theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

What is Mentalism to you?

Cyrus

Cyrus

Feb 3, 2008
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Raleigh, NC
I currently pride myself with specializing in Mentalism and Card Magic. But I have found that many people have different definitions of Mentalism. I find this very interesting. An example of this is Ellusionist selling Svengali decks, the Scorpion Pro-UV Kit, Raven, the Superman Coin Bend and the Ash Pen all in the Mentalism section of their site; in my definition of Mentalism, none of these tricks would be considered Mentalist tricks.

So out of interest, I ask: What is Mentalism to you?

-Cyrus
 
Well, mentalism is category of magic that creates illusion of telepathy, mindreading, telekinesis, suggestion, hypnosis, or sometimes body control. (Control is modern mentalism to me, as is Derren Brown-style "psychology")
 
Cyrus said:
What is Mentalism to you?
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To me, mentalism is the branch of magic that appears to use no props or gimmicks, relying entirely on the magician's apparent mental prowess.

You can, of course, use sleight of hand or a prepared prop or a gimmick to accomplish the effect. The important part is that your presentation inherently relies on an audience perception that you didn't use them. There are all kinds of mentalism effects which actually do use rather elaborate setups and props and gimmicks, but the audience is misdirected into the belief that these are not part of the trick.

Take, for example, the old card index. You write a prediction on a piece of paper, and stick it in your pocket; you allow the spectator to fairly mix and shuffle the deck before selecting a card; and meanwhile, you have all the cards written down on little slips of paper in your pocket, so you simply locate and produce the correct slip. This is clearly a gimmick, and the deck of cards is clearly a prop, but you would normally present it as though neither is necessary - because you are reading the spectator's mind.

Most tricks can be presented as mentalism. A simple card force can turn into mentalism: "I'm getting a black card... it's not a face card... it's a high value... an even value... and I'm getting an impression of sharpness... the eight of spades?" What matters isn't the trick itself, but the way you present it, so I sort of roll my eyes at the idea of mentalism being a category of magic.
 
I have to agree with you CDarklock, I feel that mentalism isn't in the trick itself, but mostly in the presentation. Which is why like you, I feel that mentalism is completely seperate from magic. When I present myself to the audience I present myself as a magician and a mentalist, not just a magician.

And man, I love my card index and billet index :D

Very interesting, anybody else?

-Cyrus
 
Mentlaism to me is magic of the mind, which is telepathy, telekinisis, mind reading, body control and all that kind of stuff. It's the type of magic that appears to use nothing but the mind and if done correctly, people will probably think you have psychic abilities.

A great quote from 13 Steps:

"A magician would use his powers to bend a big metal beam whereas a mentalist would bend flimsy cutlery as if he just discovered his powers yesterday."
 
Cyrus said:
I currently pride myself with specializing in Mentalism and Card Magic. But I have found that many people have different definitions of Mentalism. I find this very interesting. An example of this is Ellusionist selling Svengali decks, the Scorpion Pro-UV Kit, Raven, the Superman Coin Bend and the Ash Pen all in the Mentalism section of their site; in my definition of Mentalism, none of these tricks would be considered Mentalist tricks.

So out of interest, I ask: What is Mentalism to you?

-Cyrus
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Ill tell you right now popular sites don´t have mentalism things! Mentalism usually dosen´t have any cards, gimmicks, coins or nothing that suggests your a "typical" magician. The using of cards in mentalism is quite new. Mentalism to me is like well me :) Its who you are not who you want to be. I just desided that im not gonna use cards enymore because they just don´t accelarate people enymore. The beauty of mentalism is no angles, do eniwhere to enyone, its the perfect magic. But its very hard! You have to do one trick and never do that to the person again no more tricks for him/her because they could get emotionall stress and so on. This is mindf**** you know! So i think thats all :)

Thanks For Reading,

Mr.MadMan aka Mikk Pärg
 
Mentalism to me is more astounding than card magic. It's center tears, swami gimmicks, blindfolds, metal bending...ect.

I think mentalism is in a class of it's own. It's a little more impressive and blows your spectator away more than cards. With cards someone is going to expect something to happen to their card. Either you find it, it goes to the top...ect. With mentalism they have no idea what your about to do. Spectatros are never really burning your hands because they are not sure what to expect. I guess I believe it's just more pure than cards.

Just my 2 cents.
 
To me, mentalism is the ability to have a person think of one word from a book, and then you, across the room, tell them the word. Mentalism is meant to blow minds, often in the most minimalist way possible. In my past performances, the few mentalism illusions I know have the best reactions because there are few props and it is all done in a seemingly fair way. Plus, I am of the opinion that mentalism sticks with a spectator in a way that no other magic can.
 
Something to keep in mind:

Mentalism requires a specific setting in order to pull off properly. You can't do a center tear in a noisy bar; save it for an after-dinner performance where distractions are minimal.

That being said, I believe mentalism is the strongest type of entertainment in the "magic" business.
 
I just want to comment here that mentalism is hard to take seriously from ANYONE under the age of 30. A 15 year old kid saying he can read your mind is not as believable and might come off a bit laughable to some.

Just keep that in mind when choosing material.
 
Bizzaro said:
I just want to comment here that mentalism is hard to take seriously from ANYONE under the age of 30. A 15 year old kid saying he can read your mind is not as believable and might come off a bit laughable to some.

Just keep that in mind when choosing material.
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I have to disagree with that, I'm 20 and my mentalism routines are killer and my brother is 17 and his mentalism tricks, when he does them, are also killer. People take both of us very seriously when we perform mentalism or magic. Its about your presentation, if you are 15 and say "I've been studying this for a long time," thats obviously unbelievable. BUT if you say, "So the other day, I got in an accident or had a serious head injury and now I've discovered these untapped powers," thats a little more believable. I personally like Daniel Madison's style though, you don't over explain how you are doing what you are doing, you just DO IT.

I also didn't make this topic for advise on mentalism material, seeing that I'm already a mentalist. I am just curious of what others think.

-Cyrus
 
Mentalism to me is the ability to make your spectator believe beyond all physical reality's that you can read their thoughts and premonitions. If the use of cards is taking away from the final outcome then use an esp deck. The idea is to scare and shake the realty in your spectator and leave them feeling paralized with doubts of their own beliefs. Then you lay the whopper on them and tell them" Now you will give me your first born!". No but really these are the basic rules of Mentalism and it's in a class of it's own thats for sure.

Shane
 
Cyrus said:
I have to disagree with that, I'm 20 and my mentalism routines are killer and my brother is 17 and his mentalism tricks, when he does them, are also killer. People take both of us very seriously when we perform mentalism or magic. Its about your presentation, if you are 15 and say "I've been studying this for a long time," thats obviously unbelievable. BUT if you say, "So the other day, I got in an accident or had a serious head injury and now I've discovered these untapped powers," thats a little more believable. I personally like Daniel Madison's style though, you don't over explain how you are doing what you are doing, you just DO IT.

I also didn't make this topic for advise on mentalism material, seeing that I'm already a mentalist. I am just curious of what others think.

-Cyrus
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Oi, not trying to offend or offer advice. I was just telling you what I think. Claws in dude.
 
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