Stop telling everybody Iain!! Jeez.

@IMAGINACIAN: You're right - I learned that one the hard way in the past.

And...pseudonym of Sudo Nimh is Sudo Nimh
And....Sudo Nimh is Sudo Nimh's pseudonym

I think with just Sudo's name itself, a m******* outs routine can be created ?

Yes, I've been working on that. It's called:

Humid Son.

I don't see the connection between propless mentalism and a humid son and at this point I'm too afraid to ask.

I would agree that a 'proper mentalist' should be able to read minds even when he's found himself but naked on a desert island. But whose minds does he read there?

I don't think there is an issue with all propless material at all and some of it is really good; a well thought out and well executed PA is a great example. I think the problem is people jumping on the "propless" bandwagon in search of a sale or making it propless for the sake of being propless.

Let me explain my thinking. A PA is propless by nature and allows a performer to do a mind reading effect without anything on them; which is a great thing; and the method (in a good one) does not feel like it is full of process. Therefore; aside from personal choice; who could really complain about this as a method. I don't think anyone could personally.

The issue in my opinion, is that as propless mentalism has become more popular; some "creators" have in my opinion started with the brief; "how do I create some propless mentalism" rather than starting with a premise and then finding the best possible solution to solve that problem. Why? well in my opinion, because a) it's popular and therefore is likely to sell and b) it seems to be sold at a premium. I don't mean in every instance, but in a lot of instances, for the sake of being able to say "it's propless" a billet is replaced by 15 steps of process involving mathematics to an extent that it feels mechanical. Again, I am not saying there are no good methods involving maths, but there are a lot of bad ones.

Let's be honest; every mentalism effect has some process of some description, ranging from writing on a billet to taking a number, doubling it, dividing it by the month you were born in..... but for me the key to propless is only doing so when it doesn't come at the expense of the experience. i.e. if the most direct way of predicting a number that will be chosen is an NW, then use that; don't stoop to a long winded process just to eliminate a prop unless you can do so in a way that feels close to as direct.

or the TL:DR version; only go propless when the benefit of eliminating a prop, isn't massively outweighed by the lengthening of the procedure, to a point it creates a poor experience.

Aside from Atlas; Red Devil has a couple of nice propless ideas and I regularly use the 6S star sign divinationin a place where it does not matter if hits or not.

I forgot to add that I also think there are a handful of propless methods out there where they are less than 100% and a lot of people don't like that. Especially if the out is "just admit you couldn't get it"

What's the 6S star sign divination? Did you mean Ceierry's 10S or is it some other version I don't know of?

Haha; yes that's the one; 10s; not 6s. Apologies.

Maybe you got so good you can do it in 6s. Now, its time to develop the 5.8 s one. Olympics of Mentalism.

Anyway, just to add to the conversation - readings can be done propless and fry people. Circumstances that align where you can gain also warm info that can be used is also killer. In the field of simulation, people used to and still do often listen "high fidelity" with "high tech" when in fact it is all about using the tools at hand (which include imagination) to get the person to buy into the effect/reality you are creating. So, its not propless vs. prop its the right methods and presentation for the right context. Each can achieve things the other cannot and neither is superior overall - its what you want to achieve. Now, is a nail on your finger propless? Is a pen and paper propless? I suppose one day someone can write up on some definitions of "Impromptu" "Propless" "Gimmick" "Nongjimmick" "E-" "low tech" etc.

IMHO

All text in one sentence:
Don't miss the opportunity.