Mind-Blowing Mentalism

A Summary of Mentalism

• Mentalism is a performing art that appears to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities.
• The art form includes hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognition, psychokinesis, mediumship, mind control, memory feats, deduction, and rapid mathematics.
• Mentalism is classified as a subcategory of magic but is distinguished by performers who leverage a distinct skillset.
• Mentalists produce psychological experiences for the mind and imagination and expand reality with explorations of psychology, suggestion, and influence.
• Some magicians argue that mentalists are skilled artists or entertainers who accomplish their feats through practice, study, and natural means, while actual psychics claim to possess genuine supernatural, psychic, or extrasensory powers and, thus, operate unethically.
• Mentalism requires years of dedication, extensive study, practice, and skill to perform well and perfect.
• The art form can be traced back to tests of supernatural power that were carried out by mediums, spiritualists, and psychics in the 19th century.
• Modern mentalists now increasingly incorporate insights from human psychology and behavioral sciences to produce unexplainable experiences and effects for their audiences.
• Styles of mentalist presentation can vary greatly, but some performers make no specific claims about how effects are achieved.
• Professional mentalists generally do not mix "standard" magic tricks with their mental feats.
• Mentalism may play on the senses and a spectator's perception or understanding of reality in a different way than conjuring techniques utilized in stage magic.
• Mentalism techniques have, on occasion, been allegedly used outside the entertainment industry to influence the actions of prominent people for personal and/or political gain.