talkmagic.co.uk

just me wrote:My claims are very truthful. I say That I am cheating, draw attention to the whole lying aspect. I understand this isn't the usual way of doing it (or the most encouraged) But it works for me, it means thay know I'm not lying to them any more than I have to and they just enjoy the tricks for what they are, an entertaining, mystifying and enjoyable way of cheating.

I hope and pray you aren't doing Mentalism in that this view is akin to shooting yourself in the foot; you cannot illicit an investment of belief from your audience in that they know you are looking at what you do as being "tricks" rather than presenting "miracles". . . it doesn't have to be something paranormalish, but all of mentalism is optimized when our claims prove to be validated by way of our demonstration. This applies to Hypnosis, Mnemonic acts, code acts, you name it.

If you want to channel Jerry Andrus and hold to the patter you mention here, you may want to stick with traditional magic rather than ruining things for others.

I simply say that I am super-sensitive and that i have used my sensitivity to learn how to read people.With Telekinesis and Levitation and remote touching, my claim is that I am just using Energy that we all have but that most of us don't know how to use.
Ronny

mindtelepathy wrote:I simply say that I am super-sensitive and that i have used my sensitivity to learn how to read people.With Telekinesis and Levitation and remote touching, my claim is that I am just using Energy that we all have but that most of us don't know how to use.
Ronny

Slippery slope. You don't need to "claim" anything, you're a damn magician, you shouldn't go telling everyone how you do things but that doesn't mean you have to go to the other end of the spectrum.

hds02115 wrote:

mindtelepathy wrote:I simply say that I am super-sensitive and that i have used my sensitivity to learn how to read people.With Telekinesis and Levitation and remote touching, my claim is that I am just using Energy that we all have but that most of us don't know how to use.
Ronny

Slippery slope. You don't need to "claim" anything, you're a damn magician, you shouldn't go telling everyone how you do things but that doesn't mean you have to go to the other end of the spectrum.

Speak for Yourself. . . even on this forum there are mentalists that sell themselves as Psychics in that the public will pay to see a psychic. . . and pay a hell of a lot more than they will pay to see some jerk doing a trick. Or, as Dunninger pointed out, "No One Wants to Pay to See a Fake Mind Reader". . .

Those that look at any bit they do that stems from Mentalism as a trick, will never realize the impact and advantage known to those legends of past and present, who understand them as being "tools" or "instruments" to be played. Effective Mentalism cannot be looked upon or presented as Tricks and I an assure you, even Banachek will echo that position in that he understands the power of viability when tide to one's claims & performance.

In my experience, those that make such bold statements don't understand Mentalism for what it is and more importantly, why it is. You will never comprehend why, for example, the Q&A is the single strongest and most popular bit we do; the fact that the public comes to have us them about themselves and their lives not torture flatware and do card tricks. While such things may amuse them, it doesn't consume them in the way personable demonstrations will. Again, this is something "tricksters" can never come to know because they can't turn off their analytical mind long enough to connect and be in the moment and thus TRUST their own gut. . . they're too smart for that

What I Have Found in the past few years are more and more newbies to Mentalism, asking questions and recognizing that there's a whole bunch certain folks aren't just leaving out, but working hard to steer them away from. There are members in this forum that used to side with the "It's just a trick" element who've come to me with apology and realization that what I've stated over and over again, is true and closer to what Mentalism seems to have been in the not so distant past vs. what it's been forced into being in the past decade. Based on this alone I'd have to conclude that the things I was taught by the handful of living legends some 30 years ago, is still true and thus, why I am obliged to pass on that some sense of perspective even as the status quo whines and moans and mocks said views. You do not have to call yourself a clairvoyant or some esoteric thing, you do however have the onus to make a claim and live up to it by using it as the crux of your presentation and what completes the one single illusion every mentalist must focus on creating -- The Idea That They are Legit in Their Claims. . . ask any public speaker about how potent that one thing is -- the lie of being an "expert". . . we're not the only ones that use it.

When we state that we do something as psychc entertaainment there is a wide scope of understanding by that I mean that the reader is told something is going to happen it doesnt say how it will be done that is up to the person who sees the show to makes their mind up. Was it clairvoyance, intuition, or the person on stage dancing under the moon. The same goes for magic, the performer may say they perform magic, cutting a lady in half, they don't write the method underneath. It is generally accepted that as magic as someone with special powers but the term psychic conjours up images of people with special powers ie " talking th the dead"

So as a performer I give a description of what they do, I may use a character to mislead the audience. I performed a full mentalism act at the end some said great entertainment some asked about my special ability. That is upto the individual.

Nic Castle wrote:When we state that we do something as psychc entertaainment there is a wide scope of understanding by that I mean that the reader is told something is going to happen it doesnt say how it will be done that is up to the person who sees the show to makes their mind up. Was it clairvoyance, intuition, or the person on stage dancing under the moon. The same goes for magic, the performer may say they perform magic, cutting a lady in half, they don't write the method underneath. It is generally accepted that as magic as someone with special powers but the term psychic conjours up images of people with special powers ie " talking th the dead"

So as a performer I give a description of what they do, I may use a character to mislead the audience. I performed a full mentalism act at the end some said great entertainment some asked about my special ability. That is upto the individual.

EXACTLY!

There was a time when things like the Sawing and Levitation were presented with an air of mystique and paranormal but such connections to our more remote past (as a species) quickly vanished as the the 20th century forced us into a more intellectual scheme of things. On one level we ended up with some very positive advantages theatrical but then too, we ended up with some seriously immature CRAPOLA as well; including a plethora of corny one-liners that are still being used 5 or six generations after they were first uttered

The old timers (including Dunninger) would simply state that their job was to present mysteries of the mind (or whatever the claim) and in so doing, entertain their guests as completely as they could by sharing a unique experience with them. They would emphasize that it is not their job to encourage or discourage belief (the part so many seem to forget these days) in that such things must be left to the individual to consider. Today we find a special sort of assholiness that breaks that long standing axiom, lending faux-permission to the performer to walk out and call their entire audience an IDIOT if they believe in such stuff -- LITERALLY! . . .and I'm not referring to Clairvoyance and Telepathy only, but NLP, FACS, Hypnosis and list of other phenomena tied to science and much being widely accepted as valid science as well.

pardon This is just something that really gets me bent.