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NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
Imagine for a moment that you wanted to demonstrate telepathy as clearly as possible to a group of laypeople. For the purposes of this exercise, we will call telepathy the ability to pick up brainwaves and translate them into words and images.
You COULD just ask someone to think of ANYTHING and then tell them what it is. 5 seconds and the demo is done. However, this is not a strong DEMONSTRATION because it is not 100% clear to the rest of the audience. Nor does it dramatise how great this skill is. Nor does it deal with those who are skeptical. For example, a vacuum salesman could just clean your house and he would be showing how good his vacuum cleaner is. However, by grinding dirt into your carpet and then cleaning HALF the dirt up he can more clearly demonstrate the product. So here is the question, what is the most succesful, dramatic way to demonstrate such a skill to a group of people? |
Thomas Rudolfo Special user Vienna, Austria, EU 640 Posts |
Hi Nicholas,
Derren Brown discusses this very good IMO in Pure Effect. There he describes what it should/could look like when you are readging someones' mind. Here I fully agree with Derren that the audience should get involved in the mind reading process to build up the tension. So this IMO also needs some acting skills but when doing right the audience really is hooked on you performance of reading so that the revealed thought at the end just is the climax of this whole process. Greetings Thomas |
Matt Pulsar Inner circle 1130 Posts |
If you could have a conversation with a person and they don't have to talk would be direct, but only for one person. Design duplication is a pretty good way to go. Good question.
Belief Manifests Reality.
Nebula CT: https://www.penguinmagic.com/p/8517 |
Christopher Taylor V.I.P. British Columbia Canada 2314 Posts |
A very good question indeed. I think it comes down to ritual. People EXPECT AND WANT some form of process which in my mind equates to ritual. It’s a basic human assumption that magic of all forms require it. The fact that direct mind reading might actually be quite uninteresting/undramatic to everyone watching (other than your direct participant) serves as an excellent premiss for us to use writing and envelopes as well as other means of increasing the dramatic theatre, ceremony and ritual in our performances. If presented well, dramatic forms of revelation are well received. Consider Luke Jermey's Bursting Bubble; Banachek's subtle letters; Gary Sumpter’s shock idea; ashes on the arm. What every process/ritual/ceremony you use just has to fit your persona. How do we know when we have a god fit? My own rule of thumb is to ask myself, “Can I be sincere about the process?” I see sincerity as being the most important selling point in a thought reading effect. And the more dramatic our style of revelation the more sincere we must be if it is to be accepted as anything other than a trick.
Christopher Taylor |
NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
And it is in this ritual that we can easily hide our methods. In the same way that the 'test' conditions of drawing duplication actually assist the method.
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kbiehler Regular user 165 Posts |
I did the Osterlind "test condition" card read. Very powerful effect. The person participating was stunned. I thought it was great, then the other people watching started asking if I got the card right? As nothing had been written down it was hard to prove. You might start thinking; oh-no, its back to billets again. The need to write something down for real psudo-mindreading seems hard to get away from.
Kent |
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