Mentalism and magic may seem similar, but they have certain differences; for example, magic depends completely on showcasing tricks and grand stage visual illusions on stage that is done to deceive the audience without second thoughts. On the other hand, Mentalism Magic focuses more on amalgamating reality with certain aspects of psychology.
Most mentalists do the entire act based on certain verbal conversations without any added tricks. Magicians inculcate clairvoyance in their acts as a part of the performance, which is not a part of Mental Magic.
Tracing the history
History can speak for itself; mentalism can be traced back to as early as later parts of the 15th century. It was first done by an artist named Girolamo Scotto. Despite having such a long history, it could not make a place for itself properly in the mainstream until the arrival of the nineteenth century. That was the time for famous mentalists such as The Amazing Kreskin, Derren Brown, Randall Brown, and last but not least, Uri Geller. Mentalism is a huge branch of psychology that covers many areas, including telepathy, cold readings, hypnosis, memory games, future predictions, mind control, and many more.
How is it done?
By now, you must be curious enough to know the hacks and how a mentalist can read your mind. Well, let me burst the curiosity bubble for you. Reading a mind could be exciting and strange at the same time. It could be scary too. But don’t you worry. Mentalism Magic is an incredible process of understanding humans with a positive approach.
Let us understand first that our brains are incredibly interesting organs of our body that keeps processing the things heard and seen. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the brain’s functioning for mentalism to work properly.
Let’s have a look at some of the examples of mentalism
- The rabbit duck: This is a classic example from Harper Weekley, published in 1892. It is an optical illusion for the world. The combined image of a duck and rabbit demonstrates how our minds can be fooled into understanding things from two different yet correct perspectives.
- The dress debate from 2015: This is a more modern example of mentalism. Social media was filled with debates on the color of the dress. Whether it was black and blue or it was white and gold. The entire ruckus happened over suggestive comments that created placebo effects among people. People heard things, which created an effect on their minds by creating a cognitive bias.
We can understand how mental tricks could land up a person in a two-way situation with these two examples.
What are the traits of a mentalist?
These are some of the visible traits of a mentalist:
- Curious personality.
- Exceptional readers of mind.
- Good with making new acquaintances.
- Genuine psychological healthy tricks are known.
- It is a technique of knowing the thought patterns of the person they are communicating with.
- An opportunist.
Summing up the beautiful concept
The after-effects of Mental Magic last for a longer period and create a beautiful and positive impact on the mind. Some mentalist has successfully made their skills so strong that their audience truly believes in them. Some people with many skill sets have successfully made others believe they have psychic powers. Mentalism is a pure game of minds with certain tricks to go along with. It is a curated psychological game of creating the future for the audience.
