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Hi,
I am nikhil from New Delhi, India!...Finally enrolled ...i have got a lot of mentalism(type) tricks and bought all of them from penguinmagic.com!...This is the list
ESP Cards, Alarmed, Cataclysm, Caractromancy, Marked Decks, Psypher, predicta and a few more...almost all of them are mentalism tricks with an obv patter!!...but the chances of getting caught are high specially with the audiences I have (people here just don't want to appreciate, rather they want to catch you!!!!...at least my audience does)
Alarmed - if the photo is observed under L***T its almost a giveaway
Cataclysm - Deck cant be examined by the spectator
Caractromancy - Same as above
Psypher - Easy to hide the gimmick! two thumbs up...however still need to hide it!
Predicta - Cheap quality cards, ruin the whole trick ...wish they were as good as Powerball 60 (genuineness) or high quality such as 'alarmed' photos
So basically, what I am looking for a trick which is the safest, cleanest and literally everything can be examined!!! I know its asking for too much, but I am sure if not all, there are certain tricks that might come under this criteria.
I am fed up with my audience...and specially these days, be it my friends, friends of friends or even relatives...they know I do tricks and all...so even tho they enjoy the trick but what they enjoy doing the most is CATCHING ME!!! lol...but if I look at the brighter side(their opinion)...better to be caught by people you know than strangers! and I can also improve this way...
Please let me know if there are such tricks! and how is extractor by the way, does it fall under this criteria?
Thanks

The cleanest trick can not be obtained through Penguin.
Not even through MJM!
The cleanest trick does not employ gimmicks.

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Chance's Token
Tarot cards in a scenic piece of mystery.....

Get a new audience.
That wasn't meant to be a joke, but people who know you do 'tricks' will not accept that you aren't doing 'tricks.'
Have you read the 'basics' like Henry hay, Corinda and Annemann?
What is your goal in mentalism?
or do you prefer just doing magic tricks with a psychic flavor?
In my (limited, very limited) experience it's not the trick and finding 'the right' trick in the manner you are doing doesn't work. It's usually the presentation and the experience.
Personally, I realized at one point that I had to start doing shows professionally because my family would only put up with (let alone be entertained by) so much.

'Love is the magician who pulls man out of his own hat' - Ben Hecht
'Love says 'I am everything.' Wisdom says 'I am nothing'. Between the two, my life flows.' -Nisargadatta Maharaj
Seadog=C-Dawg=C.ou.rtn.ey Kol.b

That's fair enough!...penguin does sell stand alone DVDs or Just the concept...Gimmicks are not always necessary...so if anyone knows such a trick please tell me the name!!...ill buy in an instant lol...

Lol I agree!...even my friends and family just put up to be honest...i like psychic tricks definitely...where there's a mystery...a thought/anything...and most importantly there is no suspicious moves by the magician!...
Anyone who has extractor...can the deck be examined(the one in which spectator puts the card)!...looking at the demos...if it is...then its a sure buy for me!...

The first step to fixing any problem is to ask the right question. Your problem isn't the tricks; it's the way you handle your audience.

Yes, I understand my problem is handling my audience, that's a very valid point however, not always...only a group of people who know me in and out...and you know its actually easier to perform in front of strangers, as they don't really know whats going to happen/what to expect!...But the real challenge is to fool a person who knows you in and out, knows that you are a magician, and in my case always puts the toughest/hardest questions up front after the trick is completed!...
So, what I am looking for is a trick for this SPECIFIC group of people only...there must be one!!!

Our job is to make people suspect the wrong things and only realize they have been following the wrong things once we have cleaned up the part we don't want them to know

In my opinion the problem is you are looking for a trick and not for an effect. A trick by its definition has a 'trick to it' and as such can't be a hundred percent clean. In addition it's not enough that the trick is 'clean' but it has to be clean in the minds of the spectators.
Yours,
Jonathan

You could learn Day for Any Date - nothing for the audience to discover there.
Mike

www.psychicscience.org | Ebooks | Facsimile Book Test

IMHO....
Stop performing for friends....
They will never believe that what you are doing are not tricks....
If you need to practice... Take it to the streets or find people that don't personally know you.
Take a job at a bar or restraunt and do stuff there.... Just my 2 cents....

Mentalist Singapore
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https://www.mentalistsingapore.com/

You don't seek Tricks, You seek knowledge.
Read the works of Bob Cassidy, then you will begin to understand the mentalism world

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I agree with ferrismagic. Your friends don't believe what you're doing might be real. It's best to perform mentalism for people who don't think of you as a magician. You might get some traction by actually performing something genuine. People who know you're skilled in magic might suspect trickery even when you're not being tricky. Try using a pendulum in their hands and see what their reaction is. If they suspect it moves because you're blowing it around or using a magnet or have implanted tiny mites in the pendulum... forget performing mental magic for them. They might eventually come around if you perform only the real stuff for a few years.
There are consequences of unbelief... it often makes the real stuff impossible to perform. For example, Patrick Redford's 'Prevaricator', a genuine demonstration of reading body-language, works best on people who believe you can read their body language. It's wonderful but doesn't usually work on friends and relatives of 'magicians'.
Find a real or at least believable effect to do and do not do any standard magic all day before or after you do it. If you perform for people you don't know, don't let your friends introduce you as a 'magician' or you'll be fighting uphill. It's very hard to control this situation with people who have known you well.
To quote an older, wiser member here: 'If they're looking at your hands you're doing something wrong.'

The secret of deception is in making the truth seem ridiculous.

Audiences must be 'real' ones -even if you're not a professional- in order to be able to create the possibility of (dis)belief.
One or two friends, instead -but beware, they must be very trustworthy- are the best choice for learning and rehearsing. These are the Gotcha! friends, meant to try to figure you out, telling you everything they see/hypothyze/consider not very believable/don't like, etc. These persons can be your best secret weapon.

'People who lean on logic and philosophy and rational exposition
end by starving the best part of the mind' -William Butler Yeats

Given what you said I would read a lot about presentation and invest the time to learn one of the the memorized decks. Can perform mind reading miracles with a memorized deck and it uses an normal deck that can be examined. Good luck!

I agree that is has to also do with the type of spectators, I wrote on another thread that making it seem like the real thing for family members and friends is very hard. With that being said this is only part of the equation, you have to set up the right atmosphere, you need to understand your persona and as I said in the earlier post it's not how clean the effect is (technically), but how it is perceived by the audience.
Yours,
Jonathan

Several problems at work here. Mentalism isn't about 'tricks', it's about belivability achieved though effects, tehniques and methods. Mentalism is also about the performance not the tricks.
You seem quite young which often makes it hard to be believable as a mentaist. Second the people you are performing for know you're not a mentalist, so all they are left with is trying to figure out your 'tricks' and trying to 'bust' you.
You seem to be early enough in your learning process to make some simple changes to put you on a better path. As stataed above (some very good information) start with some of the foundational basics of mentaism - Cassidy, Annemann, Corinda, etc.
Also there are abilities within mentalism that should be explored to determine who you are and what you can achieve as a mentaist performer. I believe not all mentalists can or should do all things as they may not be congruent or work well together. For example, while I can do mindreading, thought projection, predictions, psychometry, readings, and enhanced sensory perception (blindfold) demonstrations, my performance style and character could not do bending, or overdramatic, suspenseful Russian Roulette-style material, etc.
Mentalism is about the performer first, the effects (not tricks) are a means to comprise your performance and showcase your perceived abilities.
Otherwise if you're simply looking for some magic tricks with a mental theme, these are simply mental magic, and should in my opinion not be confused with mentalism. Again, it's how the audience perceives it - an audience knows a magic is not real it is a slight, illusion or trick, whereas an audience wants to believe mentalism and mental abilities are real, or at least would like to believe it as real and as abilities that perhaps maybe we all posses to varying degrees.

I think the first thing to do is take out 'trick' of your vocabulary if your doing mentalism. Second of all theres nothing such as the 'best' or 'cleanest' or 'holy grail',as you say in the topic, any concept or knowledge can become a unique piece of magic in the hands of the performer.

One doesn't become a mentalist simply by acquiring tricks from magic shops. Invest your money and time in books and study.
Good thoughts,
Bob

Bob Cassidy
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