Ok, I've done a few tricks at work, center tear with an ash rub on the arm as revelation, 5 card force (ala Hugard), a bit of cold reading... now people walk by my cube and ask for a trick but I dont have time to go into a routine due to the environment. I could just brush them off with a "catch me later" but I would love to know if there are some tricks (or even statistics) people have found that would allow for a quickfire mental feat. Anyone have a direction they could point me in?

Banachek's "Psychological Subtleties" has got some nice little ideas that you can use.

They're not 100% reliable, but they work enough times to generate a reputation.

Besides, if you miss, you can just laugh it off as "the environment not being the most conducive."

:evilgrin:

great, I will look into them... part of the reason I want to try this is that if I do botch it then the out is obvious and easy but the success from a trick like this in a fast paced environment would be very stunning. thanks for the suggestion I will look into them, Ive been thinking about it anyway, this is a good excuse.
you must have read my mind

Magicians worry about outs and being 100% correct when they perform mental magic. Mentalists and psychic entertainers don't sweat it, they don't worry about it and they go with the flow. The audience is forgiving when that happens too.
PSIncerely Yours,
Paul Alberstat
http://www.stores.ebay.ca/abstagecraft

I like Derren Brown's theory of making a bold prediction, usually an educated guess. If it turns out to be correct, you have a killer, if not, it is laughed off as a joke.

It reads badly here (probably due to my description!), but is quite feasible to use regularly. It's all outlined in Pure Effect.

Tim

I'll second Tim's recommendation!

Hi,

As said earlier by Philemon, PS is full of ideas for quick effects.

An alternative could be a variation of Mark Strivings "50/50/50% chance", as seen on his Walk-Around Mentalism tape (available from flora.com). With a minimal amount of sleight-of-hand, this effect can be performed without th gimmick explained in the tape. You just use 2 identical coins, one of which being unsuspected by the audience. In such a presentation, you would demonstrate your participant's powers rather than your own, though...

Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Eric.

The use of any of the "writers" especially, "PW," can produce a "quickie." Unfortunately, it will also have them lining up at your door.
Also, check out the "Impromptu Mentalism" thread which is active at the moment.

Why not be bold with Tim's suggestion, and hurl a headline or two, like David Hoy?

Regards,

Caleb Strange.

I don't think that it’s always a great idea to just laugh off misses. I have great fun making bold statements and when they go wrong testing my acting skills, using implication and suggestion to convince them (gradually) that I usually get it right.

The reason for making the prediction so BOLD is to suggest complete confidence and competence on the performers part. The audience feel this "self-assuredness" and go with it. They believe that you can do what you claim (even though in this case it just happened to go a little astray).

Complete unwavering self-belief is one of the strongest suggestions we can give.

Trivialising the “attempt” afterwards may be an easy out but I think that in some cases can damage the overall impression they have of you.

Anyway, just a thought

Stephen Thompson

I don't use the "bold" approach. Precognition, telepahty, clairvoyance ... these are not tangible things I can come off as being certain of. I approach it as "trying", "let's see if this works", "a test I've been working on". My attitude is not one of certainty when I deliver an answer. I don't come off weak either, I don't act like I'm "lucky". I know what I'm doing, but It's always an experiment, I need the audience to work with me, stuff like that. When I miss for whatever reason, I don't laugh it off, but "hey it didn't work out this time maybe because of this or that, let's try this now" or I go right into another story. I am always forgiven by the audience, in fact most don't remember any misses at all. I want them to "like" me. I think that's key.

Alexandre, I like your approach. It seems to me that you frame things as Uri Geller always does (or did in the past!)

Max