When a magician starts talking about the power of positive thinking, then his audience will start to smile and receive the proposition with absolute incredulity – which is precisely what the magician wants, because then he can go on and prove the absolutely incredible true!

Go for it tommy! I would love to see a video of you performing such a routine.

That's not what I want from my audience, but glad it works for you.

I will be especially interested to see how handle volunteer selection and care - the theme of this thread.

I think all the magic in all the world begins with an incredulous proposition. I have never heard of anybody doing credible magic.

If the audience finds the proposition credible then what would be the point of proving it is true? Mind you, if you did propose the credible and prove it, I suppose you could bill yourself as the most boring magician in the world. Ladies and Gentlemen, you may find this very easy to believe, but I am now going to pour myself a cup of tea before your very eyes, watch!

Https://teasetea.com/pages/empowering-women

The may well be true, but has nothing to do with any "power of positive thinking" as a story line.

You seem to think it is a viable approach - so, I asked to see it done.

How much are you offering me to do what you are asking exactly?

Please bear in mind that magic does not only happen in the context of some sort of magical performance. It's also uncle Harry doing magic tricks with his godchild on a rainy afternoon. It's done by hospital magicians in order to cheer up, and, yes, empower the patients at a hospital. I read a book about magic with children in a psychotherapy context. I know of mind benders used in coaching and in adult education, so why not magic?

You do not even have to frame an effect as a magical performance. It might not be "a magician" at all, who starts talking about the power of positive thinking, it might be "an adult education tutor". But then, somehow, his talking unexpectedly turns into some sort of magic trick. I am planning to do this in an adult education programme this summer.

I am not sure if I will ever be bold enough to do something like this in the context of an academic paper at a conference in front of well-known scholars, but I can tell you I am tempted.

Our Magic happens in the context of the real world and not in the context of a magical fantasy world. The proposition put to the audience is that which cannot be in the real world. The audience goes along with the unbelievable proposition for their amusement. The magician then apparently proves it true. It can not be, in the real world, but there it is! That is the dilemma of it.

"Now babble nonsense about the power of concentrated thought upon even inanimate objects, requesting parties to whisper name and number and mentally urge the required action."

SWE

The notion of mind over matter in Our Magic is as old as the hills.

At a nursing home I noticed a man waving a wooden coaster at the TV occasionally. His daughter explained,
"He sees others pointing an object at the TV to turn it on or off, others pointing to change channels.
He has decided that his job is to make the commercials go away. See - it works!"

Go for it, Ken!