I guess you can consider me as a newbie magician, but I'm into card magic right now and practice things everyday(I've been practicing the classic pass for about 2 months now).
However, I suddenly became interested with hypnotism. I'm wondering if I can be proficient with both. And what's the main different between hypnotism and mentalism?
As I've seen it, mentalism is more of a direct mind "guessing" than taking control, but couldn't they work together in a way?
And can anyone name some books/videos of how to perform for people?
Like, right now, I can't just go up to any random people in the mall and ask them if they wanna see magic, I'm a really shy person..
The things I do currently are for people that I have a relation to, I mean, they still get amazed by some stuff that I do. XD
I'm sorry I didn't get to this post sooner but I'd be glad to help with your questions.
First off, to answer the main question, yes you can be proficient in both cards or slights of hand and hypnotism. However, the two acts don't mesh with each other so you would end up having two very,
very diffrent shows. Both in presentation, psychology, and execution.
The diffrence between a Hypnotist and a Mentalist is psudo-science. A Hypnotist is an actual licensed college course quality therapist. You can put that on a resume and get higher pay grades because it's acredited. A mentalist is complete bunk. I say psudo-science because argueably the Hypnotist is complete bunk too acording to some people like Penn Jillette.
Both the Hypnotist and the Mentalist present their acts as genuine displays of mind over what ever. The Hypnotist uses suggestions to the subconscience mind that helps influence the person to act or behave in a certain way. Their shows are usually longer than a mentalist, and require a bit more pre-talk to set up. The mentalist performs miracles of the mind that usually involve aspects of ESP such as Telepathy, Thought Transfer, Telekenises, Mind Reading, Spoon or Fork bending, ETC.
Mentalism and Hypnotism can work together, kind of. They are both certainly in the same theme. I perform with a production called the "Mind Show" which displays the four pillars of mental magic; Thought Transfer, Mind over Mater, Hypnotism, and Mentalism. The one thing I've learned from doing the show is the Hypnotist (to do it right) needs twice as long as a mentalist to set up and deliver his act. Our Hypnotist usually runs a set anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and half depending on the crowed, where as the rest of the three acts are on and off the stage in under 30 minutes respectively.
There are a lot of books out there devoted to both Mentalism and Hypnotism. You could try Corinda's 13 steps to Mentalism book for starters. It's a good read, and covers just about all the basics and then some. For Hypnotism I really don't know. I don't play with that a lot. yet. I would almost recomend going to your local comunity college and seeing if they offer a course in it. There are a LOT of "do it yourself at home and for CHEAP!" cd's, dvd's, and books out on the market. Chances are they aren't worth the money. Invest in a local class. I'm not sure, I'm just guessing but you could probably pick up a certification for under two grand. Trust me; "Licensed" anything sells better than some guy with an act.
Hope that helps!
