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I do mentalism, but I use a psychological explanation. I do my best to explain it is not psychic, but I don't emphasise it and I don't use the fact that mentalism adresses the issue of psychics to advertise my skepticism for those fantastical sorts of things. But anyway, I was performing a routine which involved a s***mi gimmick, lots of psychological forces, a fair deal of hellstromism, cold reading and billet work and a healthy dollop of chance and dual reality. I was quite pleased and had had one of those streaks of luck any cold readers will be aware of. I had managed to tell someone their star sign without fishing or them concentrating on it, the name of someone's brother and the fact that someone had attended a funeral the day before. I thought I had given a good improptu demonstration of my abilities but apparently too convincing. I had manager to convince someone that I was not a psychological expert, but a psychic passing myself of a psychological expert to make myself look clever. No matter how much I pleaded I could not convince this person it was not psychic. Does this happen often and has anyone else even had thier 'houdini moment'?

Yes, this sort of thing is not an uncommon reaction. Often times people we'll actually believe you are really a psychic, or at least something close.

I recall looking over a review of a Derren Brown show in which the reviewer kept insisting that Derren, though claiming to simply be using psychological illusion, was in fact doing real psychic things.

Craig Browning has mentioned before that even when a performer insists he/she does not have any sort of psychic powers or techniques, people will still insist it is psychic.

I myself prefer to perform similarly to how you do, but there really isn't a need to continue to convince people otherwise. People will decide how they find reality, and there isn't much a reason to try so much to convince them they are wrong.



-Benjamin

The more you insist your methods are natural, the less they believe you. Smile and be polite, decline to say anything other than neutral platitudes, and leave them to make their own minds up - they'll do it no matter what you say!

LET THEM THINK THAT!


I am a skeptic, and do exactly the same as you. But if someone believe I was psychic, I'd let them believe it. Just chill :p

I know some people do make jokes about the lottery and precognition e.t.c. hich aren't really consistent with psychological methodology, but I don't want to act as evidence for psychic powers, which is difficult without going down the whole Ian Rowland / DB route of skeptical mentalism.
I understand that naturally some people will tihnk I have supernatural abilities, which is fine, but I don't want that 'houdini' style resistance.
Is there any way I could proove I am not psychic?

SamGurney wrote:Is there any way I could proove I am not psychic?

Yeah, mess up all your predictions.

For heaven's sake, why would you want to convince people that you're not psychic? Let them have a bit of magic in their lives, for goodness sakes.

Thats the funny thing- I can't actually proove I'm not psychic.

"I have had to renounce all of the so called performing ethics, inasmuch as I consider the effect upon my audience above everything," - Theodore Annemann

if you are against psychic ability - please do not replicate it...and if people believe you are psychic it is down to you to explain that you are not...even if it means revealing that it is "all tricks"...

otherwise, you are not being true to your skeptic background...

if you are anti-psychic, why perform in an arena that could look like it IS psychic in the first place?

playing devil's advocate here...

SamGurney wrote:...had one of those streaks of luck any cold readers will be aware of... I had managed to tell someone their star sign without fishing or them concentrating on it, the name of someone's brother and the fact that someone had attended a funeral the day before.

Look you clearly are psychic and are in denial for some reason - just accept your gift FFS!

No, I never said I am 'anti-psychics', but I don't believe in that and I don't want to act as proof against my own skeptic 'brothers'. I do denounce psychic ability and finnally, I agree with Anneman on the large majority of things, but I could never get rid of performing ethic and I don't quite understand how performing ethic has to compromise effect . I am not about limiting and confining people's perceptions or taking any magic out of their lives, that's why I am very careful not to use mentalism as a hardline skeptic would. I can see I am not going to win this argument, so I think I'll just shut up.
All that said, thestoner was right, I must be psychic.