If you really had psychic powers, you could answer questions just thought of. There would be no need for the person to write the question or tell you what it was. He would just think of a question in his mind. If you really had psychic powers you would immediately answer the question WITHOUT any pumping or fishing! There would be no hesitation! Of course, this sounds 100% impossible; unless, you really were psychic.
A noted performer once said, "The man who can create an act whereby you ask a spectator to just THINK of the question and then you answer it...will be doing something. In fact, he will be revolutionizing the history of mentalism."
Believe it or not, in the 1930s G. W. Magnuson, who performed as Del-Ardo, developed a method that allowed you to do exactly that. He developed a method where you tell the audience members to just think of questions they wanted answered in their minds. To never write the question down or tell anyone what the question was. If someone was thinking of a question, that person was to raise his hand and the performer would go to him and immediately and correctly answer the question without any fishing, pumping or asking the person what the question was.
The method is almost forgotten today (it will be a new method to most mentalists) and was released in the 30s as The Miracle Mind Act. Magnuson used the method with great success, most of his performing career. The method is so good that A. N. Rossi the famous magician and mentalist from the 30s had a consecutive six-month run in a night club mainly due to performing this.
Devin Knight has mastered this technique and has performed it for more than 20 years as an after-show bit with the audience. He often sells this to the buyer as additional after-show entertainment for a higher fee, saying he will go out into the audience after his regular act and answer any questions just thought of by the audience. Devin Knight has taken the original rare manuscript detailing the method and reset the type, added some photos and corrected grammatical errors. He also wrote a foreword to the book and added an afterthought section with his own tips and ideas from performing this for more than 20 years. He includes valuable tips and advice that Magnuson did not include in the original manuscript that only comes from a performer who has spent 20 years performing this.
This is strictly a one-man act. No more hassles of passing out cards and pencils and then having to collect the cards.
- no gimmicks
- no clipboards
- no impression devices
- no assistants
- no stooges or instant stooges
- no preshow work of any kind
- no fishing or pumping for information
- spectator never writes the question
For those in the know, this is not the same method as George Anderson's Dynamite Mentalism. In this routine, the performer does not throw out random questions and ask people who are thinking of that question to raise their hands. Instead, the performer asks people who are thinking of a question to raise their hands and the performer goes to those people and correctly answers their questions WITHOUT asking what the question is and with no fishing or hesitation.
Be warned, this is something for EXPERIENCE performers only. You need to have a commanding personality. This is NOT for the novice performer or someone wanting to get into mentalism. This needs to be performed in a situation where you can approach the spectators, such as a banquet hall with tables, hospitality rooms, psi parties, and night club situations. This is not suitable in a theatre setting, as you must be able to step in front of each spectator. Keep that in mind.
Even if you never perform this, you will find the method a fascinating read and an education in mentalism. IT WORKS, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
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