Gesh!
If you don't believe you can be believable why are you venturing into an art form that is psychologically dependent on your audience investing belief in whatever B.S. claims you make?
I never said that. Just said that pretending to have my powers from a supernatural gift is not something I can pull off. NLP has almost as much bogus hype about it as "psychics" do and people are duped and or entertained by NLP practitioners as much as they are Psychics. Furthermore, I don't offer disclaimers or explanations. I let my audience decide for themselves. The only thing I am upfront about is that I am here to entertain them and not put together a self help seminar. So ultimately all my questions on the forum are meant for me to internalize, and talk through my character and effects so that when I do get to the performance stage I have everything lined up and logical in my own mind.
MENTALISM IS NOT MAGIC and far too many in this current generation look at it as such because some fool on Tv gets away with and encourages such an abortion, not giving a damn about how it hurts the craft, limits the performer and in most cases, insults the public.
You have said that many times before. I don't disagree with you on that point....Have I ever? I'm not combining a design dupe with card to spectators spleen. (an effect I'll be releasing later this year after it appears on the Chris Angel show. The effect will include a medical rectal bore scope!)
Given the image you describe I don't know why you would have considered the Q&A to start with, you're more the Joel Bauer fast talking pseudo-psychologist sort (you should look up Joel's video footage). It doesn't matter what "theme" you claim so long as it is believable. If you are a skeptic/cynic with a rusted iron trap mind then you can use that to your advantage by doing a Q&A that's based on Logic -- a Sherlock Holmes style of studying the patron, doing a brief character reading and then offering an "elementary" down-to-earth projection about their future or the issue.
That is a fantastic idea! Thank you. I never even thought in that direction.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO BILLET WORK. . . most real work psychics/readers DON'T have things written, they simply ask the question (watch Sylvia Brown). Only magicians want to do tricks (billet switches, etc.) charlatans don't even use that approach now days (and haven't for at least 60 years now. . . except for some of the elderly hustlers of the past).
I'm going to tell you why I don't watch Sylvia Brown. The footage available is too edited. Sure she does it all without billets but she does two hours of taping for every hour of footage. So you really don't get a sense of her misses and screw ups and how she handles them. If I had a chance to see her live I would definitely do so but as it is the footage I have come across is of use to someone who wants to believe she is psychic but not so much for someone who wants to learn her craft. If you have some footage of her screwing up big time and how she talks her way out of it and turns a giant miss into a semi-decent hit, then by all means, send me a link. That sort of thing could be very useful to me.
Second point to make there....cut me some slack. I studied mentalism and mental magic for two years before I started performing it. I have only been performing it for about a year. So in total that is about three years of experience. No certainly prop free mentalism is something most mentalists should strive for but a lot of the folks who do it well have years of experience with it. In the mean time, while I gain that experience, I have a show to perform. One that I want to be entertaining. One that I want to be able to entertain believers and non-believers alike. As an entertainer I feel I should strive to have Richard Dawkins walk out of my show with a smile on his face thinking, "Wow that guy really has mastered human psychology!" I know for a fact that serious skeptics generally walk out of a Sylvia Brown performance thinking, "Gee that was pretty transparent." So if that is the general consensus of opinion from the skeptical side of the audience is nonplussed in regards to Sylvia Brown then do you really think that me, with three years of experience, will fair much better?
So if it is all the same with you, I would like to continue to use my billets, my imp pads, my double writing, and my one ahead principles while I continue to develop the skills that you cherish. The real irony of your statement is that the only way you can really learn good cold reading is through performing it. So underlining a lot of your implications is a no win scenario for people trying to learn the craft. 1. You need to study before you go out and perform.(agreed. Indeed the whole point of this thread is to learn what I need to study for this particular effect) 2. Magic and Mentalism don't mix. (Also agreed though I have found that "Mental Magic" seems to work with both if done correctly) 3. Billet work isn't mentalism....it is a magicians trick.(That is just can't agree with. Because if you accept the other two principles then you are stuck in a rut. I have never heard of anybody who is good at prop free mentalism who recommends studying it a lot and then just going out and winging it without being backed up buy some classic Anneman and Corinda inspired techniques. The truth is that I have studied quite a bit of prop free mentalism but I simply don't have the "Performance experience" with it yet to rely on it for an entire show. As I get that experience I fully plan on relying on it more and more but in the mean time I plan on using my billets and my peeks.)
Study the material I listed along with George Anderson and acts about Hurling the Headlines . . . learn the craft.
Use what you know about your character and persona and how you envision it and then turn off your left brain long enough to allow your right brain/imagination show you how to meld the information found in these resources into your act and do so in a way that makes practical sense and instills believability. If you cannot do this you should not be trying to pull off mentalism in that it is requisite to the craft according to Dunninger, Annemann, Koran, Nelson, and a very long list of others.
Thanks I will certainly do my best. I certainly will try to do that and I don't walk on stage and perform an effect without first having reconciled the effect with the limitations of my characters "powers" and then creating a believable presentation. The importance of this was certainly hammered home to me reading and watching Bob Cassidy. That said, I do think in more rational ways than many other performers. It is a handicap that I am aware of. That is why,
months prior to adding an effect to my repertoire, I come on the forums and hear what other more experienced performers have to say about it.
Look, When I wade through your patronizing tones, and your incessant belief that anyone who asks for advice about mentalism is a 15 year old kid who thinks Chris Angel is a mentalist, the end result is that you do give some awesome advice. Your free e-books are a must for anyone interested in learning the craft. I will say though that I definitely get the impression that you feel a true mentalist must be, or at least pretend to be a new age spiritualist type. I don't personally agree with that and I know for a fact many of the most successful practitioners of mentalism and mental magic are hard core skeptics. So I know that it is not impossible for me to create compelling demonstrations given my personal beliefs. It may be harder for me to do that than some others and I may have to work a lot harder on my scripting and character development than others do but I am willing to put in the work to make it happen.
You and I have had this chat before both on the forums and in PMs. In the past I have convinced you that I am not taking this stuff lightly and I am willing to put in the time to "learn the craft." That said, you often forget those former chats and go back to a patronizing tone that would be more appropriate for a younger less committed person. To that I say...Fine. For all I know you have forgotten those chats. I'm not holding it against you if you have from here forward. Your advice is valued enough by me that if you feel you need make unwarranted assumptions about where I am coming from to offer it then so be it. Not all mentors are particularly likable people. So I sincerely thank you for the advice that you have offered. you are a goldmine if information!
Oh! When it comes to Osterlind just remember that he's much more a magician doing Mental Magic than he's ever been viewed as being an actual Mentalist; even Larry Becker jokes about such things when it comes to his act. So you may want to weigh things for yourselves when it comes to how you want to be seen by the public; what the pros & cons are and whether you can live with it.
I think it should be obvious from my previous statements that Osterlind's work will be just fine for me at this stage of my character and show development. I'll take his pros over his cons for now. That is not to say that I won't look into your specific suggestion and re-read your cold reading E-book for some more advanced material as my character and show progress.
Cheers,
Erik