The Genii Forum

There are those who think that Mentalism and Children don't mix, but I am not one of those. I see the results that Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki gets out of his "Small Medium at Large" in The Wizards' Journal #23 - item 9, in which a child can read the minds of others in the audience, and even make a prediction of a future event. The kids are impressed, not confused or bored. There are other examples, but Christmas is Coming and this one fits right into the season.

As a general rule I don't think kids are entertained by mentalism. Mind you as a general rule I don't think adults are either the way some of these long winded "performers" operate but perhaps we should leave that for another time.

However, once in a while a tiny few mentalism items come up which DO entertain the kids and I am glad you have been able to come up with a few. The same goes for card tricks. They are generally not suitable for kids but I have found a tiny few which are the exceptions.

IF interested in this sort of thing take a look at Paul Romhany's books

http://paulromhanymagic.myshopify.com/p ... oung-minds

and vol 2 at: http://paulromhanymagic.myshopify.com/p ... minds-vl-2

I agree it can be done but you don't want too much of it.

The same rule applies to all types of tricks - you don't want too many rope tricks, or coin tricks, or silk tricks, either. Same thing with too many plaque tricks- Hippity Hops + Forgetful Freddy + Choo-Choo Charlie can leave you gasping for air. I think we can all agree that a performance for children needs to be made of a variety of different types and experiences. They shouldn't have to scream at every trick or wiggle their fingers at everything. An occasional mental effect can have a calming influence and even a thoughtful experience if done correctly.

Agreed. Providing you have the right one of course. It is always good to calm the kids down after getting them excited. I am quite sure mentalism of the right kind will do it.

I have found that in the close up setting, Out Of This World (essentially a mentalism effect) works superbly with children in the approximately 7 to 12 age group. Every kid can relate to colors, and it gives them a real sense of empowerment and satisfaction to accomplish what appears to be an incredible piece of magic. The premise is you are testing their magical powers. This is highly entertaining and astonishing for both the children and adults at the table. Perhaps this might qualify as one of the few card effects that Performer mentioned as being suitable for children. And then again, perhaps not...

I wouldn't have thought that Out of this World was suitable for children but I could well be wrong never having used it in that context. It sounds a bit slow for them on the face of it. I suppose in a slow quiet atmosphere it might work better. I just can't see the kids with their small hands dealing the cards efficiently.

Incidentally, I use the little known George Blake method of setting up the deck. Completely impromptu because you TELL them you are setting up the deck and do it right in front of them openly! You don't tell them what you are setting up but you do tell them you are setting up something.

You are right in your concern about the small hands. Easy solution: I do the dealing, and all they have to do is just call out red or black for each face down card I thumb off into my right hand. It goes quite swiftly actually. and helps greatly to ensure against unfortunate mishaps.

BTW, why tell them you are setting up anything? What I do, as kind of an interlude, is tell them that "One time when I was doing card tricks, someone grabbed the deck out of my hand and began to do a strange shuffle like this, where he was turning some cards face up and some face down, and he said to me, 'Let me shuffle, Mr. Magician, and then let's see if you can do a trick - then we'll find out what kind of magician you really are." At that point, I simply do a "slop shuffle" with the deck face up, turning every black card or group of black cards one way and vice versa for the red. (Gets by them every single time) You can then do the usual Triumph displays showing that some cards are face up, some face down, and some face to face. The cards cut/break naturally at the face to face point. You can then spread them face down triumphantly showing that you have righted the deck. This alone gets a great reaction without even needing to have them "pick a card." Best of all, unbeknownst to them, the colors are separated, and you can go right into doing OOTW (false shuffle(s) and/or cut(s) prior thereto are optional).

I imagine it would be something you would do in a slow paced quiet atmosphere. I find there are certain excellent tricks that I just can't do at certain times and places. For example if there is a noisy, chattery, laughing atmosphere I would tend to work at a smarter pace so that I can punch in moment after moment of laughter and gasps, a bit like a boxer getting someone on the ropes. But that rules out slower paced tricks like Out of This World, Poker Player's Picnic or Do as I Do. These latter tricks I can get massive reaction from but it has to be the right time and the right place. A quieter, attentive friendly atmosphere is where I would tend to do the latter.

Including as many of the children in the mentalism performance as possible, some moms and dads, too, seems to keep their attention as each person wants to see if you can read his or her mind (or guess his or her secret card) on a personal level. Passing out cards with pictures of different toys is good for Christmas as you show them how Santa knows what each person is "dreaming" of. Then just go to each child and reveal the toy on his or her hidden card. The interest is held as they all want to know if you ever get the wrong answer, which like any good mentalist you ALMOST do but then save yourself at the last moment. This time of year I am getting my farm animals ready for this trick. I have another set I use for Halloween, and one just for birthday parties.

This can also be added to by performing blindfolded, but I only use that at parties or events where each kid is wearing a name tag. I walk up to the child and call him by the wrong name, go looking for a boy and stop in front of a girl, finally have some kids spin you around to sort out your brain and then you get the names correct from then on. The other bit is to ask one of the smallest children if you can borrow his sight and you have him take you around by the hand - apparently you can see through his eyes, but when he lets go, you are completely lost again.

Great idea if it's bedtime because the only thing you'll do performing mentalism for children is put them to sleep.

Mentalism is not what puts children to sleep, nor do card tricks, nor any of the other tricks that "traditional magicians" have decided are boring for children. Boring magicians and boring magic presentations are what put children to sleep.

Hi there yeah

I think mentalism is mostly for adults and children are not usually targeted. Mentalism actually makes people believe that the person doing it has super natural powers.
Mentalism if done properly can be used to help individuals who are depressed and who don't mingle so much with the society.

I found an interesting article here that explains so much on mentalism : http://mentalismknowledge.com/mentalism ... d-reading/
also this one : http://mentalismknowledge.com/mentalism ... d-to-know/