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AlexSem New user 50 Posts |
Why are children not impressed with mentalism? Because they do not have pre-conceived notions of what is possible and what is not.
People who are impressed by mentalism, are those that have strong beliefs about what's possible, and what is not. What is astonishment? It is when the MIND trips up on itself SO HARD that it ceases to work, and you get feelings of joy/happiness - lack of mind for a few precious seconds. (That's why children love sponge balls, that trips them up because they think in terms of physical objects only) That W-T-F HOW? moment. That's a glimpse into enlightenment - according to spiritual teachers. When one's mind/ego shuts off and you just experience the moment. What mentalists mostly do is build up already existing beliefs of what is not possible, by use of convincing props and so on, and then BAM! To overload the mind/ego so it crashes. So the effects a mentalist achieves are not so much prediction, mind reading, drinking acid... The real effects are what the SPECTATOR EXPERIENCES! That MIND SHUTS OFF moment, a moment of relief through tension (putting yourself in danger, acid cups) or simple entertainment by means of being pleasant and making the people feel comfortable. (There are others probably,what are they?) So a good act to perform would consist of: 1. Make people feel good and comfortable (opener) 2. Perform MIND SHUTS OFF/Relief (middle) 3. Do something to have them loop things in their mind after their leave the show/you (closer) To sum this up: The effects are what the audience EXPERIENCE, things like prediction, mind reading and so on are just means to an end. |
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John C Eternal Order I THINK therefore I wrote 12938 Posts |
I'm in!
j |
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JohnWells Inner circle The Southern Wild 1791 Posts |
Why are children not impressed with mentalism? Because they do not have pre-conceived notions of what is possible and what is not.
Yes they do. Unless they are too young to conceptually grasp the idea of mind reading, I have yet to meet a, say 5 year old, that does not recognise the impossibility of simpler effects. No, they won't nec essarily go for your "sneak thief" routine, but simple quick mentalism is great for kids. |
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AlexSem New user 50 Posts |
Hmmm I think a 5 year old is more impressed with sponge balls, but that's just me.
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Jerome Finley V.I.P. SLC 3419 Posts |
Who the heck performs for 5 year olds?
"Join my update list here!" http://eepurl.com/uE3Jf
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DT3 Inner circle Hill Valley 1920 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-01-03 00:47, TT2 wrote: BoBo The Clown. |
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Turk Inner circle Portland, OR 3546 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-01-03 00:47, TT2 wrote: I sometimes perform for people who act like 5-year olds. Does that count? Mike P.S. My apologies to 5-year olds.
Magic is a vanishing Art.
This must not be Kansas anymore, Toto. Eschew obfuscation. |
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kriskraze Special user 620 Posts |
Alexsem... sorry - but this is garbage.
Magicians and mentalists both do essentially the same thing. They both do things outside the realm of a persons existing beliefs as to what is possible. Sponge balls, mind reading - they both have the same basis. I don't know what you mean by 'mind shuts off' or 'crashes' or 'overloads'. I quite capable of experiencing something I didn't think was possible without having a 'brain crash'. Everything is relative. A kid is more easily amazed, because they are stupider. |
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JohnWells Inner circle The Southern Wild 1791 Posts |
A mentalist/reder working in a family oriented biker bar.
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SM41 Special user 831 Posts |
Yeah they are easy to amaze. It will be the same if I do magic for him and I show them a big toy. Mentalism I think is for people who think all magic is tricks
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Matt Pulsar Inner circle 1130 Posts |
"Everything is relative. A kid is more easily amazed, because they are stupider. "
I disagree. First, children have different degrees of intellect just like adults, but they don't have the experience to know what is possible in the world until a certain age. Allot can be gained by understand how a child relates to an effect. They do trust what adults say to a certain degree, so they are more apt to believe that magic is magic, like Santa or the tooth fairy. By the time they are seven or eight they want to show you that they understand the world. Because of this, they show strong enthusiasm towards magic not because they enjoy being fooled,or because they are amazed, or stupid, but because they want to be in the know about the world. You can very well perform mental themed material to children. But you have to keep in mind that they need quick verience and visual stimuli. A full mental act would most likely become boring, but I would not count it out as impossible. "Mentalism I think is for people who think all magic is tricks " Mentalism is a different but closely related form of entertainment to magic. Not a substitute. But it is more often performed as a real ability, where magic is often performed as a momentary suspension of disbelief.
Belief Manifests Reality.
Nebula CT: https://www.penguinmagic.com/p/8517 |
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kriskraze Special user 620 Posts |
Lack of experience makes them stupid. I think we are agreeing with each other...
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mesmer Inner circle 1186 Posts |
And the purpose of this thread is........
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Jordan Waller Special user London 610 Posts |
I recently performed for an audience consisting mostly of children between the age of 15 and from what I could tell my material went down a storm. I don't think for a second that you can say children don't understand mind reading or pk. What child is not familiar with the powers of superman or the telekinesis of Matilda or even the powers of Charles Xavier.
In my opinion mindreading and pk are very much an appealing subject area for inquisitive young minds.
One day I will write a book
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SM41 Special user 831 Posts |
I think another point is that you can say to a children 5-10 years old to think of a color and you say them correctly what color is it. But they think and how is that supernatural?????
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AlexSem New user 50 Posts |
"kids are stupid" lol It'll oftentimes be the kids that yell "IT'S IN THE OTHER HAND!" while adults are delighted that the coin vanished Not that this proves anything.
The point of the thread is to point out that what a mentalist does is he/she amplifies existing beliefs and then proves them wrong, creating great confusion in the mind of the spectator, that moment is what a good reaction is. Now to extend upon that, a mentalist has great responsibility because by having the audience's mind crashed for a few seconds, you could start a new religion without knowing it (Or knowingly, in the case of John Edwards I think). Cold readers know about this danger because people start truly believing in the powers claimed. Talking to the dead etc. The ethics of this have been discussed, a lot. So perhaps my point is that it'd nice to see mentalists that use their "powers" for good and don't mislead the audience too much, or if they do, into pleasant realms. Not into false hopes of thinking someone can help them reconnect with a relative that's passed on... |
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kriskraze Special user 620 Posts |
I applaud you for your ethics, although I'm of the view that a pleasant realm is not grounds for genuine misleading. No matter how positive the experience, if that persons mother dies, or house burns down - you don't want them relying on this new realm.
However, I don't see how your reasoning differs from regular magic. A guy with sponge balls amplifies the existing beliefs of a person (adult or child) in physics, motion, concealment etc. Then they prove them wrong. |
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Jordan Waller Special user London 610 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-01-03 12:57, Santiago Michel wrote: I don't think that children are the only people that would find this presentation lack lustre.
One day I will write a book
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RileyG Special user Las Vegas 840 Posts |
I think kids are smarter than adults, after all, kids learn while young while adults never learn...
Riley G - Jan 2008 |
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gabelson Inner circle conscientious observer 2137 Posts |
There is a learning curve for all children. As babies, we are stimulated primarily by the visual-- (therefore, the mobile over the crib). As we mature, our senses, sensibilities and intellects develop. I don't believe we can generalize what works and what doesn't work for "children" as a collective. My nine year old daughter who's part of the Young Scholars program, would be far more entertained by mental math, or psychological forces, than by linking rings. My 13 year old son, however, who takes after me (as someone who has ADD and likes doing the least amount of school work possible to get by), would be far more entertained by disappearing tigers. If we are going to generalize, (having performed for many children), I would say that around age 12 is when kids generally start to appreciate the more intellectual appeal of mentalism as opposed to the more visual medium of standard magic. It's not an "insult" to say that some kids appreciate certain genres of magic more than others. I myself am quite entertained by flashing lights and shiny things.
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