This morning, first thing, you will pre-heat the oven for this year’s Thanksgiving Feast. So that means it’s time to talk about Holiday Shows!!! This year may be the first where I get more requests for Mentalism and Mentalist shows rather than Magic or Hypnotist shows. That’s just fine with me!
For year’s no one but magician’s used the term Mentalist. I’m not even sure if I know who coined the term: David Berglas? Dunninger? But for years most people just called it Magic or Mind Reading.
Even when David Blaine started using the concepts and techniques he never called it Mentalism: He was just David Blaine being David Blaine ( ahh to be a big enough of a star to be self defining). For the ‘rest of us’ it all started to change with the TV series ” The Mentalist “. Of course in the series Thomas Jane’s character wasn’t a performer and didn’t have ESP, just a keen mind and good skills.
A lot of acts claim to be the ‘inspiration’ for that character, but I think we all need to give a nod to the real innovator Derren Brown. He’s the modern performer who, as far as I can tell, first linked his feats to a deeper understanding of psychology and hypnosis. Of course he’s in England ( and quite busy ) so if you want an act for this December, might I suggest someone a bit closer to Boston ( hint, hint ).