Hey guys its been forever sense I've been on the forums. Well I've been doing card magic for about 13 months now and I don't want to say I'm getting bored with it but I feel that the spectators that I perform for a regular basis may be getting tired of the typical "Pick a card, lose it and find it". So I wish to broaden my horizons and wish to step into mentalism for my routines and performances. So with a little be of where I am and where I wish to go, Where should I start.
I'm looking good material, good books, dvds, lectures, theories, etc. Basically anything that would be good to start with. I greatly appreciate the help.
-Ninja G
Mentalism isn't something you just do, it's something you have to live for and strive for applying every single method to real life e.g. using the ideas found in performance psychology and testing them out. For the most part being a mentalist is something you have to work for, the path isn't easy..
For someone with only 3-years’ worth of foundation I think this post is prophetic; kudos for you! You’ve offers some very sound advice that is unlike the sort most will extend to a novice but yes, Mentalism is more of a “life style” than it is a series of effects. While anyone can learn the mechanics being a trick, the Mentalist strives to make the effect affect the patron in ways that seem “real” and beyond explanation and more importantly, outside the possibility of it being a “trick”. Far too many in today’s world mislabel routines like “Stigmata” as being Mentalism when in reality such bits are more accurately a part of Bizarre Magick, a spin-off of Mentalism’s darker side (bits dealing with ghosts, boogiemen, etc.) coupled with a touch of traditional magic & storytelling. I can assure you however, producing a motorcycle under the ruse of it being a Mental Miracle is horse pucky!
And yes, the Paul Brook book (say that 10 times really fast) is a great piece but ONLY AFTER YOU GET SOME FOUNDATION which would be a serious study of the two primary bibles of Mentalism – Practical Mental Magic by Annemann and 13 Steps to Mentalism by Tony Corinda. I’ll add one other set of books and that’s the Karl Fulves books on self-working effects. I’m not a big one for card routines within Mentalism, but Karl has some very smart material that’s work learning.
What’s wrong with playing cards in Mentalism? You ask
You will find that there are two camps of thought with this issue, the “truests” of Mentalism seeking to distance themselves significantly from the magician’s craft strive to use alternatives over playing cards such as photographs, business cards, postcards, etc. because, psychologically, people do not view your use of such things as being the same as they would with a deck of cards which, for most, represent games of chance, manipulation/hustling and of course magicians doing card tricks. The camp that wants to support card tricks in Mentalism tend to be of the “Dunninger Mold” mind-set; recovering magicians who’ve just not recognized the fact that Mentalism, while a cousin to magic, is not one in the same, the psychological paradigms are actually contrasts to one another.
With all of that said, I will refer you to an article I wrote several years ago that has been given high kudos by numerous folk of note within our fraternity as well as those you will see commenting within the follow-up thread.
http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic11429.php