Effective hypnotism can be summed up as 'relaxation and rapport'.
One of the practical applications of this was the development and refinement of hypnotism. It is no surprise that Mentalism first came to popularity amongst audiences and performers in the 1940s when there were great advances being made in the still young science of psychology. So the mentalist's first skill is to study and understand body language. And these 'non-verbal messages' often tell the truth even when the person is verbally lying.
There is a lot of literature out there these days about body language and how to interpret it but the basic idea underpinning it all is that people tend to express their thoughts and feelings not only consciously in what they say but also unconsciously in the way they move, look, stand and respond physically. The Three Basic Psychological Techniques of Mental Magic That said, there are some psychological skills that have an application to a specific kind of mentalism, so let's take a look at those here: If you've some experience in magic you won't be surprised that the secrets are simple once you know what they are! There are fundamentally three aspects to mental magic over and beyond the gimmicks, sleight-of-hand, gadgetry and so on that are the stock in trade of all mentalists just as they are cardists or coinists (yes, even Derren Brown is just a trickster!) Any bluff about NLP and other such systems is mere smoke and mirrors. So what are these secrets that enable mentalists to apparently understand your secret thoughts, read your mind and even control what you are thinking? It's only disreputable performers that make fraudulent claims of 'real psychic powers.' Fortunately the best modern practitioners such as James Randi, Penn & Teller, Derren Brown, have denied their false claims and exposed their methods time and again.
It might seem almost mystical in its effects - and you certainly want it to if you're performing it! - but it is just a series of clever psychological techniques and close observations of behaviour and, in all honesty, some simple gimmicks and tricks that have nothing to do with psychology at all, that enable a mentalist to create the illusion of psychic powers. As a magician not afraid to share 'secrets' with novices, I also know it's something anyone can learn with a little practice once they know what those secrets are.īut let's get one thing straight from the start: mentalism is as much a magic TRICK as any other. I'm glad mentalism's making a comeback as it's one of the most high impact techniques in any magician's repertoire. In part, many modern audiences want something cutting edge - they don't want bunnies from hats and pick-a-card routines as they are too obviously 'tricks'.
In part that must be to do with the success of new wave mentalists such as Derren Brown making their presence felt on prime time TV. There's no doubt that the branch of performance magic known as 'mentalism' is undergoing something of a renaissance these days.