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ares New user Spain 1 Post |
Hi everyone!
I've been around since 2012, but this is my first message (I am more a voyeur in this forum). It is weird that I work in tech but I've never liked using it a lot; however the new social situation has forced me to go online. I'm an amateur magician from Madrid, Spain; but I've been studying magic since I was 11 (I'm 26 now). I started with card magic, which is still my favorite and I continue performing, but some years ago I started with mentalism and haven't stopped since. However, recently I have changed my view on mentalism and its relation to magic - I can't wait to share my thoughts in this forum - so I'm again practicing with my cups and balls set. I think that's all for now, thanks everyone that makes this the best magic forum on the internet! |
wulfiesmith Inner circle Beverley, UK 1339 Posts |
Welcome "acres"
I am very interested to know your view on "mentalism and its relation to magic" |
ares New user Spain 1 Post |
I'm still thinking about my view on mentalism, when I have it more clear I'll write it here with more detail. But I'll give you a short advance.
I was your typical Derren Brown clone when performing mentalism, I like to think that I still made the presentations my own because I am really into psychology (but I probably didn't). However, that kind of presentation now bothers me so I stopped performing mentalism altogether. These are the two main reasons, in a very short version (Disclaimer: I'm going to be categorical here, but I don't mean to offend anyone, or say that what Derren and other mentalists do is wrong in any sense - I personally love it): 1. Magic is the art of creating the impossible. If the people think that I'm doing psychological tricks on them, reading their body language, etc. ... then I'm failing at performing magic. I feel that a lot of mentalists today focus on making the tricks feel like psychology demonstrations, which in my opinion creates a different feeling than the emotion of magic. Psychological mentalism should not be considered magic, in that sense - as we don't consider memory demonstrations magic either. 2. Psychological mentalism spreads misinformation as psychics did in the twentieth century. In other words, it is a scam. If the guy giving a lecture on memory was using tricks and didn't really know how to memorize a list of words, I would feel scammed. This is a controversial opinion, but I feel like we are being dishonest with our audience. I know lots of people who believe that is possible to accurately detect lies from body language or program humans using NLP. That is ********, it is a lie, and it doesn't make any good to our society. I was one of those who incorporated a disclaimer at the end of the show, stating that everything was a combination of psychology, magic, influence, etc. But at the end of the day, people still believe that NLP is real. And I think that is our fault, as we are super focused on making our effects look like that, the disclaimer does little here (besides making us feel better). So I stopped doing my mentalism act and started again with my cards, which I love. I am now thinking on how to make mentalism that I'm proud of - mentalism that is magic (impossible acts made possible) without the need to try to convince people that NLP is real. I think Max Maven, for example, achieves that (of course, he is the best). In Spain, Anthony Blake does it too. They perform mentalism that seems impossible, and they don't have to constantly justify it with psychology. |
draupnir New user Texas 69 Posts |
Thank you for taking the time to give your perspective on mentalism ares. I really enjoyed reading your opinions on the topic and wanted to welcome you to the forum!
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