Although I've admittedly only been doing professional mentalism for a year or so, I've honestly never had any trouble with the title "mentalist" before. Even if people have never heard the term prior to seeing my act, I find that they're often intelligent enough to still understand the gyst of what it means. The word MENTAL is in the title, itself, for crying out loud! I'm willing to bet that if someone were asked to say what came to mind when he heard the word mentalist, he wouldn't be too off the mark with his hapossible responses: psychic, mind reader, someone who studies the mind, etc.
The term has gotten a lot more popularity within popular culture within recent times as well. Gerry McCambridge had a television special entitled the Mentalist a few years back. The crime-drama entitled The Mentalist has been getting decent ratings and was approved for another season.
To be honest, mentalism is just as traditional an art with as colorful a history as magic. In my opinion, to say that laypeople have no idea what a mentalist is isn't giving them enough credit. I believe there's a greater familiarity with mentalism and 'mentalists' than people tend to believe. Just based off my limited experience.
RS.
The term has gotten a lot more popularity within popular culture within recent times as well. Gerry McCambridge had a television special entitled the Mentalist a few years back. The crime-drama entitled The Mentalist has been getting decent ratings and was approved for another season.
To be honest, mentalism is just as traditional an art with as colorful a history as magic. In my opinion, to say that laypeople have no idea what a mentalist is isn't giving them enough credit. I believe there's a greater familiarity with mentalism and 'mentalists' than people tend to believe. Just based off my limited experience.
RS.