talkmagic.co.uk

Hi,

I started at university in september and enjoy performing card tricks for the people in my hall of residence.

However one of the guys in my hall does a different type of trick. You can put any number of coins on a table and touch 1 or 2 while he isn't looking and he will always be able to tell which coins you touched just by reading your body language, it is very clever.

I really want to learn how to do this trick and other sorts of mind reading tricks but can find no information on how to do this type of magic anywhere on the internet.

If anybody could give me any advice on reading body language or a link I would really appreciate it. I love the sorts of things derren brown does and would love to be able to replicate some similar things (albeit on a much more basic level) for my friends at uni and family!

Welcom to the board

Any of Derrens books are a good start but if you want to get into this form of magic (mentalism) you really can't do better than The Thirteen Steps To Mentalism book, fantastic stuff.
To be honest this is the hardest form of magic, some people can do it, others just can't (not everybody feels comfortable reading people) and it's more work in a lot of ways than say cards to learn.

I wish I could give you a link but you just don't find the good stuff like this without paying through the nose for it I'm afraid.
Stick around and I am sure somebody will be of some help (or know more than I)and I look forward to hearing more of your Uni tales, and buying the videos on ebay

BaB

PS- has everyone else on this board got quicker fingers than me or what Tom?

http://cnb-host2.clickandbuild.com/cnb/shop/merchantofmagic?listPos=&productID=525&search=&op=catalogue-product_info-null&prodCategoryID=3

try this for a tripple wammy, my next purchase justa shame that lawrence dosn't sell it as id rather buy from him .

Just a word to the wise... I'm sure you already know this but the way mentalists say they are doing their tricks is very rarely the truth.
If Derren Brown, your friend or any other mentalist says they're using body language, NLP, fairy dust or a spirit guide called Malcolm to achieve the effects then take it with a pinch of salt.
The biggest secret skill of mentalism is being able to tell a convincing fib.
And if / when you get your hands on 13 Steps, Self Working Mental Magic by Karl Fulves (a truly great starting point - I highly recommend it) or any other book on mind reading please don't be disappointed that it doesn't discuss psychology, body language etc.
The effects in the books are there for you to dress up as you wish. If you want to appear to be a body language expert or a human lie detector then it's all in the window dressing and presentation.
A knowledge of body language can't hurt, but if you could be 100pc certain of what a person is thinking just by looking at them you wouldn't need magic books to learn from!!!!
Remember: What you tell the audience is far more important than what actually happens.
Hope that helps,
Mathew.

lawrence is suplying me with some magic bicycle cards that will alow me to do some impressive mentalist effects

MagicDiscoMan dumps a bucket of salt on the table and only £1.99 each

I am starting to get more into mentalism effects the major part is convincing your audience that you can read minds but don't be too smart the odd trick that goes slightly wrong under a so called test condition is better to throw into your presentation your audience will then start to think that perhaps you do have some sort of gift but only aim for a 90% success rate this has worked for me & people will talk about your performance more & convince others mentalism should be experiments & not tricks, body language can be mastered to tell if people are lying about say a chosen card or coins in either hand can be easy to detect & you can find many books on this subject.

Hope this helps.

There is a fair chance that the "coin touching" trick is just that: a trick, rather than body language reading. Could you give some more deails about what exactly happens.

Alan Jackson wrote:There is a fair chance that the "coin touching" trick is just that: a trick, rather than body language reading. Could you give some more deails about what exactly happens.

I'd say that was rather likely.

If my guess is right, the important thing is what has not been mentioned. I raise this issue as it it relevant for so much of magic. If people don't notice it, or fail to appreciate it has any significance, the effect achieved can be amazing.

sounds like a pub trick ive known for years......dont know whether you want me to say how the version i know is done or not on here???

tarb wrote:sounds like a pub trick ive known for years......dont know whether you want me to say how the version i know is done or not on here???

Tarb, As much as I really would love to know how your version works, we mustn't reveal any secrets on these pages.

feel free to pm me with the details though

fair enough its just most people i know know how to do it so i dont really consider it a secret

I know what may be the same method - something to do with not reading the bod language of the spec, but maybe someone else's? Am I on the right lines?

sounds very much like the trick i know and love

must admit ive never heard of this either!