talkmagic.co.uk

Hi,

At the moment I'm trying to get into this Mentalism business. I've got and read Annemann's 'Practical Mental Magic' but I'm much more interesting in the Derren Brown style of mentalism (is that what he calls it?!) the pychological side to it intrigues me!
I'm wondering what the best books/dvd's are to buy?

I'm not keen on billet's really, and they feature heavily in Anneman's book. I'm looking for the more relaxed, spontanious approach.

Thanks in advance!!

Mystree

You could try Derren's books or you may like some of the effects sold by Eddie Burke (www.mreenterprises.co.uk) he sells some great effects and manuscripts. He has some of the Derren Brown style stuff

I must admit, I don't know huge ammounts about mentalism, nor have I read the book I'm about to suggest. However, "13 Steps to Mentalism" by Corinda is widely regarded as the mentalism source book. Another approach may be to read that and see if you can come up with fresh ways of using tried and tested principles.

Another approach may be to read that and see if you can come up with fresh ways of using tried and tested principles.

That's actually what Derren does quite a lot of the time.

The psychological aspect of mentalist ('Derren Style') is essentially a lot of the stuff from Corinda, Anneman etc. with a psychological dressing. My suggestion would be to study a bit of psychology - find out a bit about the brain, perception etc. as well as well as get an overview of NLP. Then go back to your books on mentalism and see how you can dress these effects using psychological lingo.

The problem, though, is that everyone seems to be going this route - which means you'll be 'just another Derren wannabe'. Why not find a way of introducing your own personality, interests etc. into what you do - that way it's your style.

Karl Fulves Self Working Mental Magic is a good value read. He has some good effects and good advice

Here's a thought

Do just like Derren did and start with the basics, invest the next decade or so of your life actually studying this stuff and in the process create your own style of performance.

Unlike traditional Magic, Mentalism is something that is developed over years of study, it rarely offers that kind of "instant" gratification you will find in the other. This is not to say that traditional magic requires any less in way of dedication, it most certainly has elements that are as if not more demanding than mentalism. But, the real key to mentalism centers on showmanship and knowing people and these are two things that come with personal maturity and actual experience, they cannot be learned from a book or video.

Everyone in today's "instant gratification" culture seems to be opposed to the idea of learning to crawl before they begin to walk and then run. They want to be Derren Brown, Criss Angel or David Blaine right now, ignoring the fact that each of these guys have been around busting their chops for a few years prior to obtaining the kind of status they have today. I remember when Criss was laughed at for being a freak and trying to be the next Franz Harary with his rock-n-roll form of stage magic and believe me, that was many years ago. But then, people used to laugh and make fun of Sigfred & Roy too

We all start somewhere that becomes our "beginning" it's impossible to do otherwise. So why not start at that foundation level that has proven itself over the decades, and do just what our icons did; it's called "Mirroring" in certain psychological disciplines or "Mapping". For me the three key people I emulated for years were Harry Blackstone, Vincent Price and the great Richiardi it was from their influences that I was able to create my own style and personna and that's when you will begin to see things shift as a performer... when you stop being a poor copy of someone and start claiming your space as something "unique" to the craft.

It's not an easy path, but it is the proven course of action.

Thanks to everyone for your replies, they have been really helpful.

Why not find a way of introducing your own personality, interests etc. into what you do - that way it's your style.

Psychology is definetly one of my interests, I studied it in sixth form a few years ago. I have no problem coming up with my own idea's. (Apart from my lack of creativity and confidence in this area!!)

So why not start at that foundation level that has proven itself over the decades, and do just what our icons did; it's called "Mirroring"

I will definetly do that. At the moment I'm re-watching all my Derren dvd's to absorb as much info as I can from his routines, the language and the NVC.
It's all very interesting, but the problem comes when he doesn't tell you how it was done, and you can't work it out! If Corinda's book will help me understand how the effects were achieved then it will be a well-worth buy and I'll be well on my way to creating my own effects.

I totally understand what you are saying about the instant gratification, and I'm up for giving a decade or two of my life over to 'busting my chops' (:wink:) and becoming one of the elite!

You may want to get hold of "Get Nyman" - Andy Nyman's dvd. He's quite involved in Derren's show. The method for many of the effects is quite simple - but the presentation is brilliant. It'll give you a good idea of where you can go with the whole psychological angle. Another good resource is Richard Osterlind's "Easy to master mental miracles". What it did for me was to make the classics come alive. I understand your feeling about Anneman - when I first read the book I really didn't see the potential - until I saw some of the stuff performed..

Mystree... I just want to thank you for being a bit more "above board" than most.

So many that make a post similar to your initial one, simply want the methods TODAY and haven't the time or willingness required for developing genuine skill. As others have pointed out however, Mentalism is about 90% presentation and not method; we can take the same dead horse and put it into all kinds of different outfits for making it appear different to the audience. Heck, one of the few card tricks I do (and do strictly for fooling magicians) uses a Svengali deck... how much more simple can you get?

Guys like Derren, Gerry McCambridge and even Banachek are constantly stooping the magic community by exploiting elementary principles of mentalism that can be found in Corinda, Fulves, and Annemann. The reason for this is that simplicity is usually the best answer for creating the most startling and "impossible" end results.

In that you seem to be a young person I'll tell you up front that you may want to consider specializing in the Psychological fields of study in conjunction to theater & showmanship skills (public speaking). You will also find that some minor studies in Anthropology & Religions/Philosophy will take you a very long way down this particular path (most of the "truests" of Mentalism have a very deep understanding of such things).

One of the things I have my students do is learn a handful of the less common bits found in Corinda and present them to their know-it-all magic chums at the monthly gathering. It has never failed to amaze me how many of these "experts" that have supposedly read said tome, can't recognize the works that come from it. Yet, in most every instance, my students have floored the magicians using nothing other than the material so many claim to have studied. The fact is, most skim through the book and if something don't jump out at them, they ignore it and move on.

You seem to have your mind focused on a goal... keep it up!

Craig,

I'm interested in your comments. Would you say that the methods used by todays mentalists have changed little over the past 30 years? I don't have a performance background in mentalism, but I am aware of some of the methods. Some of the newer acts have a psychological angle to them, which I've always condsidered to be for the most part either presentation or misdirection. If you take into account my general ignorance in this area, is my understanding incorrect?

pdjamez wrote:Would you say that the methods used by todays mentalists have changed little over the past 30 years?

I can't answer for Craig, but my observation is that people like Drown namecheck people like Corinda, so perhaps there's been more progress in presentation rather than technique.

I just want to thank you for being a bit more "above board" than most.

Thank you!

One of the things I have my students do is...

Students?!
Where do you teach? Don't tell me there's a course at the College?

edit: wait, Northampton, MA, as in Massachusetts?
I thought you might have meant the UK. Never mind!