Mentalist
Mentalists practice a form of entertainment that relies primarily on one of the five essential aspects of magic : simulating paranormal phenomena. It shows a prediction or telepathy ability that z. Partly based on the art of memory , suggestion techniques, number tricks / quick calculations and the like, but also on the standard techniques of magic.
General
The American mentalist and author Robert Cassidy defined the representation division as follows:
"Mentalism is the art of presenting seemingly paranormal effects in an entertaining manner."
"Mentalism is the art of performing seemingly paranormal effects in an entertaining manner."
The American mentalist and author Phil Goldstein wrote:
"Mentalism is the one area of magic that seems real to a lay audience. They do not only suspend their disbelief - they believe. "
“Mentalism is the area of magic that appears like real magic to a lay audience. They don't just put their disbelief aside, they really believe it. "
The fascination for the audience arises from the illusion of paranormal ability and not from the aesthetic staging of an impossible event, as in other branches of modern stage magic . Mentalists may pretend to be clairvoyant , but only on stage.
Since mentalists address less the art sense and more the receptivity of the audience for the supernatural, which results from their attitude towards the supernatural , it is particularly difficult for the mentalist to maintain the boundaries between art and charlatanry . On the one hand, the mentalist needs the audience's willingness to believe in phenomena. However, if he wants to be understood as an artist, he has to deal with this belief of the audience with care in order not to run the risk of being taken for "real".
In Germany, mentalism increasingly came into focus in the programs The Next Uri Geller , which were broadcast on ProSieben from 2008 to 2009 . The magicians were initially contractually required to claim to the public that they had supernatural powers. Several of the candidates protested against this passage, which they considered incompatible with their professional honor as a stage artist.
history
The term mentalist is a further development of the term “ mind reader” . One of the first known mind readers was the American magician CA George Newmann (1880–1952), who referred to himself as a “Mindreader” and “Master of Mental Marvels”. His ideas were similar to seminars given by university lecturers. The programs were not dry lectures, however, but were rich in entertainment and humor.
One of the first proven magicians who called himself a mentalist was Harry Kahne (1895–1955), who was also known as "the incomparable mentalist".
From around 1929 the term mentalist was consistently used by the American magician Theodore Annemann .
In Europe, it was above all the Englishman Chan Canasta who dealt with mental magic in the 1940s. He first appeared on TV on the BBC in 1951, performing mental magic tricks. In total, Canasta was able to participate in over 300 television shows as a mentalist. He was also a guest on the legendary Ed Sullivan talk show .
In Germany, the art of mental magic did not develop into an independent form of presentation until around the middle of the 20th century. The magician Punx played a large part in this, and in his evening program, which was divided into four acts, he dedicated an area to Alessandro Cagliostro and exclusively showed mental magic tricks.
From around 1980 the Berlin magician Ted Lesley showed more and more mental magic and often used the term mentalist for himself.
Well-known mentalists (selection)
literature
- Theodore Annemann : Practical Mental Magic
- Barry Richardson, Theater of the Minds
- Borodin: Final Curtain
- Borodin: Shereazade
- Robert Cassidy, The Art of Mentalism
- Phil Goldstein, The Blue Book of Mentalism
- Tony Corinda: 13 Steps To Mentalism
- Ted Lesley : Mental Mind Up
- Utz Napierala: flashes of mind
- Utz Napierala: Mysterious number miracle
- Perkeo, Secrets of Parapsychology
- Perkeo, Under the spell of psychometrics
- Perkeo, Dr. Stanley Jacks, 2 volumes
- Max Maven, Prism
- James Randi : Conjuring , The Truth of Uri Geller
- Wonder Man Fred: Semi Mental Journey
- Ian Rowland: The Full Fact Book of Cold Reading
- Robert Marteau , The Key to the Stage
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Wonder Book of Magic , p. 143 ff.
- ↑ The basic magic effects in manual of magic , chapter 3, Jochen Zmeck, Universitas Verlag, Berlin 1978, ISBN 3-8004-0857-0
- ↑ See Björn Erichsen: Secret contract for the magic students , stern.de, January 15, 2008 .
- ↑ See gag contracts for mental artists , focus.de, January 15, 2008 .
- ↑ James B. Alfredson, The Great Newmann Show , Davic Meyer, Magic Books, Glenwood, Illinois, 1989, p. 7.
- ↑ Harry Kahne .
- ↑ UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Kahne program sheet
- ↑ Sphinx, Vol. 20, No. 12, February 1922.
- ↑ The Sphinx, Vol. 28, July 1929
- ↑ David Britland: A Review of Chan Canasta: A Remarkable Man, 2000
- ↑ Ed Sullivan Show 1962
- ^ Program booklet Punx, approx. 1955
- ↑ Ted Lesley, Mental Mind up, Zauberzentrale München, 1992.
