen to and interact with.

Once you've got that you'll find it much easier to link pieces together because everything will fit, rather than trying to make something fit... If that makes sense.

Hope this helps buddy. Let us know how it goes.

- Sean

Hey guys,

Thanks for your help. I've started scripting some patter and like you said Sean, the patter now just seems to flow. I'm pretty sure I could spread it out over abour half an hour, yeah.

I'm a huge fan of Luke Jermay's stuff, I think most of it is fantastic.

Any other suggestions for any mentalism stuff would be greatly appreciated.

And Sean, check your PMs.

Cheers,

-Sam H

 

[praetoritevong]

Might I just suggest that out of those three, you perform E.I. last? ^^

 

[cm763]

I would have to agree that you should probably close with Emotional Intelligence. I'd start with the prediction, go on to the Blood deck work (whatever it is you're planning to do), then finish up with E.I.

If it were me, though, I would actually start with Emotional Intelligence (just the first and last phase, so as to not take up too much time, as I'd want my closer to be the longest and most memorable effect that I perform). It's a fun effect, and I think it would be a decent opener. Normally I'd close with it, but if you were to keep the three "styles" of tricks you were planning, I'd instead close with a three-phase prediction (as apposed to the one)--the three phases being a chosen card prediction, a thought of word prediction, and a newspaper headline prediction (my predictions being sent ahead of time, of course, so they know I wasn't cheating ).

If I were to do a one phase force, just the card, instead of the three phases then I'd likely have the prediction end up being their signed card, as that always gets quite the reaction. Of course, doing it this way would require quite a bit more planning, so you can present it in a way that makes it seem as if you never even touched the envelope with the prediction in it.

I don't know, those are just my thoughts on the matter. Good luck with your performance!

 

[coastaldude]

I understand why you put the "strong presentation" after the force since it really can help but there is something cooler. Excalibur Deck is just like it except for some things, they handle pretty much everything including the deck (mjmmagic.com), just my advice on that one.

Tagged is by far my best purchase so far, I haven't tried out tagging anybody but just the price tag and everything that it has is worth four or five times the price tag.

Swami gimmick of some sort and make it maybe into a lottery number thing or w/e you like to do.

New trick coming out on the 19th from mjmmagic also called Entity and if you watch it you may get the basic idea but the effect is just so good especially if you do this in a sealed plastic bag or something like that.

Blindsight by Devin Knight is cheap and one of the most direct mentalist effects out there. Get it if you ever want to have an amazing trick. hocus-pocus, penguinmagic, mjmmagic

Now if you want to really dish out the money about 140 for it then you will get the best book test and the most impossible mentalist effect ever imho. Lexicon Phenomena from Devin Knight is the best thing ever. This is the entire effect and is completely true, if you are a mentalist then you should have something by Devin Knight.

Effect

Two participants secretly choose words from a "real vocabulary book" containing hundreds of words. There are no duplicate words in the book's word list. The two participants then look up their respective words in an ungimmicked dictionary. The performer, who can be 15 feet or more away, divines both words. He does this without touching either book or asking any questions. The performer REALLY does not know what words or page the participants have chosen until he reveals the two chosen words. The participants need not write anything. The participants say nothing. Each person need only silently read the definition of his or her selected word and think.

This is not a first word on the page effect. The participants do not use any mathematics to arrive at their words. They simply open the vocabulary book to any page and freely choose two words from anywhere on the page. No forces of any kind are used. Both the 56-page vocabulary book and the dictionary may be read from cover to cover.

There are no stooges or instant stooges. No pre-show work of any kind is used. This is a one-man effect that can be repeated instantly using different words. Both books can be examined and nothing will be found amiss.

If you need one trick then go with Blinsight, and honestly get the excalibur deck to replace the forced because no matter how good the presentation since they handle almost everything it makes it so much more powerful.

 

[coastaldude]

For patter my thing is to have a strong script that is believable but has them questioning about you, not the method or the effect but about you or w/e powers that you may claim to have or not have.

The script is there for two reasons, Num. 1 is to have something to follow and reduce the ums..... and uhhhhssss... so you sound like you know what you're doing and sound professional. Num. 2 is for somebody like me who likes to stray off and improvise and if I see that maybe it gets boring or I feel like I'm rambling then I have something to go back to almost instantly.

Last part I will add is to have a variety of different mentalism. You seem to have it but you should have mindreading, predictions, thought transfer, maybe some clairvoyance. W/e it is feel comfortable and make it last like a true miracle of the mind and not some parlor trick.

 

[Sam Hardy]

Thanks very much for all your help guys, it's really appreciated. I think I've got a routine now though - I added Jay Sankey's Memory Lapse. It's just the patter I'm working on now.

I also thought it'd be appropriate to add the message I sent to toyrobot concerning this;

Hey,

After reconsidering, I've trawled through my DVD collection and found some interesting tidbits on Jay Sankey's 22 Blows To The Head which I previously overlooked.

And my patter's coming along too - I think that's what I need help with most. I've thought that I could theme it around the power, control and sharing of thoughts. By opening with a prediction of a dupe card, I can say that "It's easy for a mentalist like myself to predict a thought that's not even in your head yet..." And proceed.

Then, I'll go into Daniel Madison's Blood Marked Deck. When they have the card chosen, I'll explain something like;
"However, it's a little more tricky to decipher a thought already in your head. Please, focus on your card... etc.

Thinking about it, it'd probably be better to open with the Blood deck and following with the prediction. Yeahh...

Anyway, I'll follow with Sankey's awesome Memory Lapse trick, with the patter;

"Believe it or not, it's also possible for a thought to be diminished, or destroyed through someone else's voluntary actions. Let me give you an example... *Trick* Here I demonstrated a technique I've been working on for a while. But don't worry, the thought will return in a few hours...

Of course, it won't.

And I'll close with Luke Jermay's Emotional Intelligence, which is phenomenal, with the idea that

"Personal thoughts and memories are the most difficult to deal with. With all due respect, and if it's okay, I'd like to delve into this fascinating side of it..."

So, yeah. That's pretty much what I've come up with. I was just wondering if you think that's okay? And if you have any suggestions, that'd be awesome.

-Sam H

P.S. I love Sean Fields' work. I think he's really good at what he does, and I also love his X-Rated Notes.

Just highlighting what I'm going to be doing. If anyone has any advice, it's hugely appreciated once again.

Thanks for your time,

-Sam H

 

[praetoritevong]

One quick tip: If you're not doing so already, certainly with E.I. and maybe with some of the other effects, pick a spectator who is close to the front, and ask them to stand / ask a spectator to come forward. This is just so that the majority of the audience can see them very easily - since their cue to react will be that one audience member's reaction, so they need to see it.

I'm sure you're already doing that, but it's worth a mention anyway just in case. Good luck with it mate..