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Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include hypnosis,
telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
,
clairvoyance Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...
, divination,
precognition Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future. There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is a ...
,
psychokinesis Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
, mediumship, mind control, memory feats, deduction, and rapid mathematics. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ psychic or supernatural forces but that are actually achieved by "ordinary
conjuring Conjuration or Conjuring may refer to: __NOTOC__ Concepts * Conjuration (summoning), the evocation of spirits or other supernatural entities ** Conjuration, a school of magic in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' * Conjuration (illusion), the performance of ...
means", natural human abilities (i.e. reading body language, refined intuition, subliminal communication, emotional intelligence), and an in-depth understanding of key principles from human psychology or other behavioral sciences. Mentalism is commonly classified as a subcategory of
magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrel ...
and, when performed by a stage magician, may also be referred to as ''mental magic''. However, many professional mentalists today may generally distinguish themselves from magicians, insisting that their art form leverages a distinct skillset. Instead of doing "magic tricks", mentalists argue that they produce psychological experiences for the mind and imagination, and expand reality with explorations of psychology, suggestion, and influence. Mentalists are also often considered psychic entertainers, although that category also contains non-mentalist performers such as psychic readers and bizarrists. Some well-known magicians, such as Penn & Teller, and James Randi, argue that a key differentiation between a mentalist and someone who purports to be an actual psychic is that the former is open about being a skilled artist or entertainer who accomplishes their feats through practice, study, and natural means, while the latter may claim to actually possess genuine supernatural, psychic, or extrasensory powers and, thus, operates unethically. Renowned mentalist
Joseph Dunninger Joseph Dunninger (April 28, 1892 – March 9, 1975), known as "The Amazing Dunninger", was one of the most famous and proficient mentalists of all time. He was one of the pioneer performers of magic on radio and television. A debunker of fraudule ...
, who also worked to debunk fraudulent mediums, captured this key sentiment when he explained his impressive abilities in the following way: "Any child of ten could do this – with forty years of experience." Like any performing art, mentalism requires years of dedication, extensive study, practice, and skill to perform well and perfect.


Background

Much of what modern mentalists perform in their acts can be traced back directly to "tests" of supernatural power that were carried out by mediums, spiritualists, and psychics in the 19th century. However, the history of mentalism goes back even further. Accounts of
seer In the United States, the efficiency of air conditioners is often rated by the seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) which is defined by the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, a trade association, in its 2008 standard AHR ...
s and oracles can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible and in works about
ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
. The mentalist act generally cited as one of the earliest on record in the modern era was performed by diplomat and pioneering
sleight-of-hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...
magician Girolamo Scotto in 1572. The performance of mentalism may utilize conjuring principles including sleights, feints, misdirection, and other skills of street or
stage magic Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...
. Nonetheless, modern mentalists also now increasingly incorporate insights from human psychology and behavioral sciences to produce unexplainable experiences and effects for their audiences.


Performance approaches

Styles of mentalist presentation can vary greatly. In this vein, Penn & Teller explain that " ntalism is a genre of magic that exists across a spectrum of morality." In the past, at times, some performers such
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
and
Uri Geller Uri Geller ( ; he, אורי גלר; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other il ...
have promoted themselves as genuine psychics. Other famous mentalists, such as
Joseph Dunninger Joseph Dunninger (April 28, 1892 – March 9, 1975), known as "The Amazing Dunninger", was one of the most famous and proficient mentalists of all time. He was one of the pioneer performers of magic on radio and television. A debunker of fraudule ...
and
Michael Gutenplan Michael Gutenplan (born April 17, 1981) on Long Island, New York, is a professional magician and mentalist. A third generation psychic, he currently performs mind reading shows at corporate, private, and country club events. He has created ...
, have claimed that their skills were human, but the result of extensive practice and study. The style of
Theodore Annemann Theodore "Theo" Annemann (born Theodore John Squires; February 22, 1907 – January 12, 1942), stage name Ted Anneman, was an American professional magician who specialized in the field of mentalism. He is most famous for inventing and refi ...
has been described as "that of an ordinary person, with extraordinary powers." Some contemporary performers, such as Derren Brown, attribute their results and effects to natural skills, including the ability to master magic techniques and showmanship, read
body language Body language is a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Th ...
, and influence audiences with psychological principles, such as
suggestion Suggestion is the psychological process by which a person guides their own or another person's desired thoughts, feelings, and behaviors by presenting stimuli that may elicit them as reflexes instead of relying on conscious effort. Nineteenth-ce ...
. In this vein, Brown explains that he presents and stages "psychological experiments" through his performances. Mentalist and psychic entertainer
Banachek Banachek (born Steven Shaw; 30 November 1960) is an English mentalist, magician, and " thought reader". He first came to public attention as a teenager for his role in James Randi's Project Alpha experiment, which exposed the lack of objecti ...
also rejects that he possesses any supernatural or actual psychic powers, having worked with the James Randi Educational Foundation for many years to investigate and debunk fake psychics. Thus, he is also clear with the public that the effects and experiences he creates through his stage performance are the result of his highly developed performance skills and magic techniques, combined with psychological principles and tactics.
Max Maven Max Maven (born Philip T. Goldstein; December 21, 1950 – November 1, 2022) was an American magician and mentalist whose performances were considered erudite and intelligent. He is ranked as one of the most influential mentalists of all time, an ...
often presents his performances as creating interactive mysteries and explorations of the mysterious dimensions of the human mind. He is described as a "mentalist and master magician" as well as a "mystery theorist." In recent years, many other mentalists and allied performers also have begun to promote themselves as "mystery entertainers," as well. Others, including
Maurice Fogel Maurice Jack Fogel (7 July 1911 – 30 October 1981) was a British magician and mentalist. He described himself as "the world's greatest mind-reader". Lamont, Peter. (2013). ''Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem ...
,
Kreskin The Amazing Kreskin (born George Joseph Kresge; January 12, 1935), also known as Kreskin, is an American mentalist who became popular on television in the 1970s. He was inspired to become a mentalist by Lee Falk's comic strip ''Mandrake the Mag ...
, Chan Canasta, and
David Berglas David Berglas (born 30 July 1926) is a British magician and mentalist of German-Jewish descent. His secret technique of locating a particular card within a pack has been described as the Holy Grail of card magic. He was one of the first magici ...
, may make no specific claims about how effects are achieved and may leave it up to the audience to decide, creating what has been described as "a wonderful sense of ambiguity about whether they possess true psychic ability or not." Contemporary mentalists often take their shows onto the streets and perform tricks to a live, unsuspecting audience. They do this by approaching random members of the public and ask to demonstrate so-called supernatural powers. However, some performers such as Derren Brown who often adopt this method of performance tell their audience before the trick starts that everything they see is an illusion and that they are not really "having their mind read." This has been the cause of a lot of controversy in the sphere of magic as some mentalists want their audience to believe that this type of magic is "real" while others think that it is morally wrong to lie to a spectator.


Mentalist or magician

Professional mentalists generally do not mix "standard" magic tricks with their mental feats. Doing so associates mentalism too closely with the theatrical trickery employed by stage magicians. Many mentalists claim not to be magicians at all, arguing that it is a different art form altogether. The argument is that mentalism invokes belief and imagination that, when presented properly, may allow the audience to interpret a given effect as "real" or may at least provide enough ambiguity that it is unclear whether it is actually possible to somehow achieve. This lack of certainty about the limits of what is real may lead individuals in an audience to reach different conclusions and beliefs about mentalist performers' claims – be they about their various so-called psychic abilities, photographic memory, being a "human calculator", power of suggestion, NLP, or other skills. In this way, 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. Magicians often ask the audience to suspend their disbelief, ignore natural laws, and allow their imagination to play with the various tricks they present. They admit that they are tricksters from the outset, and they know that the audience understands that everything is an illusion. Everyone knows that the magician cannot really achieve the impossible feats shown, such as sawing a person in half and putting them back together without injury, but that level of certainty does not generally exist among the mentalist's audience. However, some magicians do still mix mentally-themed performance with magic illusions. For example, a mind-reading stunt might also involve the magical transposition of two different objects. Such hybrid feats of
magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrel ...
are often called ''mental magic'' by performers. Magicians who routinely mix magic with mental magic include David Copperfield, David Blaine,
The Amazing Kreskin The Amazing Kreskin (born George Joseph Kresge; January 12, 1935), also known as Kreskin, is an American mentalist who became popular on television in the 1970s. He was inspired to become a mentalist by Lee Falk's comic strip ''Mandrake the Mag ...
, and
Dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundat ...
. Notable mentalists who mix magic with mentalism include The Amazing Kreskin, Richard Osterlind, David Berglas, Derren Brown, and Joseph Dunninger.


Notable mentalists

*
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
*
Theodore Annemann Theodore "Theo" Annemann (born Theodore John Squires; February 22, 1907 – January 12, 1942), stage name Ted Anneman, was an American professional magician who specialized in the field of mentalism. He is most famous for inventing and refi ...
*
Banachek Banachek (born Steven Shaw; 30 November 1960) is an English mentalist, magician, and " thought reader". He first came to public attention as a teenager for his role in James Randi's Project Alpha experiment, which exposed the lack of objecti ...
* Keith Barry * Guy Bavli *
David Berglas David Berglas (born 30 July 1926) is a British magician and mentalist of German-Jewish descent. His secret technique of locating a particular card within a pack has been described as the Holy Grail of card magic. He was one of the first magici ...
* Paul Brook * Derren Brown * Akshay Laxman * Chan Canasta * Bob Cassidy * The Clairvoyants *
Colin Cloud Colin McLeod, known professionally as Colin Cloud, is a British stage mentalist from Harthill, Scotland, who describes himself as ''The Real Life Sherlock Holmes''. In 2017 he appeared as a semi-finalist on season 12 of ''America's Got Talent''. ...
* Corinda *
Joseph Dunninger Joseph Dunninger (April 28, 1892 – March 9, 1975), known as "The Amazing Dunninger", was one of the most famous and proficient mentalists of all time. He was one of the pioneer performers of magic on radio and television. A debunker of fraudule ...
*
Anna Eva Fay Anna Eva Fay Pingree (March 31, 1851 – May 12, 1927) was a famous medium and stage mentalist of the twentieth century. Biography Fay was born Ann Eliza Heathman in Southington, Ohio. She married Henry Melville Cummings, a medium, who went by ...
* Glenn Falkenstein *
Maurice Fogel Maurice Jack Fogel (7 July 1911 – 30 October 1981) was a British magician and mentalist. He described himself as "the world's greatest mind-reader". Lamont, Peter. (2013). ''Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem ...
*
Uri Geller Uri Geller ( ; he, אורי גלר; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other il ...
* Haim Goldenberg *
Michael Gutenplan Michael Gutenplan (born April 17, 1981) on Long Island, New York, is a professional magician and mentalist. A third generation psychic, he currently performs mind reading shows at corporate, private, and country club events. He has created ...
* Wayne Hoffman * Burling Hull * Al Koran *
The Amazing Kreskin The Amazing Kreskin (born George Joseph Kresge; January 12, 1935), also known as Kreskin, is an American mentalist who became popular on television in the 1970s. He was inspired to become a mentalist by Lee Falk's comic strip ''Mandrake the Mag ...
*
Nina Kulagina Nina Kulagina, ''Ninel Sergeyevna Kulagina'' (russian: Нине́ль Серге́евна Кула́гина, born Ninel Mikhaylova) (30 July 192611 April 1990) was a Russian woman who claimed to have psychic powers, particularly in psychokinesis ...
*
Max Maven Max Maven (born Philip T. Goldstein; December 21, 1950 – November 1, 2022) was an American magician and mentalist whose performances were considered erudite and intelligent. He is ranked as one of the most influential mentalists of all time, an ...
* Gerry McCambridge * Alexander J. McIvor-Tyndall * Wolf Messing * Alain Nu * Marc Paul * Richard Osterlind * The Piddingtons * Oz Pearlman * Princess Mysteria *
Marc Salem Marc Salem, born Moshe Botwinick to Jewish parents,http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/apr/09/marc-salem-not-psychic/ is an American mentalist and mind reader from Philadelphia. He was featured on ''60 Minutes'', in early 2008, and has been interv ...
*
Joshua Seth Joshua Seth is an American voice actor, comedian, and author. Biography Seth was born in Kent, Ohio, and graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. As a child, Seth attended several experimental programs at Kent State Univer ...
* Suhani Shah * Nakul Shenoy * Lior Suchard * George Tait *
Rob Zabrecky Robert Zabrecky (born June 2, 1968, in Burbank, California) is an American actor, author, magician, and songwriter. His career began as a musician while being the front man for the band Possum Dixon. In the later years of his career, he has f ...
*
The Zancigs Julius and Agnes Zancig were stage magicians and authors on occultism who performed a spectacularly successful two-person mentalism act during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Julius Zancig (1857–1929) – born Julius Jörgensen in Copen ...


Historical figures

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. Famous examples of accused practitioners include: *
Erik Jan Hanussen Erik Jan Hanussen, born Hermann Steinschneider (2 June 1889, in Vienna – 25 March 1933, in Berlin), was an Austrian Jewish publicist, charlatan and clairvoyant performer. Acclaimed in his lifetime as a hypnotist, mentalist, occultist and as ...
, alleged to have influenced
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
* Grigori Rasputin, alleged to have influenced Tsaritsa
Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...
* Wolf Messing, alleged to have influenced Joseph Stalin * Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, accused of influencing members of the French aristocracy in the
Affair of the Diamond Necklace The Affair of the Diamond Necklace (, "Affair of the Queen's Necklace") was an incident from 1784 to 1785 at the court of King Louis XVI of France that involved his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. The Queen's reputation, already tarnished by gossi ...
In
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
's preface to Upton Sinclair's 1930 book on telepathy, '' Mental Radio'', he supported his friend's endeavor to test the abilities of purported psychics and skeptically suggested: "So if somehow the facts here set forth rest not upon telepathy, but upon some unconscious hypnotic influence from person to person, this also would be of high psychological interest." As such, Einstein here alluded to techniques of modern mentalism.


See also

* Cold reading *
Memory sport Memory sport, sometimes referred to as competitive memory or the mind sport of memory, refers to competitions in which participants attempt to memorize then recall different forms of information, under certain guidelines. The sport has been formall ...
*
Mnemonist The title mnemonist refers to an individual with the ability to remember and recall unusually long lists of data, such as unfamiliar names, lists of numbers, entries in books, etc. Some mnemonists also memorize texts such as long poems, speeches, o ...
* Scientific skepticism * '' Thirteen Steps To Mentalism'' * ''
The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, the show ...
''


References


Further reading

*
H. J. Burlingame Hardin Jasper Burlingame (1852–1915) was an American magician and magic historian. Burlingame had taken lessons from the magician David Tobias Bamberg. He later used the stage name "Jasper Bamberg" when he performed in Chicago. Burlingame i ...
. (1891)
''Mind-Readers and Their Tricks''
In ''Leaves from Conjurers' Scrap books: Or, Modern Magicians and Their Works''. Chicago: Donohue, Henneberry & Co. pp. 108–127 * Derren Brown (2007). ''Tricks of the Mind''. Transworld Press. United Kingdom. * Steve Drury (2016). ''Beyond Knowledge''. Drury. * Max Maven (1992). ''Max Maven's Book of Fortunetelling.'' Prentice Hall General; 1st edition. * William V. Rauscher. (2002). ''Mind Readers: Masters of Deception''. Mystic Light Press. * Barry H. Wiley. (2012). ''The Thought Reader Craze: Victorian Science at the Enchanted Boundary''. McFarland. {{Authority control Magic (illusion) Performance art