by dup » Mar 1st, '10, 21:02
Hi everyone,
I've been studying magic and mentalism for the last month or two, and having plenty and plenty of fun showing the tricks I learned to my friends. I am now the official spoon-bender of the pack (yay!) :>
I'm actually in my PhD studies in some obscure and horrible scientific area, but I also do a lot of lectures about science in front of large crowds, and considering to do that professionally as soon as I finish my studies. Two months ago I decided I want to do a lecture/show about skepticism, and combine it with amazing effects from mentalism... and here I am now.
I'm still reading Corinda's Thirteen Steps to Mentalism (currently starting the fourth chapter), and have gone through most of Bob Cassidy's and Chuck Hickock's writings. I already had two improvised shows of 20-30 minutes in front of audiences of 60 people or so, and they went down very well. I did some thought reading, swammied my way around, used the One Ahead method and showed them how the Chevreul's Pendelum works. Considering the time limits and my inexperience, I mainly tried to overcome my fear of the audience detecting I'm lying to them through my teeth, so the shows didn't really have much of an artistic value or a profound lesson about life, but that's what my big show in two weeks from now is going to be about.
In any case, I'm happy to be here, and hope to be able to contribute to some of the discussions, especially when I've had some further knowledge of the art.