Mentalism

Mentalism is a form of entertainment where the performers (mentalists) demonstrate highly developed or supernatural mental ability. Mentalists commonly demonstrate ability in telepathy, mind reading, precognition, psychokinesis, mind control, hypnosis, psychological suggestion and manipulation.

History

Modern mentalism has been performed since the 19th century by mediums and psychics and then more recently by more theatrical performers such as Derren Brown, Richard Osterlind, Uri Geller and Banachek. Aspects of the art form can be traced back even further to the time of the ancient Greeks and the Old Testament.

Mentalism utilises many of the same techniques as stage magic however mentalists typically present such their feats as genuine ability rather than a theatrical magic trick. Often these technique from conjuring at performed alongside legitimate demonstrations of psychological phenomena such as NLP and hypnotism.

Mentalism Styles

Mentalists perform with varying presentations. Some mentalists A such as Uri Geller or David Blaine, claim to really possess genuine supernatural powers such as telepathy, clairvoyance, or telekinesis or metal bending skills.

Other modern performers, including Richard Osterlind, Banachek and Derren Brown attribute their effects to natural skills, such as the ability to read body language or to manipulate the audience subliminally through NLP, observation, psychological suggestion etc.
Magic & Mentalism

Mentalists normally don’t mix “regular” magic tricks with their performances. To do so associates mentalism too closely with the theatrical trickery used by stage magicians. Many mentalists purport not to be magicians at all and claim to be practicing an entirely different artform.

Famous Mentalists

Over the coming months, I’ll be writing about some of the most famous mentalists and magicians that perform mentalism such as Theodore Annemann, Banachek, David Berglas, Max Maven, Richard Osterlind, Derren Brown, Chris Angel and David Blaine, Corinda and Uri Geller.

Mentalism In Pop Culture

The term mentalism has been popularised by the US TV show ‘The Mentalist’ which debuted in 2009 on the CBS network. The lead character Patrick Jane was a fake psychic who used mentalism techniques to fake his ability. He now uses his abilities of observation and knowledge of psychology to assist in the solving of crimes.

How would you define mentalism? Do you have a question you’d like to ask? Leave a comment below!