Easy Mentalism

“Magicians don\’t pretend that they really have psychic powers.” – Austin Hackney

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Card Tricks are some of the most popular magic tricks that there are and equally mind-reading effects are increasingly popular, so why not combine the two and learn ow to do mind-reading tricks with cards? Not only are you tapping into the two most popular kinds of trick, but there are some simple card techniques that lend themselves naturally to the performance of mind-reading effects.

So what card tricks techniques lend themselves especially well to mind-reading effects?

Well, first of all let’s be clear what a mind-reading effect actually is. It is when a magician appears to ‘read’ or ‘see’ the thoughts or an image in the mind of a spectator. Of course, this can’t really be done and it has been scientifically demonstrated often enough that people who claim to have ‘psychic powers’ are either lying or deluded and that all the effects that people experience with them can be easily explained scientifically. That doesn’t, sadly, stop it being big business. There’s always someone unethical enough to try and make a buck from the gullible or the needy.

Magicians who do mind-reading tricks, however, fall into a different category. Magicians don’t pretend that they really have ‘psychic powers’. We know it’s a trick, we say it’s a trick but we all join in as if it was a mystic event for the fun of it. The real techniques behind mind-reading are the same as any other magic trick: misdirection, props, gimmicks, sleight-of-hand, stooges in the audience, smoke and mirrors!

So, what card effects can we use in mind-reading? The three main ones that come immediately to mind are the ‘card force’, the ‘marked or spotted card’ and ‘the controlled shuffle’. You could also use ‘palming’, ‘switching’ and any number of other sleights but to keep it relatively simple, let’s just focus on those first three.

A ‘card force’ is when the magician controls the card that a spectator chooses, seemingly by a free or even random choice. There are many techniques for achieving the force, some of them simple and others more subtle and complex. We won’t go into them here but the point is that clearly if the magician can secretly force a card on a spectator then he can very confidently ‘predict’ what the card is or ‘read the mind’ of the spectator as they concentrate on the image of the card to seemingly ‘divine’ what it is. This, simple as it is, can be dressed up with patter and other business to make a very powerful and baffling number of effects of the ‘mind-reading’ variety. You can learn card force techniques from reputable books, websites and your local magic club.

The ‘marked’ card technique is also quite straight-forward in principle. The magician allows the spectator a genuine free choice of card but then marks it out in some way, so it can be located again even if he hasn’t seen its face value. The card can be inverted, scratched or crimped, for example. Under cover of some misdirection, the kind can then be secretly viewed. Then the magician can go on comfortably to read the spectator’s mind in whatever elaborate and acted-up way the trick requires!

The final method we’ll look at here is the ‘controlled shuffle’. In this technique, the magician allows the spectator a free choice of card and then, as the card is replaced into the pack it is shuffled in to give the impression that it is thoroughly lost in the deck but actually the magician has used the technique to guide the card through the pack to wherever he wants it to be – usually the top or bottom of the deck from which point it can easily be glimpsed and then ‘mind read’ or predicted.

If you already do some card tricks and are familiar with these techniques then you can start straight away to build mind-reading routines using the skills you already have. If not, then it’s worth your while learning this basic card techniques as they’ll open up endless possibilities for you and are not difficult to learn with just a little practice. You can learn them from books, other magicians, some websites and, of course, downloadable video tutorials.

Do You Want to Discover the Secrets Behind Mind Reading Magicians? Click Here to Download Mind Reading Exposed Right Now:

==> www.mind-reading-tricks.com/go/exposed/

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Austin Hackney is a performing magician, entertainer, theatre practioner and writer of many years standing, always keen to share his experience and encourage the novice. His website, The Magic Tricks Homepage is a great free resource for magic tutorials, articles, visual guides, eBooks and more. If you want to learn magic well, not just a huge number of tricks but solid performance skills, the site is well worth a visit. You can download magic video tutorials here which is a great way of learning and building a repertoire.

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“Almost everyone throughout the world loves to watch magicians perform any type of magic trick that they are able to see.” – Alex Olson

Tags: card trick, card tricks, cards, ebook, ebooks, guide, magic, magic trick, magic tricks, magician, magicians, Mind Reading, psychic powers, Secrets

“mind reading tricks are merely mentalism tricks that have a false explanation of using mind control or telepathy using psychological tricks or psychic ability.” – Adam Davies

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To quote Wikipedia..

Mentalism – Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, use mental acuity, cold reading, hot reading, principles of stage magic, and/or suggestion to present the illusion of mind reading, psychokinesis, extra-sensory perception, precognition, clairvoyance or mind control. Hypnosis may also be used as a stage tool.

This definition is spot on – take note of the words ‘present the illusion of Mind Reading’. I haven’t given the definition of mind reading for a very good reason, as the ‘real’ definition pertains to a superhuman ability and in my opinion an ability that based on evidence, doesn’t exist. This on the other hand is another debate for a whole other day.

Mind Reading as you know it, performed on TV by magicians/mentalists/mind readers etc. is merely a form of Mentalism (see above) – simple magic tricks dressed up to represent certain abilities e.g. Impossible Body Reading, psychic ability etc.. This may seem fairly obvious to most of you but believe me – many, many people believe people can actually read minds, which for us mentalists/mind readers, is great news.

I have previously written an article on the persona of the mentalist so I won’t go into detail here but being congruent is very important when performing mentalism tricks and some mentalists do it better than others. You need to choose between being psychic or being a body language/human behavioural expert. You cannot be both to your audience as they will assume there is general trickery (which of course there is) going on.

There’s a thin line between the mentalist and the magician. The main one being the presentation of the effect. A mentalist will usually have a false explanation behind the effect where as a magician will not usually give an explanation and say it was merely magic. Without a false explanation the audience will come to their own conclusion and usually it will be the actual method used e.g. sleight of hand.

In my opinion this is what makes a mentalism effect much stronger than a standard magic effect. It’s all in the presentation.

So back to my original point and to summarise.. mind reading tricks are merely mentalism tricks that have a false explanation of using mind control or telepathy using psychological tricks or psychic ability. Mind reading tricks come under the umbrella of mentalism tricks as a whole and they are virtually one in the same thing.

Do You Want to Discover the Secrets Behind Mind Reading Magicians? Click Here to Download Mind Reading Exposed Right Now:

==> www.mind-reading-tricks.com/go/exposed/

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To discover how you can amaze people visit Mind Reading Tricks or visit the blog at Mentalism Blog.

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“If you are a magician or an aspiring magician then you really should add at least some mentalism effects to your routines.” – Austin Hackney

Tags: magic, magic trick, magic tricks, magician, magicians, Mentalism, mentalism tricks, mentalist, mentalists, mind control, Mind Reading, mind reading trick, mind reading tricks, simple magic tricks

“There are three aspects to mental magic: gimmicks, sleight-of-hand and misdirection.” – Austin Hackney

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These tips for performing mind reading tricks should help anyone new to the art of mentalism get off to a pretty good start. There are many misconceptions about this branch of the magical art, so I’d like to start by clearing those up. First of all, despite the necessary mystique surrounding mind reading, it’s something anyone can learn with a little practice once they know what the secrets are.

And the second thing that we really need to get clear at the outset is that no one can really read anyone’s mind. That’s a fact. Mind-reading is a magic trick just like any other magic trick and the techniques used in mind reading are essentially the same as those used in any other form of magic trick. Namely, sleight-of-hand, misdirection, gimmicks, stooges and so on. There are no psychic powers. Anyone who claims to genuinely read minds or have psychic abilities is either a liar or deluded. Mind reading or ‘mentalism’ as it is popularly known is simply a ‘performance persona’ for these tricks.

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.

It is little wonder that all the mind-readers and mentalists that I have ever heard of or met (apart from that wicked phoney Uri Geller – one of the worst magicians I’ve ever seen) are all debunkers of ‘psychism’ and the miraculous. Why? Because they know how it’s done! Think of James Randi, Penn and Teller and Derren Brown, for example. The truth is that only the most despicable low-life would stoop so low as to take advantage of people’s trust and misfortune for their personal profit. Witness any number of TV ‘psychics’ for examples of this. Okay, rant over. So we know we’re dealing with a performance art, not a mystical one and it’s just for honest fun, not for taking advantage of the gullible.

So what are these secrets that enable mentalists to apparently understand your secret thoughts, read your mind and even control what you are thinking?

There are three aspects to mental magic: gimmicks, sleight-of-hand and misdirection. I’m afraid that’s it. Antone who was looking for psychological secrets for manipulating people thoughts; time to laugh at yourself for being so taken in! The techniques of mentalism are the same as all other magic tricks. Any bluff about NLP and other such stuff is all just part of the act.

So, get some mind-reading tricks tutorials and learn these tricks (video tutorials are an excellent way to get started) and bear in mind these tips for performing mind reading tricks:

1) There’s no need for a huge repertoire: 5 decent tricks is plenty. Just choose five good tricks and learn them to perfection.

2) Know Your Character – Mind reading involves a,lot more bluff and misdirection than most magical disciplines because it play-acts at mystical powers; having a strong magical persona or character part can often really help induce the right atmosphere and sense of credulity.

3) Tell a Good Story – This has nothing to do with once upon a time but everything to do with leading your audience up the proverbial garden path! Every mind-reading trick has to have its story, its false premise. It could be that you claim ‘conversation with the spirits’ or maybe ‘focussing mental energy’ or as is more acceptable these days (because its pseudo-scientific language sounds more plausible to a modern audience) ‘clever psychology’ ‘muscle reading’ or ‘neurolinguistic programming’. Whatever nonsense it is, know what it is, beef it up and stick to it. Under that cover, you can switch cards, check the mirror, get the signal from the stooge etc.

4) Only Do It If You Know How – Mind-reading is once again very popular and everyone wants to get on the band wagon. There’s plenty of room aboard, just make sure that you know what you’re doing. If you don’t get the story right, the bluff, well then it’s going to look just like any other magic trick (…because it is). It’s all in the act.

5) Practice – This follows on from the last tip and is always true: you cannot do enough practice and many professional magicians will tell you that they don’t feel happy with a trick until they’ve performed it hundreds of times!

That said; if you don’t want or need to go into that kind of depth, there are other options to get started. There are some cool mind reading and mentalist routines that are powerful and effective and will work just a little practice if you get a good tutorial. Things like spoon-bends, card predictions and ‘book test’ tricks are excellent places to start. Nothing helps like a good visual demonstration and explanation. That’s why increasingly I recommend video downloads as a trick-by-trick method for learning magic. You can see and hear what’s going on and get a real handle on the presentation and routine rather than just the trick. You can also rewind, pause and so on as often as you like. If this is an option that interests you, then you might like: Mindbender Book Test, Thought Transmission and Emotion as tricks to get started. These and more are all available from the Video Tutorials page of The Magic Tricks Homepage.

I’m sure you’ll find these tips for performing magic tricks useful and if you get yourself some video tutorials you’ll be off to a great start. I have to say, that mind-reading really is one of the most enjoyable kinds of magic trick to perform. Enjoy it!

Do You Want to Discover the Secrets Behind Mind Reading Magicians? Click Here to Download Mind Reading Exposed Right Now:

==> www.mind-reading-tricks.com/go/exposed/

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Austin Hackney is a performing magician, entertainer, theatre practioner and writer of many years standing, always keen to share his experience and encourage the novice. His website, The Magic Tricks Homepage is a great free resource for magic tutorials, articles, visual guides, eBooks and more. If you want to learn magic well, not just a huge number of tricks but solid performance skills, the site is well worth a visit. You can download magic video tutorials here which is a great way of learning and building a repertoire.

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“This little secret is a powerful way to force a prediction and a nice show of mentalism.” – Blair K.

Tags: art of mentalism, derren brown, magic, magic trick, magic tricks, magical, magician, magicians, Mentalism, mentalist, mentalists, Mind Reading, mind reading trick, mind reading tricks, NLP, professional magician, professional magicians