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hi everybody,

mentalism, has been kind of an obsession lately.
over the course of last year, i became pretty good at it, i mean, i hounostly can't remember the last time someone saw trough an effect.
ive been thinking though, how should i present my Mentalism?
I have a serious problem presenting it as real psychic abilities, plus it is not belivable anymore these days.
so pretty mutch all i can present it as is 'A mixture of Body Language, the power of suggestion, and sometimes magic'.
but is that belivable for an 16 year old, mabye if i have some kind of backstory?
or possibly something else my puny human mind can't think of...

like to hear what you guys think,
Thanks!

I get away with it because I am quite geeky ('geeky' in the sense that I like thinking and learning, but far from the traditional sense. I don't even watch tv, never mind star wars, doctor who or whatever... and I nearly got excluded from school for incessant questioning of authority) I play it as something like psychological prowess. I can't really explain my own style particularly well, but it is very 'me' and that description seems most fitting; philosophical, unusual, eccentric, esoteric...

This is all I can say for the time being. Think about your own personality and what you can get away with. The issue of psychic or psychological presentation is not merley as important as how you present in general; if you are liked less people will scrutinise your supposed 'method'. Nonetheless, it does inevitably arouse curiosity and once again it depends on your acting ability and ability to spout bs and what you're like as a person.

TheMentalist wrote:so pretty mutch all i can present it as is 'A mixture of Body Language, the power of suggestion, and sometimes magic'.
but is that belivable for an 16 year old, mabye if i have some kind of backstory?
or possibly something else my puny human mind can't think of...

If you make it about 'them' rather than 'you', you'll not only avoid the problem you mention but you'll probably be more entertaining too. It's a win/win

What I mean is, don't be someone with super mental powers. Try to emphasise the abilities of your audience and maybe explore coincidences and other external 'forces'.

There are plenty of mentalism effects and presentations that work in such a way that the performer is not seen as some kind of learned svengali, which is what I think you are concerned about. For example, there are plenty of presentations where the participant reads *your* mind or the mind of another participant, rather than the performer reading the audience.

T.

SamGurney wrote:I play it as something like psychological prowess.

How do you avoid appearing arrogant? Genuine question - not sniping.

i'll say this...

it doesnt matter...try a few things out, experiment and see what works best for you...

if it all goes wrong, the worst that can happen is that its seen as mental-magic...so what?

you're 16...have fun...carry on having fun and just keep an ear/eye out and see what gets the best reactions and seems good for you...

you're going to change massively as a person over the next few years anyway, influences will change too....so dont worry about it and enjoy yourself...

Ted wrote:

SamGurney wrote:I play it as something like psychological prowess.

How do you avoid appearing arrogant? Genuine question - not sniping.

and pretentious...

After years of playing around with the psychic angle (never felt any inclination whatsoever towards the NLP et al route), I have firmly settled on my style being all about helping the spectator to tap into her natural intuitive abilities. I present the audience (of whatever size) with a few weird things and say "Would you like a go?"

Not that I'm a teenager of course. But it might help.

I am one of the the biggest Skeptics you'll ever meet, so having psychic powers, or telling people about there intuition is no option.

also, "psychic Mentalists" are fround uppon lately here in holland.
after this stupid show (sorta like the Masked Magician with mentalim), but with actual good secrets.
Good thing majority people still beleve in People who talk to the ghost who like to play charades. (p.isses me off)

Well in that case do as Iain suggests and have fun trying out different things. I'm sure you'll hit on something that you feel happy with and, most importantly, creates entertainment.
T.

How should a teen present Mentalism?

you shouldnt. learn the craft of magic first, and then after a number of years, transgress to mental magic.

leaping straight into mentalism is a huge mistake, because you need believability to present mentalism. and believability only comes with age and experience. not real experience, but percieved experience, from the audiences point of view.

daleshrimpton wrote:

How should a teen present Mentalism?

you shouldnt. learn the craft of magic first, and then after a number of years, transgress to mental magic.

leaping straight into mentalism is a huge mistake, because you need believability to present mentalism. and believability only comes with age and experience. not real experience, but percieved experience, from the audiences point of view.

despite having no real experience compared to people like the one I have quoted, I would like to agree with this. I am also sixteen and have also tried move into mentalism after eight years of magic. Put simply, it didn't work. I have a rather down-played sorta style that just isn't suitable for mind reading and the like. Not to mention I can't hold the same train of thought for over thirty seconds. I still do some mentalist-ish style effects occasionally if I am specifically asked by a customer but have to play it much closer to magic (while trying to keep the customer happy) for it to suit my natural performing style. If really pushed I will do some but, again, play it as a honed sense of perception to 'see' what the spec was thinking through body movements etc while not making it seem I am an expert- I am only sixteen after all. Just take an effect you really like and try multiple presentations of it and find one (or more) that just 'works'. Then, over time, make it more 'mind reader' orientated as your age and perceived experience grows. (see!? this post DID have some relevance to the quoted quote!)

I think that the best way to go is to just try exploring different ideas and presentations and find something that you're comfortable performing and something that the audience can buy into.

I've tried a few different things and have found presentations based around the idea of female intuition work well for me.

You should also remember that mentalism isn't just restricted to mind reading or displaying '-psychic' powers. In Corinda there is that lovely chapter on memory systems and feats of mental dexterity such as magic squares and the Knights Tour.

If you develop a magic square routine or learn how to name the day of the week for any date that some gives you, you won't have to worry about presenting it as a demonstration of your psychic abilities or your profound understanding of psychology because you can explain that it's something that you've spent many hours, weeks, months learning because you really have.

Once you get a reputation as someone who has developed superior mental abilities through your own hard work, you could start slipping in other mentalism effects that could be sold as extensions of your newly developed abilities. For example, you get somebody to write down a number which you then reveal explaining that you've developed an interest in probability and have learnt what people are more likely to 'randomly' select.

By gradually building on the skill set of 'superior mental abilities' that you've developed, you should eventually be able to work out plausable routines for a wide range of mentalism effects.

I suggest that the following extract from an interview with Maurice Fogel in the 13 Steps to Mentalism may be relevant here. The interview is conducted by Corinda.
.............................................................................................................

Corinda: "Now the next question. Do you think that age matters if you want to be a mentalist?"

Fogel: "Well, for pure mentalism, naturally, as I said at the beginning, you have to have a commanding personality. Well straight away that does suggest that you have to be of a mature age, although the youngster that wants to come into mentalism-I don't want him to be thrown off because of this. By all means do it, as a youngster you can still present it and with experience you will learn a lot. For a really mentalist presentation I would say you should be a ripe mature age-round about thirty and onwards."

Corinda: Actually Fogel, What I had in mind was appearance. That is to say, even if y ou do get a yong chap with a commanding personality (which is possible) do you think the audience will accept his mentalism if he looks "too young"?

Fogel: No- certainly they will accept it. As I say, primarily, if he remembers he is an entertainer and his stuff is presented well-neither age or appearance matter to that extent"
.........................................................................................................

There. Advice from a master. And now here is advice from another master. Me.

With regard to how you present it whether you say it is mindreading or body language or whatever verbiage you wish to indulge in I would say don't even think about it. As I once heard Graham Jolley say in a lecture when asked how he presented it, he said, "I don't know. I just do it!"

So in other words just bloody do it and stop worrying about what people make of it. Just get on and do it and stop making a fuss. Afterwords when they ask you if you are psychic just do as the Piddingtons did so many years ago and say "You be the judge"

There will be lots of daft people around who will think you are the real thing. Don't encourage it and don't discourage it. Let them chatter and it will build your reputation.

You actually want people to argue about whether you are real or not. It is the controversy that keeps you working. Just don't say one way or the other how it all comes about. There is no need to chatter about body language and NLP and all that garbage in the way they do nowadays.

Just do it without making any claims or disclaimers either way. In other words just bloody do it. And when the various daft people come up afterwards to you wishing to chatter about their dreams and ask you if you are psychic just say, "You be the judge"

There. Problem solved.

TheMentalist wrote:hi everybody,

mentalism, has been kind of an obsession lately.
over the course of last year, i became pretty good at it, i mean, i hounostly can't remember the last time someone saw trough an effect.
ive been thinking though, how should i present my Mentalism?
I have a serious problem presenting it as real psychic abilities, plus it is not belivable anymore these days.
so pretty mutch all i can present it as is 'A mixture of Body Language, the power of suggestion, and sometimes magic'.
but is that belivable for an 16 year old, mabye if i have some kind of backstory?
or possibly something else my puny human mind can't think of...

like to hear what you guys think,
Thanks!

Read this: http://www.online-visions.com/jonthomps ... cript.html

Then read this: http://www.online-visions.com/jonthomps ... rmula.html

...ignoring the total lack of copy editing both times.

Read what everyone else has to say.

Then ignore everything and make up your own mind.