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abraxus wrote:i fully agree with Tomo there...and very eloquently put too may i add...

I feel in general magic people are too caught up in their labels - i am a mentalist therefore i am better than a magician - i am a magician therefore i am better than a juggler ad infinitum -

Those labels will always mean more to (some of) us than it will to the general public...

Whereas it should be seen as no boundaries, no labels, no nothing. A deep and enveloping void of whatever you choose. A label defines who you are in an instant, and i personally don't want that.

I have bizarre/dark leanings, i adore pure puzzling card effects, i straight up am in love with wierd psychic oddities and predictions...and all other things inbetween that catch my eye and mind...

I know there's the old saying "a magician guards an empty box" but there should also be one saying "a mentalist can sometimes be trapped in an empty box"....(that'll neeed some work obviously..)

not only what we define, we create - but we can also constrict...

this is all said with love for all the arts, and respect due to everyone...just my occasional coherent thoughts that's all...

amen.
i'll think i'll re-write my question now. lol. cuz im picking up negative vibes.

can anybody recomend a nice easy to follow step by step guide to mental "magic" or mentalism. if a think does exist?

thanks

the usual suspects are:

Karl Fulves - self working mental magic
Corinda - 13 steps to Mentalism
Annemann's Practical Mental Magic...

Annemann's my case in point, by its own 'label' - its mental magic, which daren't be mixed with mentalism, yet it is always mentioned in the same breath as Corinda's...

anyway...those three...then its kinda up to you what path you take...

abraxus wrote:
Karl Fulves - self working mental magic
Corinda - 13 steps to Mentalism
Annemann's Practical Mental Magic...

do you have a personal favourite out of these three? or any knowledge of the "type" of mental "magic" they contain?
sorry for being fussy but I'm just curious.

well, what "type" of mental magic do you want (to be equally fussy)?

favourite? corinda and annemann equally for different reasons...

ermm....exactly. thats my point, i don't know the classes and what types of mental magic there are. im a total noob

then you should get Karl Fulves self-working book first, see if you like it and go on from there...in my opinion only...

ok
thanks mate.

abraxus wrote:then you should get Karl Fulves self-working book first, see if you like it and go on from there...in my opinion only...

I'll second that. A lovely little book, that.

Let me clarify something really quick here...

I don't believe that Mentalists are "better" than magicians or vice versa. I only believe that they are "different than" e.g. the approach to presenting effective mentalism, in my experience and based on the old school approach that I studied, is to distance yourself from the magic/magician side of things. In fact, a look around will reveal the that there are far more "Mentalists" that do not participate in these forums, who are not "known" in magic circles, etc. than one might want to believe. There are many reasons for this (it is likewise something Cassidy frequently points out)

The bantering and insistence of the magician's world that Mentalism is the same as and that Mentalists must admit to being tricksters being the key reason why "we" loose out on so much both, as performers as well as a "fellowship"

As to what you shared TOMO I have no real problem with what you describe. My "problem" as it were, stems from those that think they can wear clown white doing kiddie shows and feature MoAB or similar "high end" effects just because they bought the trick (sadly, this was actually done by the past president of a major magic orgainization).

There's just too much mixing of the arts vs. focus and discipline. I'm certain you'd agree with me, that such antics rob both, the performer as well as the audience when it comes to the delivery of quality.