Magic and Mentalism Appreciation Thread

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zooropop40

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Interference is called Interference because it int
I have been a professional magician and mentalist (mind reader) for the past 5 years.

It is unfortunate that magic has been dumbed down so much in the past 40 years. It is one of the most beautiful art forms, and it really is more for adults than kids. The performance of the impossible can be poetic, artistic, and sometimes life changing. Unfortunately there are only a few performers however that are artistic, and I am hoping to share and discuss them here as well as perhaps introducing many of you to some beautiful performances (one of them even set to a U2 song).

Magic is not real, and psychic powers are debatable. But magic has never really been about convincing anyone of anything "real" but it has also never been about "tricks." Magic is about creating uncertainty. We have tons of uncertainty in our life, and magic shows us that things are not necessarily what we might have expected them to be. Magic reflects our hopes, dreams, impossibilities, and our own uncertainties. If you think about it, the idea is actually quite beautiful... performing something thought to be impossible.

This thread is not about discussing methods and secrets, but I hope rather for appreciation. Please dont try to reveal what you think a method might be, and you will probably be wrong anyways.

Here are a few of my favorite illusions/ performances/ etc...

1. Derren Brown. - The best mentalist and hypnotist alive today (in my opinion). If you have not seen him.. I guarantee he is unlike any "magic" you have ever seen. Truly fascinating and thought provoking.

YouTube - Derren Brown - Subliminal Advertising

YouTube - Derren Brown - Person Swap

YouTube - Derren Brown - Trains... Of thought

YouTube - derren brown zombie

YouTube - Derren Brown - One Inch Punch - Kung Fu - NLP

2. Jeff McBride - True Magic Poetry and a personal friend

YouTube - The Best Of Magic: Jeff McBride

YouTube - Jeff Mcbride On Worlds Greatest Magic

3. David Copperfield - yes, sometimes he is cheesy, but he has created beautiful art. One of my favorite illusions. and its set to "In the name of the father" by Bono/ Gavin Friday!!!

YouTube - Caught On Video!!!-David Copperfield -The Fan

Not an artistic magician, but a really cool and visual one: Hans Klok

YouTube - Hans Klok on World Magic Awards 2008
 
ELFA, was that necessary? Really? The whole point of this was for magic to be taken seriously.
 
Well anyways, since this is obviously just going to turn into one huge joke thread, before that happens, I just wanted to say thank you zooropop for the links, I've always been hugely into the artistic side of magic, and the thread is appreciated.
 
I'm pretty sure "magic" and "seriously" cannot be used in the same sentence but if I have insulted anyone's sensibilities, my apologies.

:doh: If you really feel that way, please read the essay/rant I wrote in my original post.... I understand that people think magic is a joke, that is the problem with the art. The point of this thread was to show that there is another side!
 
Derren Brown is really good at tricking the mind. I saw one where he managed to get a guy he passed on the street to hand over some of his personal belongings while asking for directions :lol:
 
Derren Brown is really good at tricking the mind. I saw one where he managed to get a guy he passed on the street to hand over some of his personal belongings while asking for directions :lol:

:yes: He is fantastic! and he doesnt use plants and camera tricks like Criss Angel... everything he does is the real deal. The type of magic I do is the psychological kind, similar to Derren Brown.
 
Jeff McBride's mask thing was pretty amazing. The cards, I was a little dubious of at first, just because they're cards, but, he made that work, and for that I give applause.
 
Jeff McBride is a favorite of mine. Got to meet him on a couple of occasions. And as far as close-up chamber stuff goes I really dug David Roth's work.
 
Illusions Michael! Tricks are for whores.

I love that you were the first to respond and with something as magical as an AD illusion but you messed up the quote!

"Tricks are something whores do for money! ...or cocaine."

Anyway, I like magic well enough. What sort of tricks do you do, zooropop? :flirt:
 
Jeff McBride is a favorite of mine. Got to meet him on a couple of occasions. And as far as close-up chamber stuff goes I really dug David Roth's work.

uh wow, are you a magician?? jeez... most people dont know either of those names!?! Roth is fantastic and McBride is one of my mentors!

Anyway, I like magic well enough. What sort of tricks do you do, zooropop? :flirt:

I am a mentalist and hypnotist. I do the sort of things that Derren Brown does (see videos above). I also do some card magic, but usually with a psychological flair. I have written a few books on the subject and it truly is the passion of my life. I do shows mostly with mind reading, predicting future events, psychic readings, etc...
 
uh wow, are you a magician?? jeez... most people dont know either of those names!?! Roth is fantastic and McBride is one of my mentors!

As a kid I was... sort of. For like 6 or 7 years I studied close-up magic just for my own personal enjoyment. My family and I went to a lot of performances and stuff. McBride was always our favorite. My mother even did a routine on stage with him once as part of his audience participation act (I'm just laying this up here so perfectly... someone better get Laz in here for this), and my father got to be part of one of Copperfield's big illusions one time. Great memories.

Unfortunately I never really enjoyed performing myself. I'm not much of a theatrical entertainer, and studied mostly for my own benefit as I said. Of course, there's only so much I can do under that attitude so I gave it up while ago now. It's probably been like 5 or 6 years since I last practiced anything. I was pretty good with coin tricks though, which I studied almost exclusively near the end. Thus the David Roth admiration. My favorite was always the Cups and Balls routine (again, someone get Laz for these) I first picked up from Michael Ammar. I had a pretty fantastic routine for that and it was probably my strongest talent.
 
As a kid I was... sort of. For like 6 or 7 years I studied close-up magic just for my own personal enjoyment. My family and I went to a lot of performances and stuff. McBride was always our favorite. My mother even did a routine on stage with him once as part of his audience participation act (I'm just laying this up here so perfectly... someone better get Laz in here for this), and my father got to be part of one of Copperfield's big illusions one time. Great memories.

Unfortunately I never really enjoyed performing myself. I'm not much of a theatrical entertainer, and studied mostly for my own benefit as I said. Of course, there's only so much I can do under that attitude so I gave it up while ago now. It's probably been like 5 or 6 years since I last practiced anything. I was pretty good with coin tricks though, which I studied almost exclusively near the end. Thus the David Roth admiration. My favorite was always the Cups and Balls routine (again, someone get Laz for these) I first picked up from Michael Ammar. I had a pretty fantastic routine for that and it was probably my strongest talent.


wow.

Michael Ammar is fantastic as well. and Laz does magic too??

I never thought that I would hear the names David Roth and Ammar on this thread! I usually hear those on the magic threads I belong to. I hope I dont get them mixed up and start talking about U2 to magicians :D
 
As a kid I was... sort of. For like 6 or 7 years I studied close-up magic just for my own personal enjoyment. My family and I went to a lot of performances and stuff. McBride was always our favorite. My mother even did a routine on stage with him once as part of his audience participation act (I'm just laying this up here so perfectly... someone better get Laz in here for this), and my father got to be part of one of Copperfield's big illusions one time. Great memories.

Unfortunately I never really enjoyed performing myself. I'm not much of a theatrical entertainer, and studied mostly for my own benefit as I said. Of course, there's only so much I can do under that attitude so I gave it up while ago now. It's probably been like 5 or 6 years since I last practiced anything. I was pretty good with coin tricks though, which I studied almost exclusively near the end. Thus the David Roth admiration. My favorite was always the Cups and Balls routine (again, someone get Laz for these) I first picked up from Michael Ammar. I had a pretty fantastic routine for that and it was probably my strongest talent.

*Bookmark post*

How did you get into that field, zoopop?
 
How did you get into that field, zoopop?

well... I was a smartass kid who always felt the need to know EVERYTHING. and one day I had my ass handed to me by a magician who showed me that there was more out there that I didnt know about. So of course, I started to learn magic just to understand it. Eventually I matured and fell in love with the art. I got some books about it but never took it anywhere. Then about 9 years ago, I was bored and picked up one of the old books I bought and I just took it from there. I have always loved it though.
... and I guess thats it?
 
Zooropop, can you please explain hypnotism to me? I literally do not get it. How can someone speaking send another into a different wake state, or whatever you'd call it? I just don't get it! Always been curious and fascinated, though sceptical, sorry.
:)

I've always liked watching a good magician or illusionist at work. My brain loves the challenge of trying to work out how. Once, I was on one of those rather trite dinner/show nights on a boat on the harbour and the magician dude walking around tried to do small little things with as many people as possible. I was tickled to be one. His trick was to get a deck of cards laid out, have me pick one by sight without saying the card it was, and he swooped the deck back up, shuffled them and then PULLED THE CARD I HAD THOUGHT OF OUT OF THE DECK!!! I just don't get how that happened. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN, ZOOROPOP? I NEED TO KNOW!!!
:D
 
Zooropop, can you please explain hypnotism to me? I literally do not get it. How can someone speaking send another into a different wake state, or whatever you'd call it? I just don't get it! Always been curious and fascinated, though sceptical, sorry.
:)

I've always liked watching a good magician or illusionist at work. My brain loves the challenge of trying to work out how. Once, I was on one of those rather trite dinner/show nights on a boat on the harbour and the magician dude walking around tried to do small little things with as many people as possible. I was tickled to be one. His trick was to get a deck of cards laid out, have me pick one by sight without saying the card it was, and he swooped the deck back up, shuffled them and then PULLED THE CARD I HAD THOUGHT OF OUT OF THE DECK!!! I just don't get how that happened. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN, ZOOROPOP? I NEED TO KNOW!!!
:D

Its not about HOW it happened, it is about how you felt when it happened.
Astonishment is our natural state of mind. All magic does is bring us back to our natural state of mind. I can think of hundreds of methods for pulling a thought of card out of a deck, but I think its better that I leave you amazed.

and about hypnotism:

I am about to reveal exactly how and why hypnosis works. if you ever want to be hypnotized, I would advise you not to read this...

ok, hypnotism only works because YOU think its going to work. All it is is simply relaxing the spectator. Basically the way you feel when you are meditating or daydreaming is exactly what being hypnotized is. It brings down your defenses and makes you more vulnerable to suggestion. Because you think it is going to work, you trick yourself into believing that you are actually "hypnotized"... Hypnosis only works because you believe hypnosis will work. It is simply our natural human suggestibility. Under hypnosis you will not do things that you wouldn't normally ever do, but you are more willing to do things that are "embarrassing" simply because you are in "meditation".

People who go to hypnosis to quit smoking, may actually quit because they are so sure that the hypnotist is real, and that the hypnosis will work, that they convince themselves that they do not need a cigarette. The human mind truly is fascinating. and I get to explore aspects of human nature like this every time I perform mentalism.

There! now no one here can ever be hypnotized because you know how hypnosis works.
 
I just spent the past hour or so watching Derren Brown videos on Youtube. Very interesting stuff. Would you say that someone's voice is important to the success of these 'illusions'? Because I found his voice very soothing, and just wanted to keep listening to it.


Also, since you said you practise predicting future events, will U2 fans ever stop bitching about setlists? Thanks! :wink:
 
I just spent the past hour or so watching Derren Brown videos on Youtube. Very interesting stuff. Would you say that someone's voice is important to the success of these 'illusions'? Because I found his voice very soothing, and just wanted to keep listening to it.


Also, since you said you practise predicting future events, will U2 fans ever stop bitching about setlists? Thanks! :wink:

I do think he practices using a soothing voice simply for hypnosis. It is his natural voice though. Not only that but he has an unconscious twitch which makes his head move rapidly and subtly up and down (you can barely notice it) but this actually is a motion commonly attributed to saying "yes", as seen in this smiley here: :yes: This almost also suggests his spectators to say "yes" or agree with him because of the unconscious head motion.

His voice, however, is not as soothing though when he is energetic in front of a huge live crowd. You might not know it from some of the videos you saw, but he is freaking hilarious. Ill link up some videos from his live show. This video should play the whole over 1 hour show that it is on the youtube playlist. If you have an hour to kill, Id watch it. Very funny, entertaining, and amazing.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Click "Play All Videos" in the right hand corner after you click the link above to watch the whole show.
 
Oh holy shit wow at that first one :lol:. I'll watch the second one later, but, that was very much a "how the fuck" one :lol:.
 
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