Hey guys, this has been an age old question, weather to use playing cards in mentalism or not. One school of thought is that you should not use the playing cards since they associate to trickery and tricks, which is what most mentalists are trying to get as far away from, as possible. The other school of thought is that they don't care, it doesn't bother them either way because in the end, who cares?
I am on the fence for this one for so long, and I've been going back and forth, and right now I am in a place where I DO use playing cards, but ONLY if they are justified. The way I justify them is either by doing some sort of demonstration at a poker table, by reading the minds, or the body language, or whatever, to determine what cards does the spectator have OR by doing some memory effect saying that in the memory olypmics, one of the stages is to memorize a deck of cards, which is a fact. The last reason I use to justify them is by saying that they are something that is familiar to everybody, so it's easier to work with, if I do the effect where they guess what card I have in mind, or by using them as a medium for readings, which many psychics actually do.
Also, the way I introduce them in the card game setting is by saying "if I was a magician, which I am not, I could just snap my fingers and make money appear, which is the dream of every person in the world. But since I am a mind reader, I need to find other ways, and that is by winning at poker by reading people...". Something along those lines.
So I would like to hear your opinions and experiences. Do you use playing cards in mentalism, and WHY?
Cheers,
Toby
I am on the fence for this one for so long, and I've been going back and forth, and right now I am in a place where I DO use playing cards, but ONLY if they are justified. The way I justify them is either by doing some sort of demonstration at a poker table, by reading the minds, or the body language, or whatever, to determine what cards does the spectator have OR by doing some memory effect saying that in the memory olypmics, one of the stages is to memorize a deck of cards, which is a fact. The last reason I use to justify them is by saying that they are something that is familiar to everybody, so it's easier to work with, if I do the effect where they guess what card I have in mind, or by using them as a medium for readings, which many psychics actually do.
Also, the way I introduce them in the card game setting is by saying "if I was a magician, which I am not, I could just snap my fingers and make money appear, which is the dream of every person in the world. But since I am a mind reader, I need to find other ways, and that is by winning at poker by reading people...". Something along those lines.
So I would like to hear your opinions and experiences. Do you use playing cards in mentalism, and WHY?
Cheers,
Toby