To Bend Or Not To Bend
The strange & wobbly legacy of metal bending in mentalism
Have you ever stared deeply into a teaspoon and thought:
You shall be the proof of my powers?
No? Just me then? Okay!
In the world of mentalism, bending teaspoons isn’t just a weird dinner table habit, it’s practically a rite of passage. Metal bending is like a dramatic dance between willpower and warped cutlery.
For me, it’s one of the most iconic symbols of psychic prowess.
It’s hypnotic, controversial, mysterious and depending on who you ask,
it’s either the holy grail of paranormal theatre or a worn out party trick in need of an afternoon nap!
Before you throw all your cutlery into the abyss, let’s ask the question that has echoed through all of time and chipped away at teapots:
TO BEND OR NOT TO BEND?
A twisted history: Where it all began
While humans have always had a thing for bending reality, modern metal bending really took off in the 1970s with a mysterious young Israeli man named Uri Geller.
Uri was a silverware shifting psychic performer who claimed his powers were the real deal. His performances were simple but hypnotic, he’d stare intensely at a spoon, stroke it lightly and whisper sweet nothings to it.
Then BOOM! It would curl up, like it had just seen a horror film.
People lost their minds, scientists scrambled to study him, believers wept with joy, while sceptics burst blood vessels.
Uri Geller didn’t just twist cutlery, he warped the public perception of what mind reading and psychokinesis looked like and his influence still echoes today.
Justifying the impossible: Why bend metal at all?
Here’s the question that mentalists often ask each other in the back rooms of old pubs or in Facebook groups:
Why do we still bend spoons?
Because it works!
It’s visual, it’s visceral and when done right, it feels impossible.
Unlike thought reading, metal bending looks like an act of force.
You don’t just know something, you actually change something.
That’s real power but it must be justified.
If your act goes from a superb Q&A routine to:
Now I shall bend this spoon using nothing but my brain goo!
Your audience will probably think you’re a weirdo who pretends to fly about on a broomstick.
So let’s have a look at a few justifications that can work in performance.
Emotional Residue: This spoon belonged to my friend who died in a tragic accident and it still holds her grief… Watch.
Energy Transference: When two people sync their energy fields,
strange can things happen. Touch the spoon, can you feel that?
Hypnosis Frame: I won’t bend this, you will.
Under trance, the power of your mind will affect the metal.
The goal is always the same: To make the spoon more than a spoon.
Make it a metaphor, a memory or a mirror of emotion.
Beyond spoons: Exploring other forms of telekinesis
Metal bending is just the gateway drug to an even weirder world.
Let’s take a little tour, shall we?
PK Touches
Imagine you have 2 participants standing on stage, one of them is blindfolded and they’re stood 10 feet apart.
You touch one and the other participant across the room flinches,
you never touched them but they felt something.
That’s psychokinetic touch, or PK Touch. It implies an invisible connection. When done properly, it’s powerful and feels like the universe just wiggled its bum.
For more on this see: PK TOUCHES
Paper clips that jump and bend
Ever seen a paperclip bend and leap off a participant’s palm with no visible trigger? It’s tiny and it’s quick but to your participant, it’s real. Especially when linked to ideas of energy spikes or memories.
Coin bends and key warps
Keys bend in their hands and coins bend in their pockets.
This little miracle amplifies the impossible and follows them about.
Especially when they get home and realise they can’t open their front door!
Metal bending as a narrative tool
The strongest mentalism isn’t about tricks, it’s about stories.
When you bend a fork, you’re not just showing off… Hopefully!
You’re illustrating a concept, maybe it’s about resilience or trauma, maybe it’s about how nothing is truly fixed, not even steel.
Some performers use a bend as a metaphor for personal transformation.
Others do it as a ritual, marking the climax of an energy build.
You could even treat it as a divinatory tool:
Whichever tine bends most reveals your dominant personality traits.
Is it weird? Of course it is but that’s the point.
The more bizarre it gets, the more captivated your audience.
Performance tips: Making the metal matter
So, you want to bend something?
Here’s how to do it without being the wrong kind of bendy:
1: Start with structure
Don’t just pull out a spoon and say: Watch this!
Build a narrative and create anticipation, plant the seeds of belief.
2: Slow is powerful
Don’t rush the bend, a slow transformation creates tension.
Speed just kills the wonder.
3: Use dual reality
Let the audience see one thing while the participant feels another.
If they felt it bend in their hand, game over.
They’ll defend that miracle for life!
4: Leave them with it
If you can let someone keep the bent object, do it.
Let them show their friends and let it become a legend.
5: Don’t overuse it
One bend is a mystery, three bends will destroy the mystery. Avoid overkill.
Weaving it into your act
The best place for metal bending is not at the start or the end but somewhere in the middle of your act.
Here’s a sample structure:
Opener: Fast paced mental effect like a which hand or a name reveal.
Build up: Psychological game or a hypnotic frame, set the mood.
Metal Bending: The ritual, the reveal and the emotional punch.
Closer: Prediction or full circle call back, tie the spoon into the story.
Why metal bending still matters
Metal bending has survived for decades because it’s more than just a trick, it’s a symbol or representation of internal force manifesting in the physical world. At a time when audiences are more sceptical, more analytical and more TikTokier than ever.
The slow and weird drama of bending metal with your mind still hits home.
You might not believe in magic but your keys do!
Fragmented Thoughts
Should You Bend?
If it fits your character… Yes.
If it fits your story… Yes.
Listen up, if you want to be a bender then who am I to judge you?
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing! – Socrates
To bend or not to bend? The answer isn’t found in a spoon or with a stranger on the internet who thinks they know what’s best for everybody!
The answer is found in how you use that spoon to stir your audience’s imagination.
So it is written, so it is Weird
ЯYΛП MΣПƬIƧ
International Man of Mischief