WOW, what a rush! I am admittedly fairly new to mentalism. I've been performing primarily as a mentalist for the last 2 1/2 years. I had previously been performing as a bizarre/shock entertainer for 6 years prior to that. Tonight I had a remarkable experience that I wanted to share. One of my favorite routines is a standard drawing duplication routine. I believe the boards I use are from Bavli. Well, I was performing for the City of Whitewater's city employee banquet, and it was very humid. Needless to say, my "method" for discerning the audience participant's image didn't work, so I literally had to just take a shot. The lady was chosen at random (I toss a bean bag ball into the audience and have it tossed around a bit). The only bit of information I had heard pre-show about this woman is that she was a teacher for 30 years. I always try to set up as early as possible and stand behind my backdrop and try to glean any bits of info that I can at a show. Well, I took a shot, and drew a house but then for some reason I thought it might be a bit more detailed than that, so I put a weather vane on the top, making it look more like an old-time barn. It turned out that she had drawn and old-fashioned school house with a bell on the roof. It wasn't perfect, but the audience went berserk! And that's saying something because a majority of the group were retiree volunteers! I know for a fact that I was just lucky as heck, but it was such a great moment, and I milked it for all it was worth!

It was one of the most satisfying moments I've ever had as a performer. I'm not your typical corporate entertainer, so it's a little more work for me to win over this type of audience. I think nearly every person made a point to come up and tell me they enjoyed the show. It wasn't a huge event (around 100 people), but getting 100 thank you's made my month! I had to go immediately from that show to an outdoor park show just outside the building that this show was, and because of the great rush from the first show, my second show was one of my best to date!

I know I'm probably way happier than I even need to be about these shows, but I've been away from performing for a while. My mom died from brain cancer a few years ago and it took me almost 2 years to get back "in the groove" again. It wasn't just that my mom had brain cancer, but it left her half paralyzed so I had to take of her full time for the last 7 months of her life. Add to that that I had a 2 month old daughter when I moved my Mom into our house, and I had absolutely no time to perform. I've had a few shows in the past couple years, but I've only been getting back into it full-time again in the last 6 months. Tonight definitely gave me the confidence I needed to really push myself forward.

Thanks for reading this, it was very cathartic for me to share this.

James

Way to go, James! Now that is a pro, when the trick won't work you do something and make it work. You obviously had the confidence long before the show.

James...Congratulations!!! That is a fantastic story.

Keep up the good work. You should be happy. It's been a LONG time coming.

Mark.

Congrats on your performances. Now stick with it and keep it going. A lot of people are aware of you Now.

Now is the time to move forward.


Thanks for sharing,

lostpoet

Thanks for the great encouragement everyone!

Photius, thanks for the inspiring comments! I really believe that performing full-time as a bizarre entertainer for almost 6 years really gave me a solid background on "getting comfortable" when things don't go perfectly. I really love performing mentalism, but I'm still getting used to not having every effect go just right.

Hey Mark, you ain't kidding! Even though I have managed to average a show or 2 a month since my Mom passed away, I was much busier before she got sick. In many ways, I feel like I'm starting all over again. Partly due to the sparseness of shows in the last couple years, and partially due to changing performing styles, going from a bizarre/shock character to a mentalist (who still does a few bizarre things).

Thanks for the kick in the pants, lostpoet! If I've learned anything as a performer over the last 20 years (much of that as a musician), it's that keeping your name out there and your popularity high is crucial to success. I am busting my butt to further develop my show, increase my name, and create a marketable package.

Thanks again everyone for sharing. I'm not really sure why I included all of the personal information in my original post. I guess it just kinda hit me tonight just how long it's been since I have been performing at a full-time pace. I think a part of me just wanted to share a part of myself because that is the kind of person I am, and I think I also knew deep down that sharing helps me feel better about who I am and what I do.

Thanks again everyone!

James

I really enjoyed your story james, made me smile. I wish you continued success!

That's cool. May I recommend the Biss impressionable minds board, as the Bavli ones sound terribly flawed if I understand what you are saying.
Pleased it all worked out though!

Thanks for the encouragement Looch! I am a big fan of your posts both here and at the Sanctum. Now that I am getting back into the swing of things I plan to check out your site and products too!

Thanks for the recommendation psychicturtle! I do want to say that I am in no way dissatisfied with my boards, as this is the first time this ever happened to me. It is also possible that my spectator didn't use very much pressure and that may have contributed as well. I'm only guessing that the humidity played a part in the lack of an image. But I strongly believe in having more than one method to accomplish effects, so I will definitely try some alternatives. I've been looking at Biss' Mental Toolkit, and from the looks of things, he has some very strong material!

Congratulations. I can imagine how wonderful that must have felt.

I don’t know if you already knew this but statistically the number one object a woman will choose to draw - if asked to draw any object - is a house. I believe a man’s number one object is an automobile. I’m not sure about that one. But a house is the safest guess for a woman. In your case, it worked beautifully.


Holly

Great story James! I'm interested to hear what your "out" was going to be if she had drawn some other object.

Terry

It was truly one of my best on stage moments to date! I know there are resources out there with a lot of statistics on these kinds of things, but I haven't explored them too much. But I appreciate the the added info. I'll definitely be keeping those statistics in mind in the future!

James,
Well done! Moments like the one you shared are treasures indeed. For future reference, when a drawing duplication goes south, I keep Ian Rowland's "No Method Drawing Duplication" in the back of my mind. He details the work in his Alpha Series Lecture Notes if you can find them. It's a great "out" to have in situations like this!

Best,
Jerome.

The only thing I had going through my head was that I Autome coming up later in the set. If I failed, I was just going to say that I might need to try something a little easier to get "in tune", and then go to the book test, suggesting that narrowing our focus may result in a more successful demonstration. I haven't really been planning outs in my performances because I don't mind missing once in a while to add credibility to the other effects. I have been starting out my small shows with an opener that I read in Richard Osterlind's PCT book. I come out and toss a bean bag gall out the audience and have them toss it around 3 times. I have the person who catches it stand and I try to "read" a 3 digit number that they are thinking about. I use a NW but I purposely get one of the numbers wrong. Lately I've been literally guessing on 1 of the numbers and NW'ing the other 2. That way if I hit, I can have a much better reaction.

Great story James, well done in a tight spot! PM me if you would like another potential out for this situation. It would save you if it ever happens again without relying on guesswork.

Cheers,
Al