How to Learn the Art of Mentalism - Mental Health Tutorials Mentalism is a performing art---very similar to stage magic--by which the performer feigns supernatural abilities such as precognition and mind reading. A few basic pointers can illuminate some of the secrets of the trade and allow you to emulate the best mentalists in the business.
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1 Learn the art of cold reading: picking up on signs and signals that may tell you something about a subject before he even opens his mouth. For instance, if you spot a wedding ring on his hand, you may deduce that he is married or if you see redness around his eyes, you may deduce that he's been crying recently. These are very simple indicators: a good mentalist can pick up on myriad tiny signs to infer all manner of astonishing details, allowing her to appear precognitive or in possession of second sight.
• 2 Develop a code for blindfolded vision or use an existing one with which you're familiar. This act of mentalism requires an assistant, who moves through the audience and holds up objects offered by people while the mentalist sits on the stage blindfolded. The assistant asks the mentalist what he sees and he describes the object perfectly. The trick is done by a very complicated secret code: the precise words the assistant uses to ask the mentalist what the object is tells her the answer. For instance, "what am I holding in my hand now?" may mean a watch, while "can you peer into my mind and see what this is?" may mean a pen. The best blindfold acts use incredibly complicated codes which reveal minute details about the object. Both the mentalist and the assistant must memorize the entire code if the act is going to work.
• 3 Discern the secrets of the sealed question. In this act, an audience member writes a question down on a piece of paper and seals it in an envelope. The mentalist answers the question without opening the envelope, then reveals the answer to be accurate once the envelope is opened. The trick is basically the same as those old magic eight-balls. The mentalist simply provides a vague enough answer to fit any number of possible questions. Like the blindfolded vision act, this requires more work that it sounds. The answers must seem knowledgeable yet still be vague enough to fit any question. A good mentalist prepares hundreds of such "answers," then varies them from envelope to envelope.
• 4 Learn how to spot a hidden object. In this trick, the mentalist produces an object---a large amount of cash for example, or an expensive watch---and asks the audience to hide it on the person of someone in the auditorium. She then leaves the stage, with a witness to ensure that she isn't "cheating," while they plant the object. When she returns, she's able to spot its exact location. The secret is a variation of the cold read. Whoever is holding the object is very aware that he is holding it and giving off telltale signs without speaking: trying to look nonchalant, for example, or deliberately avoiding the mentalist's gaze. The other audience members are helping as well by stealing glances at the person with the object and the like. The mentalist can even deduce the location of the object by watching the person's body language: observing shifts in position or glances to the spot in question. If the mentalist knows what to look for, the person might as well be waving his arms and shouting "It's in my coat!"
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