Killer idea! Very simple, easy to implement, doesn’t take any effort and changes the dynamic of the show. Great idea. Now how do you stage the people on stage? I don’t recall where I heard this, but I was told to think of your show as a bunch of photographs. Try to add variety to the photo to make it interesting visually. Now here is a question I’ve been struggling with is how do I want them to feel at different parts of my show? When do I do something serious? When do I do something shocking/surprising? Don’t I want to leave them with an unanswered question to keep a mystery? I’ve been looking very closely at film studies and lectures online from screenplay writers about how they do it for film and television. Some of the greatest information I’ve gathered pertaining to writing a show.

Getting the volunteers on stage is part of the show. I go through this process in detail in my next book...but simply put: I start with a brief explanation about who I am and what I do. I then do my version of Cassidy's Major Effect. (I line it up this way so that I can get a fix on which members of the audience will be good volunteer material. If you know the effect, you'll understand that the volunteers essentially identify themselves.)

THEN I go into the audience and, after a little byplay, I invite eight to come onstage with me. After that I will do a segment where I screen them to ensure we are on the same 'wavelength.' After that the show just rolls forward.

They are sitting in eight chairs closer to the rear of the stage. My prop table is in front.

As to how you want the audience to feel at various points of the show? Well...that's the show. You need hills and valleys. You need to do something light just before you throw in a hard hitting routine. You need to know which effects are stunners and which ones are simply interesting or fun. A show needs a solid balance of both. You also have to listen to the audience as you perform. When are they engaged? When do they laugh? When to they settle into stunned silence? Remember also that different people perceive everything you do differently. It takes time and a whole pile of shows.

I am not sure you can learn this stuff solely by studying. I wish you could. That would save a pile of public failures. I think that it's a thing you have to learn by performing over and over again. The active ingredient in a show isn't the effects you use...the 'go' juice in a show comes from YOU. And there's only one you...so I'd suggest you do your research and then go learn what works and WHY it works by performing in the real world.

David

This thread is a prime example of how amazing this forum can be. People sharing hard won experience with anyone willing to listen. Thank you so much to everyone involved, I hope many people have gotten as much from this thread as I have. A special thanks to you Mr. Thiel you've truly given us all so much to think about!

Best,
Brandon

You stated that you like chess.
There several chess mentalist routines, but use giant chess pieces that are available. Adapt it to the stage.
Have them are the stage as theme. Manchurian candidate and so forth.

Optical illusions to demonstrate how the eye and mind can be manipulated.

I think showmanship and charisma is the best prop you can have! It can turn anything into a big spectacle. I think developing this skill is the first and most important asset for a mentalist.

I had the absolute pleasure to catch a performance of Zabrecky this past week - and found it exhilarating. It was visual, and dramatic, and hysterical and unpredictable - and although he performed a few classic effects (Sneak Thief, PK Touches, Dice Man) some much of the entertainment value came from his unique persona and how he presented the effects. I came away from his show thinking how I'm limited only by the limits I create within myself.

I simply PM the open mike host and ask if magicians are welcome. I've never been turned away.

I would not worry about types of props - the most important thing is your skill needs to be coming from you. Think of it like music, if you played the guitar or any other instrument - you wouldn't be thinking in terms of the what instrument you use or thinking I need to being different instruments because ei cant just play 10 tunes with a guitar. rather you would think about the different music you want to play and how to put it into a set list - what types of songs, what the themes are, what the difference tempos are, what the emotional journeys of the individual songs are and what the journey of the whole show is when those songs are put together in a particular order etc.
My other suggestion is to think about things that you enjoy performing, focus on that material that you enjoy the most - regardless of props or style and see if you can put those pieces together in a satisfying way, you mayweed to add a something here or there to fill out your programme - but build your show around the routines and style of presentations you enjoy.

I think it also depends on the performance setting.

Close-up
I definitely prefer to keep it as simple as possible.
If you want to introduce an object that is not considered ordinary, said object has to strengthen your premise and live in your storytelling.
For instance a memento that helps you enhance your abilities.

Parlour and stage
Here one has to decide to either stay traditional or present it in a rather theatrical manner.
I always liked the visual aesthetics of a theatre-based performance. Basically there is no limit to your imagination. But it is extremely important that everything you do, every object you introduce has a premise.
A reason to be there - Entangled in the storyline and plot of the show.

For traditional performances I suggest doing object readings. Such as determining which object belongs to which participant. As a finale you can do a muscle reading presentation to find the last object that has been hidden somewhere.

For theatre-based performances, you can be creative where to put your predictions other than an envelope. In magic, every impossible location effect can be utilized as a prediction effect. Such as a slip of paper inside a amber stone amulet. You can reveal thought of information by any means. If you play an instrument, play the song that they are thinking of.

Use as minimal items as posible

I'm not entirely sure that having glitzy-looking props in a Mentalism Show, will do anything other than create the perception in people's minds that you are simply a Magician, playing the part of a 'Mind-reader'?

The most important elements are primarily YOU and your performance ability, coupled with strong, easy to follow effects.

For many years, as well as working Magic in Cabaret, I was a Stand-up Comedian. As a Comedian, I had no visual props, etc. whatsoever to rely upon. However, what I did possess was high levels of confidence; the ability to put over 45 minutes of very strong, mostly original material (changing direction if required); coupled with the ability to engage with a crowd - to get them laughing AND keep them laughing.

I'm not blowing smoke up my own rear end - but bad comics don't survive on the circuit for very long. Being a Comedian takes balls of steel - from the outset. A mediocre singer can do their set, become just background noise and get the odd sprinkling of applause. A mediocre Comedian walks off to the sound of their own footsteps - that's if they aren't booed off stage first.

So what has this got to do with Mentalism?

Well hopefully, it proves that in a Mentalism Act, it is the EFFECT that counts, NOT the METHOD or PROPS.

Consider Psychic Entertainers. They often have very limited (if any) props on display, relying solely upon their presentation skills and show content - but they continue to sell out venues to audiences across many continents.

When doing Palm Reading - again you have no props......but people will queue up - just to hear what they often already know about themselves.

Anyway, apologies for flying off at tangents (as usual) - but hopefully, there's a little 'food for thought' in the above rambling.

One thing that makes a huge difference in how your show could be perceived is stage dressing. Trade show partitions with subtle but interesting graphics give a professional look to a stage setting ( make sure graphics are subtle to keep the attention on you and the participants). For parlor you could size it down. Use tables with table cloths instead of the small break down magic tables. For parlor one or two will look good. The round end tables also look good. Just my two cents.

I feel that the beauty of mentalism is the fact that it should look like real magic. Not as in something vanishes but in that it uses simply everyday things that don't look like a gimmicked anything.
The power of mentalism v a magic trick is the power of "could this be real?" - Making a jumbo jet appear on stage is impressive and people many not know how you did it, but one thing is for sure, it isn't real magic unless you are younger than 6 years old.

I got out of being a magician and into mentalism because every new trick that was coming out just looked fake and obviously a trick. I wanted to get back to that feeling of realism. I could only get that with mentalism.

Now to address your question: Magicians seem to think that bigger is better and if you can get that jet plane onto the stage without anyone know how, you are great. Mentalism is about selling the mind to people. To do that, you must sell YOURSELF. - Fill the stage with YOU. After all, that is who they have paid to see.

If you are finding that you act contains a lot of the same thing then that is a great opportunity to inject some variation into it. That doesn't mean that you have to change the 'trick' you are doing, just change the way you are presenting it. If you do that, you could end up with an entertaining act full of variation and original thought yet never have to learn a new trick.

So, think about what you currently do. That boring trick you do with 5 coloured billets, could it be expanded and done with 5 people on stage wearing 5 different coloured silly hats? - I don't suggest you do exactly that but it shows that if you put the work in you can change what you already have into something bigger, different and, above all, entertaining.

Ask the audience interesting questions to set the scene: Ignore any audience and they will ignore you: Involve and engage the audience even though they are not on stage. Derren Brown is a masterclass in this. His script addresses the audience and poses questions to them the effect he then performs relates to looking into what he has just talked to the audience about. He makes his audience think and they invest in him and follow - Suckers!

The truth of the matter is many mentalists had a year or more to rethink, reapproach, reevaluate, and redo their act during COVID. I think it was the greatest gift mentalists have been given (that and a chance to review and focus on the business side of performing).

But it seems like rather than utilizing this time productively with a chance to step back and view this from above (rather than the inside) it appears many choose not to dig into it, but rather chose to pull away from mentalism as many seem to have stopped or disappear from performing mentalism.

There's some excellent points raised in the above two posts.

I have found that whilst focussing purely upon Mentalism after 40 years, my mindset has finally changed - and I truly believe for the better. Rather than learning even more methods of making 4 Aces appear in one pile; or new ways of making coins travel through a table, etc; my time these days is solely geared towards thinking about different presentation angles of the same effect - rather than thinking about new methods and learning new tricks. Instead of practising 'sleights with my hands', I'm actually spending more time practising 'presentation in my mind'.

I don't even know why the penny never dropped sooner. I've known for decades just how powerful Palm Reading can be, compared to magic tricks. I've also known for many years how powerful card magic with a simple stacked pack of cards can be, compared to some convoluted masterpiece requiring a perfect diagonal palm shift.

Going out with just a pack of cards, a pad of paper and a pencil (maybe throw into the mix a Swami and window envelope) instead of pockets full of props and gimmicks, truly has been an education.....even to an old fart of my ever-increasing years.

Importantly, I believe that audiences want to buy into Mentalism (and palm reading), rather than magic tricks - whereby many are simply trying to catch you out, or even wanting you to fail. As I've said before, UK audiences can be somewhat blasé or challenging, particularly where magic is concerned.

To bring this back to the point of this thread. No.....you don't need flashy-looking props and gimmicks to enhance your reputation. If you really want to see what a powerful Mentalism Act looks like, then check out Richard Osterlind performing his Q&A Act. A few blank business cards, some small pay envelopes and a few pencils. It's a Masterclass in true Mentalism performance and presentation. The items themselves taking up minimal pocket space. A routine that can completely flexible time-wise. Most importantly, a routine that people can buy into.

Lewis Le Val's AOK is also an exceptional method for Close-up Q&A - using just a few blank cards and a pen. Both highly recommended - rather than going out and buying a load of strange-looking props, that in all probability, you'll never even use.

While I can affirm moat of this discussion, the original post was asking about props to bering some visual variety. So consider:


1. Andy Nyman's "Three Skulls ad a Spike" adds strong visual interest.
2. A larger set of Mental Logs can be great. Stevens sells such a set.
3. The use of white boards, black boards, or card stock on easels. Specifically, any edition of Eric Samuels' Devious Aspirations props adds interest.
4.Book Tests.
5. Haunted Key, pendulum, multi-bob pendulum. (Viking markets one)
6. Kurotsuke
7. Locks and keys
8. pseudo-psychometry bags
9.Devils Cups
10. Powerball 60 lottery effects


George