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Stmarkus Regular user Puerto Rico 131 Posts |
Curiously, might I pick the brain , as it were, of some of the more experienced members, when starting out practicing mindreading , among friends and family, ( if you were ever so inclined) did anyone ever have a subject respond with anger? I mean not shouting or anything verbal, but an unmistakable look of disdain,practically poison, and resentment? Perhaps this is my own issue, I realize that, but I'm really trying to figure out why. Because although I obviously fooled this person, this is definitely not the effect I wish to have. Any response is welcome, and thank you for your time.
Regards, Mark |
funsway Inner circle old things in new ways - new things in old ways 9982 Posts |
In my experience many people have some fear of having their mind read - either because of secrets
or "being found out" for the multi-persona they run at church, school, internet, etc.; or the fake resume or backstory told. It is a strange phenomenon in our society. People think nothing of poking thei rnose into othe rpeopl's business, but resent any light being cast on theirs. I never take photo of someone without their permission for the same reason It is form of respect. So, I never posture "reading minds," but demonstrate telepathy, empathic awareness, what ever, with someone as the conduit, but never about "their thoughts." Family is different problem because of the trust involved. Thus, the problem may be over what "mind reading" means - easily solved by explaining what will occur in "no risk" terms.
"the more one pretends at magic, the more awe and wonder will be found in real life." Arnold Furst
eBooks at https://www.lybrary.com/ken-muller-m-579928.html questions at ken@eversway.com |
Mr. Woolery Inner circle Fairbanks, AK 2149 Posts |
I think it would help to hear (read) more details about this incident.
Some people get angry at magic tricks because they just hate being fooled. For those people, imagine how much more annoying it must be to have you seem to read their mind. Generally, there are two contexts to use in casual performance for family and friends. Either they ask you to perform or you offer to perform. In the first, they should have no cause for complaint, but in the second they might. Try this: “do you have five minutes to help me with something I’ve been working on? I’m trying a test from a book on learning telepathy. I can’t do words yet, but if you could just put a number between one and a thousand on this paper and fold it up so I can’t see it, that’d be great. The book says the act of writing it helps with focusing on it.” And do your CT routine or whatever you are going to do. Frame it as a request for assistance. If they say no, don’t ask this person in the future. Patrick |
Cervier Inner circle France 1274 Posts |
It happened to me on one occasion only, and without going into long details, it was my fault.
There could be so many different reasons as why someone reacts with anger! As funsway suggests, it could be that people don't like to have their thoughts read. BTW, I always start my show telling people that "Mindreading is like any conversation: if you don't speak, no one can hear you. If you don't willingly send me thoughts, I can't receive, I can't read them". This is not my own idea, I read that advice somewhere years ago and have been following it ever since. Well, not always, and I have a sad story to tell for every time I forgot... This also entices spectators to collaborate. And helps you say it was their fault when you misread But there could be many more reasons: skeptics can feel you outwitted them, believers that you used dangerous witchcraft, it could be that you "saw them naked", that you promised to do something but did something else, that you used a theme that offended their feelings, or they remember you from that time in kindergarten when you stole their candy. As Mr Woolery wrote, it would help to have more details about the incident.
"A friend is someone who know you well but loves you anyway" H. Lauwick
The Lynx Deck, http://jmmaries.free.fr/cervier/ Grapheeteez, on GooglePlay Telemos the peek envelope, on SkywardMagic Telemos en Francais sur TheMysteryStore |
Stmarkus Regular user Puerto Rico 131 Posts |
The details, are relatively simple. This was for a Family member, my Sister, and after having done some Magic with cards,first sleight of hand, then gradually progressing to particularly an equivoque, I finished with the effect, " Project a geometric shape, then imagine inside it another geometric shape". Perhaps it is the combination of sleight of hand with Mental Effects, or the fact that my Sister has always been very competitive, I cannot say. But after the reveal the look on her face was anger , almost bordering on contempt.And perhaps I'm too close, given that its Family, but I only wish to improve,to bring wonder into someone's life.And I was trying to use Family to practice to get to that level. Maybe its her maybe its me but I'm reasonably certain I will not be showing any more effects to her.
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Cervier Inner circle France 1274 Posts |
Too many hypothesis. Why not ask her?
"A friend is someone who know you well but loves you anyway" H. Lauwick
The Lynx Deck, http://jmmaries.free.fr/cervier/ Grapheeteez, on GooglePlay Telemos the peek envelope, on SkywardMagic Telemos en Francais sur TheMysteryStore |
Stmarkus Regular user Puerto Rico 131 Posts |
Asking her would imply she knows the answer, or that the reaction is a conscious one. Or that she'd willingly open up, which has never been the case. Hmmm... Interesting...
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dmoses Inner circle 2261 Posts |
Looch has a story! Oooof.
"You're a comedian. You wanna do mankind a service, tell funnier jokes."
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Mr. Woolery Inner circle Fairbanks, AK 2149 Posts |
I like to frame a lot of mentalism not as "I'm going to read your mind," but as "look how amazing YOUR mind is." This may not work well if you are a paid performer, but it is a good premise for casual/social performing. In the case of the shapes, I like to frame it as "I want you to try to pick up on my thoughts, so I'm going to try really hard to project a simple picture. Two geometric shapes, one inside the other, like a square within a square, but different shapes. Got an image? Let's see if you read me right. I was thinking of a circle inside a triangle." From there, you can take it to a more advanced mental routine if you want, but my point is that if they imagine what you were wanting them to, you give them the credit!
You also explain that a lot of the time, we really do pick up on people's thoughts and intentions if we try, but it doesn't really feel like we are doing something strange, so we don't recognize telepathy when we are doing it. A lot of what makes a mentalist different is just learning to discern which thoughts are really mine and which are yours. And that takes practice. -Patrick |
Matt Pulsar Inner circle 1130 Posts |
As in hypnosis part of the process of mentalism involves the prestige of the performer. By that I mean the belief and anticipation of the performers ability to do what he or she is pro-ported to be able to do. Because of this it becomes harder to effectively perform mentalism or hypnosis on a family member. They know you before you practiced these things. They know you too well. Outside of that she may have felt you scammed her in some way as opposed to read her mind. If, for example, you were to read someone’s mind and then they find out you used a deceptive technique to achieve that, the result often is disdain and possibly anger. This is why it’s important to keep the full process of mentalism a secret.
Belief Manifests Reality.
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The Unmasked Magician Inner circle If only I didn't have a wife and a kid I would have MUCH more than 2644 Posts |
You mention your sister is competitive. In my experience competitive people tend to get frustrated more easily by being fooled. They tend to see magic and/or mentalism as a competition and when you fool them they "lost". Sad, but I've seen it happen quite often, even even when framing it completely differently, as I am not at all competitive myself.
Please check regularly if you are becoming the type of magician Jerry Seinfeld jokes about. (This applies to mentalists as well.)
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innercirclewannabe Inner circle Ireland 1597 Posts |
You're coming at it all wrong if the end result is that the person feels you've 'fooled them.' Leave that for a good magic trick or for P & T to feel. If you are performing mentalism the goal should be to give the participant a positive experience, fooling them should be the last thing you strive for. Irrespective if the person is competitive or not - get them in on the experience and make them part of the process.
Off the top of my head I can think of a simple script that would have made your sister feel a lot better about that effect. She is your sister, you know how she thinks even when it comes to imagining objects in her mind. However you could never have achieved this result without her having the capacity to send you these objects. No feeling of resentment there, or feelings of being fooled. Word of caution, if you are interested in turning pro one day or if you are thinking of performing for people other than family members, get your script tight and think about each effect you perform. i.e. - Why are you performing it? What 'ability' are you tapping into to make this happen? Most important, make it fun and don't turn it into a challenge for you or the volunteer. Good luck.
Tá sé ach cleas má dhéanann tú sé cuma mhaith ar cheann.
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Stmarkus Regular user Puerto Rico 131 Posts |
I see a lot of good advice here, and I want to thank everyone who has given freely of their time, and experience. There has not been a single post, that has not been helpful.
Thanks again, Mark |
The Unmasked Magician Inner circle If only I didn't have a wife and a kid I would have MUCH more than 2644 Posts |
👍
Please check regularly if you are becoming the type of magician Jerry Seinfeld jokes about. (This applies to mentalists as well.)
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