On 2011-05-15 21:13, pourang65 wrote:
For many years I also asked myself before any show what opening effect I have to use, when I realized that the opening effect is actually ME. depending on the show, the place, the people you performing for you can use a little story, talk about psychology, the universe, the mind, even a joke if the place is relevant.

I don't think there's any effect that can be called opener!! All the effects can be done in the beginning, in the middle or the end if they are presented well. Maybe a good and powerful final is more important in my opinion.

Anyways, if you really want something to start with, bob Cassidy's idea of involving the whole audience is a brilliant way to start a show ( it's always impressive with the talent of Bob)

Cheers
Pourang

On 2011-07-15 02:39, MrHyde wrote:
This might possibly fit the bill : ) http://www.MindFool.com

On 2011-05-15 14:18, unclesamayen wrote:
Hello everyone,

I'm routining one 20 mins mental magic show but I can not find a good opening.
I'd like it quick and can establish that I'm a mentalist.
I know mental magic need time to build up the atmosphere but I'm wondering if there is any quick opening for mental magic?
Any opinion is welcome.
Thank you very much.

Best,
YuYen

On 2011-07-15 02:39, MrHyde wrote:
This might possibly fit the bill : ) http://www.MindFool.com

On 2011-07-15 17:40, Mike Ince wrote:
Everyone has their own rules about openers. There should be rules. Here are a few I've learned from others.

1) Before your opener, establish who you are, what you do and get the audience to like you. Do that in the first 30 seconds. Do it not and you'll die.

2) With your opening effect, do involve and engage the entire audience. Do it not and you may lose their attention. Then you'll die.

3) If you open with plausible effects, the audience will accept them. Let the happenings of the show grow more and more impossible over time. Open with too strong an effect and you've just killed the belief in the moment necessary for a good mentalism performance and you'll... do you see a pattern here? (Ever see a really dorky special-effect early on in a movie? It takes you out of the moment and reminds you what you're viewing isn't real. People want to believe in the moment so long as we don't put obstacles in their way.) If your early claims are believable to an intelligent adult, your later, more outlandish claims are more likely to be accepted.

Maybe you can "sell" an effect early on that my audience wouldn't buy from me. I used to open with a very funny spoon bending routine (telekinesis). I might open with it still in the future but I haven't in a long time because I know it sets up my performance as a magic show. There's nothing wrong with doing magic shows, nothing at all, but if you want to do a mentalism show you need people to believe (even if only for the duration of the performance). Telekinesis is too strong of an effect for me to open with. You might open with that same routine yet convince people, as Uri Geller did, that you're bending metal with your mind. When I did it I convinced people I was a funny guy with a funny show full of magic tricks. The other problem with the routine was I didn't write it and I never got around to personalizing it.