Derren Brown - polished, excellent audience management, great persona, stage shows themed. Colin Cloud (McCloud) excellent persona, approachable character, wonderful presentation...and Scottish!

Marc Spelmann is also fantastic!

My favorite is still Max Maven because of the comedy he adds.

Anneman - my first book ever read on mentalism 'Practical mental magic' ans still my inspiration
Robert E Nelson - old but still a learning process
Max Maven - for his style
Richard Osterlind - magic and mental magic
Gary Kurtz - first mentalism I ever met in person many years ago

Is it okay to say that I derive great inspiration from professional comedians? I don't use "comedy," per se, in my performances, but I admire how certain comics create the illusion of spontaneity. For example, I think Sarah Silverman is a MASTER of this technique. Her shows don't seem "prepared," although I am quite sure she puts a great deal of effort into making it seem that way. They seem extemporaneous. I try to do the same thing in my performances, despite the fact that I laboriously write and rehearse scripts for my major performance pieces.

Ben-

Sure it's okay to say that. I learned to be a performer by watching and working with stand-up comedians and singers. Timing, stage presence, microphone technique, etc. aren't things that you can really learn from books.

Max Maven and Derren Brown

All of them...They all have something to contribute...

Yes! Bob Cassidy! No question. For the above reasons and more...

Doug

David Hoy - Cojones like coconuts.

Too many influences to name...but here are a few: Richard Osterlind, Bob Cassidy, Peter Turner, Atlas Brookings, Michael Murray, Luke Jermay...

Bobser stated years ago how its funny how some threads come back up after some time. He is right! I performed Sum Total by Larry Becker last night to a wonderful round of applause. Its been about a year and a half since I performed this gem. So after all these years I'm still a huge fan of Mr. Becker and Sum Total! And I've added another name and piece of mentalism to my list. Mr. Martin Lewis and his What-Sat book test using SAT style cards. This is a great and I mean great book test. I've been fortunate enough to meet this man and his mind is one of the sharpest in mentalism and magic! But this test is such a wonderful piece of mentalism that I could not recommend it more. Sum Total and What-Sat will always be in my go-to drawer and I know it will continue to garner the applause we all hope to receive.

But beyond the above statement let me just say Mr. Becker and Mr. Lewis are two very fine examples of men who dedicated their lives to our Art and have made it much better by their contributions and improvements. And they are truely truely wonderful men to know. I am very honored to know them.

Good magic to all,


Eric

I wouldn't be performing without the help of Corinda, Annemann, Cassidy, Maven, Becker, Brown, Osterlind, Riggs, and so many others listed here.

But I will always have a soft place in my heart for Barrie Richardson. I love his writing style, theory, approach, kindness, and generosity. I am so glad he wrote the books and made the videos before he passed on.

Max Maven
Derren Brown

Luke Jermay.
I think he is an aristocrat among modern mentalists.

Chan Canasta for having the balls to do what he did on live TV... and being able to get out of it so well when it went wrong.

Derren Brown for being a constant inspiration, and a major reason that brought me into mentalism.

Let's not forget Tommy and Liz Tucker. One of the greatest Duo's of all time.

Best

Steve

So many to chose from.

I really like the work of Luke Jermay, Bob Cassidy obviously. I like Banachek quite a bit. Rich Ferguson some may argue isn't a mentalist, but to be honest I got a few routines from him that have served me very well and got some amazing reactions. Corindas work is of course vital

As someone said earlier, Colin Cloud is an influence and the first mentalist I saw that made me want to persue the art form.

But I gotta go cliche and say Derren Brown. He brought mentalism into the mainstream in the UK, and I imagine he is a big factor in people being drawn toward the art in recent years (again in the UK). I'm not keen on his more recent self help type stuff - in fact since the Lottery I think only one or two of his specials have appealled, but his live work is brilliant and I regularly watch his pre-2009 output.

Ross Johnson and Marc Salem. Because they perform real world mentalism that is entertaining and mystifying and they deliver it with the utmost style and appreciation for their audiences. And both are unique in a world of copycat perfomers.