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Hey there!

How many of you think that Sherlock Holmes would be an amazing mentalist/cold reader?
What if you had his powers of observation?

P.S. - For those of you who think that S.H. is just a fictional character, google "Joseph Bell". He was the real Sherlock Holmes.

Conan Doyle's Sherlock was very cerebral therefore his powers of observation and deduction would have seemed supernatural to many. Whilst Joseph Bell may very well have been Conan Doyle's inspiration for the characteristics, let's not forget that he himself was fascinated by powers of the other word, he was a believer in spiritualism and his second wife presented herself as a medium. Not a very convincing one according to Houdini, but she was just one of many he had no belief in.

There are some reports of Bell's deductions and they are quite amazing... very similar to the ones that Sherlock Holmes can do.
Sherlock Holmes is kind an idol for me. I've been training my observation/deduction skills for a very long time ( + or -, 2 years) and you can deduce so many things from little details... What a wonderful skill!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikk2DlEKQCw - Derren Brown performance

Need to come see my show with Paul Voodini....

http://www.todd-landman.com/?page_id=1309

Next stop Manchester on 29 June and we are also at the Milton Theatre in Huddersfield on 13 October!

Cheers

Dr T

Check out Jeff Brown's "The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic" - it's available on Amazon. You'll even find one of my effects in there...

Barry

magicofthemind wrote:Check out Jeff Brown's "The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic" - it's available on Amazon. You'll even find one of my effects in there...

Barry

Cool! I did not know that Barry!

Nice one

Dr T

Using the essence of Mentalism as part of a Crime Plot "play" is no new idea, I was playing a Psychic Sleuth back in the latter 80's when the Murder Mystery Party thing was such a big craze here in the U.S. and I should add, the shows go over quite well depending on how they are structured. In my case the whole thing worked backward; the guests created a crime scene that I, as the Psychic Investigator, has to solve. For as dramatic and impossible as it seemed to the observer, it was an amazingly simple thing to pull off (though one need be proficient at Muscle Reading).

DrTodd wrote:

magicofthemind wrote:Check out Jeff Brown's "The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic" - it's available on Amazon. You'll even find one of my effects in there...

Barry

Cool! I did not know that Barry!

Nice one

Dr T

It's Jeff's rewrite of my "Murder by Fruit", which I'm sure you've seen, Todd!

Barry

If I can just be pedantic for a moment; Holmes did not solve crimes through deduction, he did it through induction. Despite what Arty said.

I used to think it would be cool if a mentalist dressed up as, and performed under the name of, Sherlock Holmes and had a stage show. Maybe it could incorporate elements of drama / acting too. But the main thing would be Sherlock interacting with the audience, deducing their professions, memories and so on.

Just think: Sherlock Holmes would have basically made a good magician if he didn't tell everyone how he did it all the time! Then again, that would probably have made the stories a lot more frustrating...

While we're on the topic, I'd just like to point out (for no reason other than that I'm quite proud of it) that I've read all of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and novels.

Poppadom wrote:Just think: Sherlock Holmes would have basically made a good magician if he didn't tell everyone how he did it all the time! Then again, that would probably have made the stories a lot more frustrating...

While we're on the topic, I'd just like to point out (for no reason other than that I'm quite proud of it) that I've read all of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and novels.

Me too...!

The series "Sherlock" (BBC) is perfectly viable for the personality that a today's Sherlock Holmes would have. Very well written and produced!
Sherlock's brain is faster than a computer! xD

That's a great programme. So well-written that I can't help smiling when I watch it. Go Steven Moffat!

Laurence wrote:I used to think it would be cool if a mentalist dressed up as, and performed under the name of, Sherlock Holmes and had a stage show.

I have a, as yet unperformed, half hour act which is presented by Sherlock's brother, Mycroft. It's on the basis that although Sherlock is the one who solves all the bewildering cases, it's Mycroft who secretly points him in the right direction with clues, hints and tips - all anonymous of course. It also suits my age group better than the Sherlock persona. There are 5 routines combined and three of them are from the book mentioned above - which I was hoping would remain a secret for a little while longer!

Poppadom wrote:Just think: Sherlock Holmes would have basically made a good magician if he didn't tell everyone how he did it all the time!

Sherlock Holmes wrote:You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.

Me and Mrs Cult made a pilgrimage to Ingleton in Yorkshire a couple of months ago. Conan Doyle's mother lived nearby. The local vicar was the Reverend Sherlock and the part of the village which sits under the viaduct is known as The Holmes...

Sherlock:

Holmes: