What is Mentalism?

For thousands of years, magicians have performed tricks. Even in Biblical times, the magicians of Pharaoh were able to copy many of Moses’ miracles. A newer name for magic tricks is mentalism. The mentalist performs sleight of hand tricks that bewilder his viewers.

If a person desires to be a mentalist, he will need to spend time learning tricks. One of the best ways to learn those tricks is to have a mentor who will teach you the tricks that he already knows. You can also buy books that teach many of the tricks and some can even be found online.

Practice is a key to performing the mentalist tricks in such a way that they seem believable. You should have a trusted friend who will observe your tricks and let you know when he can see your mistakes. Take his advice and continue to perform the trick until you can pull it off without a hitch.

If you have practiced your tricks and can perform your tricks with ease, you should feel confident in front of your audience. Always be prepared to take a trick another direction if it fails to perform as designed. As an example, one mentalist was doing a trick in which a dark balloon was popped. Unknown to the audience there was another balloon inside of a different color. In this particular performance both balloons popped. The mentalist had another set of balloons prepared and was able to turn the trick, use the backup props and perform the same trick without the audience ever knowing there had been a mistake.

After you have trained yourself to be a mentalist, you can become the life of the party. You can pull out a few tricks to entertain your friends. Check out the video below of a guy who is plying his craft in a bar in NYC.