Mentalism is becoming increasingly popular these days and many people would love to learn some mentalism tricks or even become a professional Mentalist, but they can often feel deterred by some of these common myths.
I’m going to bust these myths wide open so you may have a clearer view of Mentalism.
Myth 1:
Mentalists need to have expert knowledge of body language and human psychology.
Whilst having knowledge of body language or human psychology can be beneficial to a Mentalist, it will not affect your ability to learn or perform mentalism if you have no prior knowledge of either of these subjects.
Mentalism is a performing art, just like magic or singing.
Myth 2:
Learning Mentalism is difficult and requires many years of practice.
Not at all. Learning Mentalism has never been easier. There are many books and DVDs available to anybody who wants to learn how to become a Mentalist.
Peter Turners’ How to Read Minds set from Ellusionist is a great place to start for anybody wishing to become a Mentalist.
It doesn’t take several years of practise to learn Mentalism. Of course practice is required to learn anything well and the longer you practise, the more proficient you will be but you don’t need years of study to be able to perform Mentalism. In fact, some effects/tricks can be performed after practising for a short while.
Myth 3:
Mentalists really do read people’s minds.
Not exactly; Mentalists create the perception that they can read minds but in reality they use hypnosis, psychological subtleties, linguistics, deception and other tricks to create the illusion of reading minds.
Myth 4:
Mentalism is just magic tricks.
Magic tricks require sleight of hand and lots of practice to become competent. Mentalism doesn’t require sleight of hand, it is mostly based on psychological tricks. Although magic and Mentalism are related, from the audience’s point of view they are not same.
Myth 5:
Mentalists don’t teach or share their secrets.
I’m sure there are many Mentalists who don’t wish to share their secrets but that doesn’t mean it’s a closed community. Check out some Facebook groups, attend conventions like the Minds conference in Newcastle UK. You’ll meet lots of cool people who are happy to share ideas and experiences with other people.
There you have it; 5 common myths debunked!
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Ryan