The Best Mentalism Shows

[Guest]

Very old school...

A few of the others posting here do know of me and I them... Some I call friends and some foes...

I am off to Montana to play Cowboy for a week of riding horses in the mountains...

[Guest]

The truth is that I decided to be a mentalist after I saw the mentalism forums.
God - those guys write so much, I assumed they have SO MUCH spare time to sit, relax and fill hundreds of pages about weird words such as Swami, Banachek and Brown Hornets...

[Guest]

Speaking of Banachek and Brown Hornets...

No, really! I got to play with Andy's Brown Hornet (don't go there!) last week during the 72-Hour Gathering in New Hampshire and spent a great weekend learning, chating and visitng Steve as well our other lecturer Rick Maue and of course "the gang" of very strange and awesome people that traveled from as far away as Michigan, to be with us. It was a blast!

Hope some of you western U.S. bums can join us in next year's gathing... (Like it or not Leviss, you're going to make it happen!)

[Kelly97]

The answer has to be Lior Suchard!
He puts on such a magnificent show. Lior is easily one of the best mentalists in the world right now and has been for a while.

[Q. Kumber]

The most convincing mentalist I've seen is Ross Johnson.
The best mentalist I've seen lately is David Gerard - his show is more like a roller coaster experience.

[Tarotist]

They all bore the crap out of me. They all talk too much and some of the present crop seem a bit weird to me. As for Max Maven he had a great voice and of course that is half the battle. I wasn't terribly keen on the other half though. I saw him do 7 tricks in two and a half hours and it was beyond torture for my inattentive self.

I did like some of the old timers though such as Kreskin, Geller, Dunninger and so on. However the greatest of them all to my mind was this guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmY9cGsn8XE

[BarryAllen]

They all bore the crap out of me. They all talk too much and some of the present crop seem a bit weird to me. As for Max Maven he had a great voice and of course that is half the battle. I wasn't terribly keen on the other half though. I saw him do 7 tricks in two and a half hours and it was beyond torture for my inattentive self.

For the past two years, my interest in Mentalism had peaked somewhat. However, I fully agree with Mark - watching many Mentalists perform would send a glass eye to sleep. Just constant opening clap-trap and sod all actually happening.

I've even tried Mentalism myself in Close-up. I'm now not even convinced that it's actually a very good branch of our Art to perform whilst 'working the tables' - not here in the UK anyway, where people (particularly those under 40) are generally quite thick; have the attention span of a gnat; and can't appear to even continue to function without looking at their mobile phone every 30 seconds.

However, Mentalism appears to have become a growing industry within Magic - as more and more folk appear to want to become the latest Derren Brown (may god help us ). I don't think a week goes by without seeing some new Mentalism eBooks hitting the scene - all of which claim to contain the holy grail of a pure (often 'propless' nowadays) mind-reading concept. Reading reviews from hoodwinked purchasers appears to suggest otherwise - due (possibly) to the latest brainfart only actually working 80% of the time at best, etc. Let's be honest though - Amateur Magicians have hardly ever been the sharpest pencils in the box. In fact, the majority that I've met over the decades must rank amongst the most gullible, naive individuals that a snake oil salesman could ever wish to meet.

I've gone back to the old stuff - and I feel so much better for it. Sponge Balls, a pack of Svens, quick card reveals, T&R Cig Paper and coin tricks. Hit them hard with easy to follow visual stuff - or in the UK anyway, you've basically lost 'em even before you start.

To answer the question of 'Best Mentalism Shows'. Undoubtedly, my favourite remains Chan Canasta. I can only base this upon his TV appearances - on a stage, I've read/heard his act never went over particularly strongly.

A newer name that has really impressed me is Richard Osterlind - albeit I've only seen him primarily in front of a L&L Lake Tahoe audience, who always appeared to be a gathering who had been released for a day trip from the 'funny farm' and would be entertained watching paint dry. However, Richard is a Mentalist with an easy going, laid back style - yet manages to cut to the chase.

Just my thoughts.....don't shoot me for it.

[Tarotist]

A newer name that has really impressed me is Richard Osterlind - albeit I've only seen him primarily in front of a L&L Lake Tahoe audience, who always appeared to be a gathering who had been released for a day trip from the 'funny farm' and would be entertained watching paint dry. However, Richard is a Mentalist with an easy going, laid back style - yet manages to cut to the chase.

Just my thoughts.....don't shoot me for it.

It is the creative side of Richard Osterlind that impresses me the most. He has many brilliant ideas.

[dobbsjl]

My favorite mentalist was Max Maven before he passed, however, I love the work Richard Osterlind does. I have acquired a few of his products and they are amazing works.

As too the past discussion on whether Mentalism is a subset of Magic? Yes it is! No matter how much some people want to distance themselves from Mentalism or embrace it fully it is still a subset of Magic. Methodologies are similar to that of close-up work and even stage illusions. Look at David Copperfield specials in the late 80s to early 90s, he incorporated Mentalism. Without rewatching the specials a prime example is he routine of telekinesis where he turned on a light bulb so bright it blow, lite a few matchbooks with his mind, and bent a crowbar. Also, his rising card on a jumbo paper pad is a Mentalism routine. It matters how a routine is presented.

Also, I do believe Mentalism is workable in a closeup, or walk around, setting. It matters how you frame the start of the mental effect to catch the spectators attention.

[Diego]

Max Maven was very good, but watching Maurice Fogel do 10 minutes at a public show at a magic convention (1979/80?) was a commanding lesson in showmanship, control, and presence. As Paul Daniels said, Fogel was a phenomena.

I'll widen the field by noting I was fortunate to see Rev. Florence Becker, founder/pastor of The Golden Gate Spiritualist Church in San Francisco whose blindfolded sealed message readings from her pulpit was education. Amazingly instructive how those papers/envelopes were downplayed, misdirected from, and forgotten by her congregation, but HER messages she brought forth to those in the pews, created audible gasps and stunned expressions of amazement, I haven't heard or seen until The Evasons who are tops today. Wonderful to see the reactions followed by spontaneous standing ovations they receive.

Note: Rev. Becker was an important presence in the spiritualist movement, her church/converted mansion, was in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco where she attracted many from the old-money crowd. Gone for half a century, her name is still remembered/recognized with wonder and awe by both old school spiritualists and young new-agers.

[Tarotist]

Maurice Fogel was indeed a phenomena. The greatest showman mentalist I have ever seen. He went through a bad period when some idiot magicians helped to expose him in the People newspaper instead of minding their own business. Apparently it shook him up badly and I remember Alan Alan saying to me "Maurice was a broken man after that" I also remember Murray the escapologist telling me, "I offered to go with Maurice to see the newspaper because I told him that I was used to dealing with the press. But Maurice refused my offer"

That is no doubt why when Uri Geller came on the scene and was attacked by magicians Fogel stated that if he had been in the country at the time he would have defended Uri.

I found Maurice to be a very nice man. He was very encouraging to me when I was young and seemed to like my card work. This was in great contrast to the negativity I got from a lot of other well known name magicians at the time.