To me it's all a large game of cooperative imagination - it creates the frame of the shared reality you and your playmates will engage in - if you are not w liking to play by the rules of the imagined universe ie welcome to a world where mentalism exists and buy I to it - good luck.

Hmmm.. Of course, if you are good at compatization - you could play a skeptic where you are going to demonstrate the falling of psychic powers - getting the audience to try things - funny thing is - everything you do seems to demonstrate the participants seem to have psi abilities -

I.e. you don't need town inner script that you arethementalst - just that the universe you are playing in has such powers.... Imagine playing a akeptic character who y the end of the show looks totally bewildered and having to go off and ponder what has happened... Could the audience have been trying to set him up? Is this a being linked show? Or do psychic powers exist....

So yeah, I agree you need to get into the mindset of the simulation world you set up what can happen and make the show flow from that - but I think we can think larger than thinking we need to be the people playing the mentalist.... Unless that is the premise of the show and you built thy character

Hope I'm making sense... I'm working on a workshop on simulation with a section called "the agreed upon rules of reality in a simulated world" so that's what I'm referencing

I think you made perfect sense.
And I absolutely agree on all counts, including playing the skeptic angle.
I actually do this when performing seances, although not overtly.

For example, during a séance, you cause a spirit bell sitting next to a sitter to ring,
and glance over and ask them to move it further away so they "won't accidentally bump the bell again."
They will defend their innocence and argue WITH YOU that it rang out on its own.
You have effectively put distance between yourself and any possible cause by questioning the reality of the ring,
therefore subtly proving your own innocence. After all, you are as surprised as everyone else by the sudden ring,
and you are apparently incredulous, having your own doubts.
This makes you much more relatable, as quite likely you just expressed what others
at the table were thinking, only to be refuted by someone genuinely innocent (the perfect actor.)
They will try to convince you and everyone else, that they saw the bell move on its own, motivated by unseen forces!
The dynamic is no longer the medium proving a demonstration as real, rather a member of the audience is making this assertion,
and chances are good that she has more credibility with her friends than you do. To her, the subject being discussed is her credibility as a witness!
Pride will not allow her to say she hit the bell (a charge that she is not guilty of.) Since her testimony has been called into question,
she must defend not only her innocence, but also her account of what DID actually happen.
She does not want to appear to be fooled by something simple and explainable, so she will even exaggerate the account in her subsequent defense.
The two become tangled, truth and lie, and the unsuspecting sitter welds them together for you creating something new, something beautiful.
They will tell your lie for you with more conviction, honestly and sincerity than most great actors.

Cody - the spirits applaud and play the trumpet for ye - that is great psych angles

I can see o e also say "stop horsing around with the planchette - just let go - as you turn away to get something the planchette moves on its own... Hmmm

Heh, imagine finally letting bank nights let an audience member win - demand to o it again - and again... Or a prophecy you took from a psychic you know couldn't happen but it does through metaphors etc ala Macbeth -

You start frisking the audience members almost after a while or catch heir hands to make sure they aren't king slight of hand etc

This could be a fun project - the bumbling test conditions of professor Higgs

There's some cunning strategy at work here.

I am in the presence of two evil geniuses. (Geniei???)

David

I never see the planchette on the Spiritus Magnus or the locket sitting atop the Hobbs Box move. Oddly, only the furst or last person entering or leaving the room ever seems to see that and tell the others. Likewise, I'm too busy talking to someone to hear the monkey chatter or ring its cymbals. I never feel the cold spot but will humor the spectator claiming to feel it and give them a thermometer (Chiller) to watch in case it happens again. Why don't I ever see this stuff myself?

Heh.

To vanish a coin with GOOD misdirection, you have to teach yourself to believe the coin has truly vanished. Why should mentalism be any different? We know the coin is just in the other hand but we don't make a disclaimer.

It's entertainment, you're not giving advice, fortune telling or selling a cure. You are there to enjoy the moment with the spectators. This doesn't mean you should make false claims but it also doesn't mean you should have a large disclaimer before the show. I saw an amazing mentalist before I got started in magic/mentalism and he didn't say either. He let people form their own ideas of him.

I just tell people that I'm Special. Oddly enough, they believe me.

Believe you are someone who has something amazing to share.

Share it.

Done.