Discovering Mind Magic At NYC Mentalism Shows

By Henry Green


While Est and ESP are often considered throwbacks to the 1970s, both are alive and well. When it comes to Est, it has been reborn in a number of New Age retreats. Whereas, ESP is alive and well at a number of NYC Mentalism Shows.

These types of shows can include a number of different areas of the supernatural. For example, a number include hypnosis, clairvoyance, telepathy, psychokinesis, mind control, mediumship, memory feats, rapid mathematics, deduction, precognition and divination. While some performers are considered to have psychic powers, this is not always the case. Whereas, there are also psychic readers and bizzarists which reside outside the realms of magic or mentalism.

The majority of performances which mentalists provide can be traced back to the 19th century and tests conducted by individuals whom were believed to have supernatural powers such as mediums and spiritualists. Whereas, the history of the practice dates back to the days of Moses and the Old Testament. For, there are scholars whom have suggested that Old Testament scriptures relate to mentalism as being part and parcel to various prophecies.

Professional mentalists and magicians are generally considered one of the earliest of live stage acts. For, the earliest live stage performance by Girolamo Scotto, a well known sleight-of-hand magician occurred in 1572. While some have suggested that mentalist can be learned, others attribute the skills to having supernatural or psychic powers. Regardless, magicians and mentalists have been entertaining and astounding crowds for centuries.

Contemporary performers such as Darren Brown and others often attribute mentalist skills to natural abilities such as being able to use psychological and subliminal suggestion to create a sense of control. Whereas, contemporaries whom perform as street performers often include audiences into the act. For, these performers often make audiences well aware that everything observed during a performance is nothing more than illusion.

While some performers have no problem lying to a crowd that some aspects of magic are real, others tend to disagree. At the same time, magicians whom only reveal a portion of how a trick is created are drawing a thin line between a mentalist whom tries to make an audience believe an act is real. In either case, the real magic behind an act being performed is whether or not the audience can tell the difference between reality and theatrics.

In fact, a number of mentalists do not use the term magician as a title. For, most believe that magic and mentalism are two different and distinct forms of performance art. In addition, while most magicians use a number of props, especially those involved in illusion, mentalists often work with body language and the mind. As such, while there may still be an ongoing debate, most people do consider mentalists different from magicians.

The argument that mentalists invoke beliefs which if presented appropriately can appear as reality versus being endowed with psychic abilities is an interesting though complex one. For, while some mentalists may actually be endowed with these powers, there are still a number of skeptics. As a result, most mentalists who are psychic tend to play on the senses and perception of the audiences. Whereas, magicians often perform acts of illusion which can often seem as real as a mentalist providing a mind reading. As such, magicians and mentalists both use deception as a means of entertainment.




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