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Martin Pulman Inner circle London 3399 Posts |
Why is it that so much of modern mentalism seems to be composed of performers wishing to be cover version artists?
The true original performers have always ploughed their own furrow, be that Canasta or Berglas or Geller or Brown. But so many of the newer performers seem to not only be content to perform the same effects as everyone else but to present them in the same way also. I saw a couple of mentalists at two different weddings a while ago and they not only performed almost identical effects but had almost identical performing personas. Chirpy, joking -dare I say it-like magicians. It was hugely dispiriting to feel that mentalism may be heading the way magic headed in the late 80s and 90s. A slightly irritating thing that you see at weddings and corporate functions, performed by slightly cheesy people hopping from table to table. Like it or not, mentalism was always the odder, more intriguing, more unsettling cousin of magic. The black sheep. It collected the outsiders, the rogues, the strange and darker personalities compared to magic's nice bow-tie wearing boys. It is being lost. Is it related to the rush to publish effects that we see today? Creators seem to rush into print with their effects. Often they talk about holding onto things for a couple of years -as if that is a long time. The old timers held onto their secrets for decades. Canasta held onto his to the grave. But if you release so much of your material and thinking you surely rob yourself of the opportunity to be unique. And the sheer abundance of material released today may have led to incremental improvements to existing effects but they very rarely lead to something completely new. There is a rather unnecessarily heated debate about a new 'Tossed Out deck' in Latest and Greatest. It seems to me that a fundamental question has not really been addressed -do we need a new version of the Tossed Out Deck at all. How does it move the art forward? Is there not a more modern, more exciting way of revealing multiple spectator thoughts than handing them a deck of cards wrapped in rubber bands? The last truly interesting new approach for me came from Peter Turner and his risky, personal effects performed wandering through the Northern working class, sometimes the underclass. (admittedly he owed a lot to Blaine and Brown but he seemed to take it in a different direction).it was a persona that I would have loved to see captured in some way on stage or on television. But Peter didn't seem totally dedicated to that. Instead he chose to release the majority of his material to his fellow mentalists. It seems to have only led to a lot of younger people deciding they are creators and releasing a glut of material in the Turner style. Is it simply that mentalism is now firmly overground? It is unthinkable that a mentalist would have been on an amateur TV talent show 20 years. Will it be mainly cover versions from now on? |
IAIN Eternal Order england 18807 Posts |
I would say you probably just saw magicians doing mentalism as tricks...
let me guess a coloured die a pad full of choices a coin in the hand and then a deck of cards turn transparent? in my opinion, I think our cultural and societal norms have changed, so in some ways - two years is a long term, even when its not...its a bit like computing and Moore's law in a way...just like in the 60s, we lost so much bbc footage (and other stuff) because they regarded keeping it as almost passe and stuck in their ways..it was new, now, hip and happenin'...live for today....experiment...move on...progress... i also think in many ways, mentalism is suffocating itself... its not just constant releases, but also a mixture of two things (again, just my view, please don't be offended if you're reading this and disagree - just disagree politely and we can maybe chat about it - no need for snidey remarks)... soooooo.... a lot of people get into mentalism these days via magic, its been blurred due to talent shows to a degree...they see it, they think it'll go down great, so they mimic...and the people they perform for? they want to be happy and entertained - their only exposure is probably at weddings and tv..."oh? you do magic? can you do that one Dynamo does?" so rather than have a think about how to use that to your advantage (and drag them off with you in a different direction) - they panic and go "oooh...erm...yeah, sure..." and then go off and buy the latest stuff advertised "as seen on tv" (so that bit is the dealer's fault)... so they are doing it for approval and acceptence and they don't want to change too much, because then that's a risk in their eyes... i also think that sometimes, forum suffocate people...sometimes you see someone ask a question and immediately people appear telling them "no" or deriding them...scoffing that "its not mentalism"...and I get it in many ways, classic mentalism is what it is...but we also need to grow, and expand our horizons...when you don't, and you don't lead by example, its a small selection of commerical choices... "mentalism ˈmɛnt(ə)lɪz(ə)m/ nounPhilosophy noun: mentalism the theory that physical and psychological phenomena are ultimately explicable only in terms of a creative and interpretative mind." please read that definition again... A THEORY PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA EXPLICABLE ONLY IN TERMS OF A CREATIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE MIND isn't that a wonderful thing? and doesn't that open up so many channels other than the same old ESP symbol match under "test conditions"? mentalists can be so ego bloated and out for themselves its ridiculous...save me from two fingers to the temple unless its a metaphorical gun, because that's how I feel a lot of the time (and I'm sure some of you wish it was loaded and I'd shut up - tough ) also, and this will sound horrible, people are so afraid to stand out via their own personality, and to talk about their own thoughts, interests and insights - that they just...don't...and they borrow, steal, copy from wherever else they can hide behind... save me from "i use my five senses to create the illusion of a sixth..." save me from "deceptionists" and save me from people that don't want to be themselves, and most importantly WORK on themselves to be a better, more confident human being that is interesting and above all else, interested in others... life is hard, fast paced, there's many business streams out there, a huge pressure to be able to afford a mortgage or save for deposit - to pay off student debts, all real life stuff...found those creative outlets that let your soul survive and breathe a little, do something that gives you joy without fear of competition or worry about being judged by faceless people on the internet... sometimes little tweaks to something make a big difference, it might be the timing, a sentence, a change of gimmick, its worth it if it makes a difference to the individual... and then that has its own value..what's worth tuppence to you might be worth two hundred quid to someone else...depends on what it enables that person to do... right, I'll shut up...time to have a Woodford Reserve Bourbon....
I've asked to be banned
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Jerskin Inner circle 2497 Posts |
How many David Copperfield clone illusionists have I seen?
GrEg oTtO
MUNDUS VULT DECIPI |
takeachance Inner circle 3764 Posts |
Quote:
On Nov 12, 2016, IAIN wrote: Or just one of the many B rate mentalist that are out there. |
Martin Pulman Inner circle London 3399 Posts |
We're seeing the "X-Factoring" of mentalism. Maybe it's related to mentalism being something that is now performed by people table-hopping.
Mentalism was never intended to be something that you've "added a bit of to your set". And yet, I read that all the time here. You're right Iain. The people I saw performing were, in reality, magicians. Their entire presentation style was like magicians from the 90s-jokey, with that false car-salesman energy. But their repertoire was entirely mentalism. And yet the one thing they didn't appear to have given any thought to was -do I actually appear to be someone who can read minds. Mentalism should be far more than just a sequence of other people's tricks. |
DocBenWiz Special user Meridian, Idaho 992 Posts |
Crew cut, bow tie, business suit... (no "tats", but with mentalist's "obligatory" beard)...."Dr Faustus"/David Hoy (talk about a TOD presentation!)..."I will read your mind,..and I'm a fake!" (paraphrased)
Loved his persona, his work and a couple of his effects/routines served me very well in the 70's...(with similar but my own personal style, somewhat more of a professorial hybrid "Dunnigerian" attitude).
"Pay no attention to that strange man behind the curtain" (it's only "Doc Benjamin from the Amazing Wizardelia Wagon")
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Necromancer Inner circle Chicago 3076 Posts |
All of magic suffers from this problem but it is rarely spoken about for two major reasons:
(1) most magic enthusiasts are hobbyists; (2) most hobbyists just want to learn tricks. It's one of the elements separating craftsmen (those who simply perform a skill well) from artists (those who use their skills to express individual artistic viewpoints). That's why I wrote my eBook, What Becomes A Magic Legend Most. Review here: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=14
Creator of The Xpert (20 PAGES of reviews!), Cut & Color, Hands-Off Multiple ESP (HOME) System, Rider-Waite Readers book, Zoom Pendulum ebook ...
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Martin Pulman Inner circle London 3399 Posts |
I agree that all of magic suffers from it. But I would argue, until relatively recently mentalism didn't.
That may simply have been because mentalists were so scarce. It does strike me though that even the most famous mentalists all had very divergent personas: Dunninger, Canasta, Berglas, Geller, Kreskin, Maven, Brown. All very distinct characters. No longer. |
IAIN Eternal Order england 18807 Posts |
Quote:
On Nov 13, 2016, Martin Pulman wrote: maybe it was because there wasn't online forums back then, and there was no one ready to discourage them from attempting to follow an artistic endeavour, or to take a chance in following a personal goal? Each one of those people you mention have all done things that don't fit within the classic mentalism structure...yet also all have one major thing in common... personality...
I've asked to be banned
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Martin Pulman Inner circle London 3399 Posts |
I think more people should be discouraging most mentalists, personally.
I would say it may be because we don't have a filter any longer. The old-school guys had to impress bookers, agents, managers, corporate audiences, theatre audiences, TV producers and TV audiences to get to a position of prominence. Now, any Joe can stick a few youtube videos together or type up an e-book and he's a mentalist or a "creator". The artistic standards in mentalism performance are incredibly low. The best are still great, of course -there are still many good mentalists-but there are far too many people who are downright dreadful. They wouldn't survive in the entertainment business if they were actors or singers. In my opinion. |
Necromancer Inner circle Chicago 3076 Posts |
To your point, the most famous mentalists have indeed had distinct personas. I might also point out that each of the above mentalists had contemporaries who failed to catch the public's attention, in part because they did not successfully address this precise issue.
The larger number of people performing mentalism currently may be calling more attention to the problem. But I would still hesitate to call this phenomenon in any way new. And new or old, it must be addressed by performers if they wish to rise above hackdom and forgettability.
Creator of The Xpert (20 PAGES of reviews!), Cut & Color, Hands-Off Multiple ESP (HOME) System, Rider-Waite Readers book, Zoom Pendulum ebook ...
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Mark_Chandaue Inner circle Essex UK 4187 Posts |
I think it comes down to two things.
1. It's far easier to get material these days 2. It's far easier to get bookings these days Magic has long suffered this problem because routines have been sold complete with patter for a very long time. Almost everything from the Supreme magic catalogue came with patter by Ken DeCoursey. With the advent of learning by DVD it became easier to copy the performance from the DVD. Mentalism on the other hand has not been so saturated, mentalism generally has had to be learned from books, and in many cases very dry ones. Alternatively you needed to find a mentor, you generally needed to earn that mentor-ship. I think the slippery slope started with DVD's, performances by Bob, Banachek, Max Maven, Richard Osterlind etc now became readily available. Video downloads have made the problem worse, now other people's performances are not only readily available, they are just a few mouse clicks away. The ease of publishing has meant that anyone can realease material and the popularity in some ways created by Brown and Blaine has meant that almost everybody is (and yes I recognise that it includes me 🤔) The number of people doing tricks today is larger than it has ever been, magicians and mentalists on the other hand, are a dying breed. A magician or mentalist is not measured by how many effects he can perform but by how much he loves and respects the art, by his desire and willingness to do the art justice. Being a magician or mentalist is not about skill it's about attitude. We now live in a world where "social media followers" and gigging websites are a substitute for an agent. Where you can sign up for a website, input your name location and a brief description of what you do will get you work. Gone are the days when working without an agent were a long hard slog and getting an agent meant proving that you had something worth buying. Mark |
Martin Pulman Inner circle London 3399 Posts |
Very good post Mark. Probably showing my age but I do think the rarity of mentalism was a huge part of its appeal. It's starting to go down the slippery slope magic fell down years ago, of being performed by precocious teenagers and jovial uncles.
I think it is a theatre art that belongs in a theatre or parlour setting. And that the persona of the performer is 70% of the experience. I don't believe it belongs in walk around or table hopping. I think that destroys its essence. That is not to disparage people who table-hop, but rather to question the wisdom of using mentalism effects in that arena. I hope the special essence mentalism had will not be irretrievably lost. |
innercirclewannabe Inner circle Ireland 1597 Posts |
The "special essence you refer to does not come from a store bought effect, rather it comes from the performer. Once there are skilful performers out there performing, I don't think it can be lost. On a wider point, I do agree with you regarding the diluting of the art by average performers.I also agree regarding the absolute muck that is being mass produced today and passed of in a lame attempt to call it an effect. I buy very little these days. When I do,I buy from professional performers who make their living by performing the art and the effects that they're selling. I think there are very few "performers" & "creators" around today. However, once they are around, I think the buyer and the art of Mentalism is in safe hands for the time being.
Tá sé ach cleas má dhéanann tú sé cuma mhaith ar cheann.
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