On Jan 13, 2016, Michael Zarek wrote:
Well it depends if by young you mean 18 or 7

On Jan 13, 2016, pcrpttc wrote:
Do you think that your age and your appearance matter in mentalism?

On Jan 13, 2016, Tom Jorgenson wrote:
My advice for young mentalists would be:

• Find 5 or 6 methods that you find very comfortable, and work with them for a nice long period of time, 3 months, 6 months, a couple of years, whatever...your mileage will vary.

• Devise various premises and work with them during this time. See what attracts you, see what works easiest, see what works best in your audiences' reactions...

Do this and you'll be excellent at each stage of your growth. This is important, because if you're excellent at whatever you are doing. your audience will never know what you DON'T know, they'll never know the limitations of your knowledge, education or experience,,,they'll assume all of you is as good as your best.

•Remember this little saying: "Customers Respond Holistically!" That means they respond as if it's all a Hologram. If you cut a hologram in half, in quarters, in 16ths, each individual part contains the whole picture. Importantly, that works backwards too. If I see your resume with wrinkles and coffee stains all over it, I can expect your life to be in the same shape. That little bit contains the big picture (whether or not it is true, the customer thinks it is so). If the front of a restaurant is dirty, you assume all the rest of the restaurant is just as dirty.

So: Customers respond Holistically. If you are performing and each thing you do is excellent, the customer, the audience will assume everything else you do is equally excellent. They don't think that you only have 8 things in your repetoire, they think you know an infinite number of excellent tests, demos, etc. and your abilities cover a great expanse. Be excellent at each step, each level. Take your time to be so.

• Try a bit of each kind of venue, if you can manage that. Closeup...ambush, coffeeshop, platform, 'parlor' and stage. See which you prefer, which challenges you and which you hate, if any (in my case I've always HATED strolling banquets while people are gumming their greenbeans).

• Don't rush things, don't blow thru a hundred effects trying to find the 'best' ones. What's best for you WILL be different that what's best for others. You'll always be better with effects that use methods you like rather than new popular effects using methods you don't like. Clumsy methods result in mediocrity.
Restrict your purchases of whizbang devices and new tricks. Work with what you're comfortable with until it's all muscle memory and a part of you. Then expand a bit and repeat. Don't be afraid to toss that new thang that just doesn't work as well for you. In the long run, it's more expensive to use it than to toss it. Shelve it, swap it, sell it or junk it. You will waste a lot of money....it's the price of your entry and education. Save the stuff you think you may be able to use years down the road. Toss the rest. If you need it later, you'll be able to re-buy it. Until then, don't perform stuff you don't like just because that effect is popular at the moment...and don't feel guilty about it.

2nd Question: Does age and appearance matter? Age doesn't but appearance does...that doesn't mean you have to don some sort of spooky and mysterious BS like dressing all in black (why choose to be invisible onstage??), it means be clean and neat. The advice usually is to dress at or above your audience's level.

• The age thing is addressed in your Mitox, your overall claims, your groundwork premise. Read MITOX. Easy...but remember you're not the World's Best anything yet...too young. Likewise, no one is going to believe a 22 year old is Swami Hoozit the Yogi Master. Don't worry too much about Persona yet....some people CANNOT perform under their own personality, they need a mask. Others' attempts at 'masks' may be poorly chosen and just ridiculous, they're bettor off with their own personality. If you are young, you probably have some time before needing to address that. Grow into your preferences.


So, to sum up my one piece of advice: Be excellent at each stage of the game. Don't rush. Grow slow and grow strong. You'll know when to expand.

On Jan 13, 2016, WDavis wrote:
Start here

Know your premise and character
Does it fit you? Intellectually? Morally? Spiritually?

Know your audience
Does your character and premise have a natural opposition or lack of credibility from the audience?

Good luck

On Jan 13, 2016, Tom Jorgenson wrote:
My advice for young mentalists would be:

• Find 5 or 6 methods that you find very comfortable, and work with them for a nice long period of time, 3 months, 6 months, a couple of years, whatever...your mileage will vary.

• Devise various premises and work with them during this time. See what attracts you, see what works easiest, see what works best in your audiences' reactions...

Do this and you'll be excellent at each stage of your growth. This is important, because if you're excellent at whatever you are doing. your audience will never know what you DON'T know, they'll never know the limitations of your knowledge, education or experience,,,they'll assume all of you is as good as your best.

•Remember this little saying: "Customers Respond Holistically!" That means they respond as if it's all a Hologram. If you cut a hologram in half, in quarters, in 16ths, each individual part contains the whole picture. Importantly, that works backwards too. If I see your resume with wrinkles and coffee stains all over it, I can expect your life to be in the same shape. That little bit contains the big picture (whether or not it is true, the customer thinks it is so). If the front of a restaurant is dirty, you assume all the rest of the restaurant is just as dirty.

So: Customers respond Holistically. If you are performing and each thing you do is excellent, the customer, the audience will assume everything else you do is equally excellent. They don't think that you only have 8 things in your repetoire, they think you know an infinite number of excellent tests, demos, etc. and your abilities cover a great expanse. Be excellent at each step, each level. Take your time to be so.

• Try a bit of each kind of venue, if you can manage that. Closeup...ambush, coffeeshop, platform, 'parlor' and stage. See which you prefer, which challenges you and which you hate, if any (in my case I've always HATED strolling banquets while people are gumming their greenbeans).

• Don't rush things, don't blow thru a hundred effects trying to find the 'best' ones. What's best for you WILL be different that what's best for others. You'll always be better with effects that use methods you like rather than new popular effects using methods you don't like. Clumsy methods result in mediocrity.
Restrict your purchases of whizbang devices and new tricks. Work with what you're comfortable with until it's all muscle memory and a part of you. Then expand a bit and repeat. Don't be afraid to toss that new thang that just doesn't work as well for you. In the long run, it's more expensive to use it than to toss it. Shelve it, swap it, sell it or junk it. You will waste a lot of money....it's the price of your entry and education. Save the stuff you think you may be able to use years down the road. Toss the rest. If you need it later, you'll be able to re-buy it. Until then, don't perform stuff you don't like just because that effect is popular at the moment...and don't feel guilty about it.

2nd Question: Does age and appearance matter? Age doesn't but appearance does...that doesn't mean you have to don some sort of spooky and mysterious BS like dressing all in black (why choose to be invisible onstage??), it means be clean and neat. The advice usually is to dress at or above your audience's level.

• The age thing is addressed in your Mitox, your overall claims, your groundwork premise. Read MITOX. Easy...but remember you're not the World's Best anything yet...too young. Likewise, no one is going to believe a 22 year old is Swami Hoozit the Yogi Master. Don't worry too much about Persona yet....some people CANNOT perform under their own personality, they need a mask. Others' attempts at 'masks' may be poorly chosen and just ridiculous, they're bettor off with their own personality. If you are young, you probably have some time before needing to address that. Grow into your preferences.


So, to sum up my one piece of advice: Be excellent at each stage of the game. Don't rush. Grow slow and grow strong. You'll know when to expand.