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Michael Kras wrote:I don't think I thoroughly understand your thinking... Please explain how sleight of hand can be used as a psychological tool?

I think Lee Warren was trying to say that convincing an audience that you are using NLP/ hypnosis / body language cues etc means that they dont think about slight of hand/ magnets/ IT/ Gimmicked decks and things like that

The problem with jumping on such a band wagon is that it is a band wagon and rapidly loses its effect if used too much. Less is more.

lozey wrote:

Michael Kras wrote:I don't think I thoroughly understand your thinking... Please explain how sleight of hand can be used as a psychological tool?

I think Lee Warren was trying to say that convincing an audience that you are using NLP/ hypnosis / body language cues etc means that they dont think about slight of hand/ magnets/ IT/ Gimmicked decks and things like that

Yes, although I think that Master Kras was querying the original poster, rather than just my contribution!

Also, I'd prefer to stick to the term 'mechanical explanation' rather than becoming TOO specific as to what those mechanics might be!

Lee

I feel its a shame that all the books, dvds etc only handfull actually touch on the pyscology of magic. When to misdirect why misdirect here or there.

Why does that card come to the top of deck. Why do people want to see a card rise to the top of the deck.

Now the pyscology of mentalism is intresting. When I first started I thought has a magician, I must show this billet etc I think osterlind said it right when he put "Magicians think I must show this that and the other, mentalist think well theres no need for this any more i shall throw it away"

And do I sometime use pyscological patter you bet to lead in to bigger and better things It is a test really to see how some one is open to verbial suggestion.

The most important part of any trick is your patter, your delivery. When reading books like The Royal Road, Expert Card Technique etc. which were written in the 30s, a lot of the tricks presented, whilst still very good mechanically, are often displayed in a very old fashioned manner (often requesting you pull a silk handerkerchief from your waistcoat pocket or some other rather anachronistic device). So, we must update the presentation of the trick.

Modern audiences, thanks to television and more recently the internet, are much more used to magic. They're used to seeing some guy shuffling a deck and going "Is this your card? Amazing!" and so often aren't so impressed by that. Magic is about creating wonder in the spectator, and given that they're not willing to believe I can make cards teleport or fly or whatever (as deep down they know it's a trick, albeit one they can't explain) then why not tell them you can read their mind or influence their decisions? In a way the plausibility that the mentalism angle often lends a trick makes it all the more amazing, because it becomes more than just a "trick".

Sorry for the long winded post, I'm just quite interested in the psychology of magic.