Mentalism is a form of entertainment in which an artist pretends to possess extraordinary mental powers. Components of mentalism can include: hypnosis, readings, psychokinesis, predicting the future and mind reading. Mentalism is therefore a broad concept in the world of magic. The mentalism of the 21st century probably goes back to the many séances that were extremely popular at the end of the 19th century.

Contents

• From hypnosis to psychic
• Mentalism on stage
• The mentalist pretends to be psychic.
• The thin line between magic and the paranormal
• Joseph Dunninger
• Learning mentalism

From hypnosis to psychic

The mentalism now seen on TV and in the theater probably owes much to the popularity of the hypnosis shows that have brightened up village squares since the Middle Ages. But even before that, there were magicians who amazed audiences with their mental tricks. Mentalism is a form of magic, the mentalist only uses mental tricks, unlike an ordinary magician. The mentalist creates the illusion that he has extraordinary paranormal gifts. The mentalists who claimed to actually have exceptional gifts faced quite strong skepticism, even from their own circle.

Mentalism on stage

Source: Édouard Isidore Buguet, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)Mentalists’ shows are all different. One person will focus more on predictive tricks, while another will bend a fork or make a chair float. Some mentalists focus on psychokinesis . Another word for this, which perhaps describes it better, is mind over matter. With the power of thoughts only influence matter. This includes all disciplines from bending eating utensils to levitating or moving objects or making objects glow from the heat. Sometimes this also explains poltergeists.Readings are also popular. A distinction is usually made between hot readings and cold readings and sometimes an intermediate form is mentioned. With a cold reading, a mentalist can tell something about a person based on external characteristics. For example, whether someone is tired, sad or uncomfortable. These mentalists are well able to read people’s attitudes, language, appearance and emotions. In a hot reading, the mentalist has prior knowledge, he has already received information about someone before the show. Usually a mentalist will use a combination.Extrasensory perceptions , a term under which much is hidden. Telepathy and clairvoyance are the best known, but readings are also often mentioned as examples. Telepathy is the ability to detect the feelings and thoughts of another person. Another term that is used for an extrasensory perception is ESP. They are observations made without using the senses. A kind of sixth sense would be used for this.

The mentalist pretends to be psychic.

The illusion of psychic ability is always present, although there are several mentalists who indicate that this is not the case. Unfortunately, there are mentalists who emphasize that they do have special (paranormal) gifts. So far no mentalist has been able to prove this.

The thin line between magic and the paranormal

Mentalists who claim to have paranormal powers are especially criticized. The strongest criticism comes from the circles of mentalists themselves. Perhaps the biggest skeptic is James Randi, a former magician himself. He became famous with his One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge. It is a challenge to anyone who claims to have paranormal and supernatural abilities. So far no one has been able to claim the money.There are several societies that have a reward available for anyone who can prove that they have special paranormal gifts. Another skeptic is Derren Brown, himself a famous illusionist and mentalist. He also challenges mentalists who claim to be paranormally gifted to have this scientifically tested. The American duo Penn and Teller have made a complete show of denouncing alleged supernatural gifts.

Joseph Dunninger

He has been called the great example for all modern mentalists. Joseph Dunninger was born in New York in 1892 and was fascinated by the world of magic from a very young age. Dunninger was the first mentalist to be heard on the radio and when he was asked to do a TV appearance he was immediately enthusiastic. His greatest talent was mind reading. There were already shows in which illusionists pretended to read the audience’s thoughts, but they always had assistants in the audience. Dunninger performed alone and had no help in the audience. He even offered $10,000 to anyone who could prove he was being assisted, but this money was never collected. Dunninger has always claimed to have no supernatural gifts and called his actions telesthesia. He was a fierce opponent of the various mediums of his time who claimed to be able to speak to spirits.

Learning mentalism

Mentalism is a form of magic, of witchcraft and that is why the different tricks can be learned. Books and the internet are full of them and a little perseverance can get started. Not in all cases success will be immediately around the corner. A bit of a mentalist needs good people skills, an eye for detail and must feel at home in the world of shows and theater.

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