Mentalism help please.

[lag]

Hi. i really can do with some help here. under which topic should i ask for help in improving my mentalism techniques. currently, i am only reading up. i can't practise intensively since i am undeergoing chemotherapy. but then magic really does interest me. so any ideas anyone? or do i have to prove my rep? how can i go about doing that?

thanks!

[lag]

For now, I think your going to be fine posting in the Lounge. That seems to be the catch all for for topics. Once you build up enough posts you'll have access to the Academy, from there the Mentalism forum.

Just hang in there. What's your questions specifically maybe I can help you with something?

William Draven

GREAT! i'm really new into mentalism and still reading up. i could do with some help like getting which books to read? and i have this idea (but i bet it has already been thought of).
the situation is simple. a spectator is blindfolded. then I would show the audience a picture. the spectator is then asked to think of an object that comes to his mind. how can i get the spectator to think of the object?

is it possible to influence his thoughts using his sense of smell. maybe like u want him to think of coffee. so before that i might get my hands to be slightly coffee scented when i bllindfold him? and if that works, can it be done in a way to make him not realise it? cos he may remember that he smelt coffee and say that is why he thought of coffee.

[William Draven]

Originally Posted by lag

GREAT! i'm really new into mentalism and still reading up. i could do with some help like getting which books to read? and i have this idea (but i bet it has already been thought of).
the situation is simple. a spectator is blindfolded. then I would show the audience a picture. the spectator is then asked to think of an object that comes to his mind. how can i get the spectator to think of the object?

is it possible to influence his thoughts using his sense of smell. maybe like u want him to think of coffee. so before that i might get my hands to be slightly coffee scented when i bllindfold him? and if that works, can it be done in a way to make him not realise it? cos he may remember that he smelt coffee and say that is why he thought of coffee.

I'm going to be honest, I've never heard of this being done. I'm sure you could influence the spectator with smells but it wouldn't be 100%. Of course most of the higher level mentalism stuff never is 100%.

Honestly, I know how I'd do this effect and most people wouldn't agree with me. I'd take the path of less resistance and stooge the spectator. I'd give the mark 3 smells to remember, and the order you'll want them and then slip him a $5 dollar bill for his help. But that's just me.

Best of luck to you! Let me know what you come up with.

[Misjief]

LOL -

BOTH methods are used by stage hypnotist (although rarely)...

I have heard of and seen books where the hypnotist tells the subject to think of a red red rose and goes on to describe it and then brings his hand up to her face and asks her to 'hypnoticly' smell it.... when in reality his hands are scented with rose essence. The bad & good news is rose essence is smelly and the audience will smell it to. So you have to sell the WHOLE audience on it ... which could be rough.

I also know some resort to stooges ...

Most hypnotist will not do this because the perceived notion that to resort to such tactics shows a lack of skill. In your case you are doing a 'trick' so there is nothing to stop you - although in the hypnotist case they have their primary patter to suggest the 'seeded idea' as well. So you might want to at the very least limit the selection process down a bit by suggesting a cup of something. Yes it may weaken the effect - but without it you may get nothing. Just something to consider.

-misj-

[lag]

I see. i was thinking of it more like a one off trick. alright then i shall come up with a script to suggest the word and see if i can get my hands to smell like coffee! haha

[Lyle Borders]

Morgan Strebler has a neat trick like this. Essentially you case a mouthful of water to "turn" into mouthwash inside a spectator's mouth by that same principle. Just psychology and a tiny bit of mouthwash in the bottom of an "empty" cup, just enough for a person to smell.

L

[lag]

do you know the name of that effect?

[Misjief]

Hiya!

The name of the effect Lyle is referring to is called 'taste conditions' by Morgan Stebler. It is pretty neat as the effect was developed by him especially for a blind friend of his! Very Creative!

Scent is supposedly the strongest sense tied to memory - That and the fact that is rarely used (compared to the others) means you can get some fairly clean strong anchors to play with!

-misj-

Lag-

In my original scanning of this post I missed that you were going through chemo. I am sorry to hear that. I lost my mom to cancer a couple of years ago. She went through that 'fun' process a couple of times, so I have a outside supporters view of what you are going through. That said you are probably one of the bravest people I never met...

That said wanted to offer you something... I am going to put it under another post called self-hypnosis 101 (I'll put it in the lounge and move it later). Actually it is my version of self-hypnosis that I used on a daily basis to deal with some issues I have. Look for it. I hope it helps!

-misj-

[mikkparg]

The effect that someone wished to create is dependent on high concentrations of luck. Which isnt really bad but seeing as this is meant as a full piece then failure would be a very bad choice.

My suggestion tho to this would be the Carrot force from Psychological Subtleties 1. Hit me up with a PM and ill discuss it.

M:

[Misjief]

Mikki!

We are on the same page here... Hypnotist have several things going well beyond the simple scent. For this effect to work you'd want multiple suggestive effects working working in tandem to bring about the desired effect....

Which is kinda vague at this point... LOL

An empty coffee cup and some suggestive associative patter might make them imagine tasting a invisible cup of coffee. That is hypnosis - rather then a mentalist trick. I am not sure how you would disguise it or transform it into a full fledged mentalist trick.

Docc Hilford or Kenton Knepper will take an ordinary trick - based on a generally physical sleight (that appears mystically mind based) and bring it to life by giving it an emotional appeal to the audience. In other words they take a physical trick and tie in a psychological element to it.

Here we are on the opposite end of the equation as we have psychological element ... with no trick. We need a physical element to complete the cycle so to speak. I am out of my element here. Give me a physical trick and I can add the mental part from my bag of tricks but I don't have a big bag of physical sleights yet ... that is why I am here. LOL

So lets brainstorm a bit...

How about I present a coffee cup full of tap water. I start off explaining the powers of the mind and how we control our emotions rather then our circumstances, Yadda ya. Then I go on to say how I am a bear to live with without my morning cup of Joe... and guess what!?! I ran out this morning so there I was without any coffee and a big show to do today. Not a great start. LOL

So with coffee cup in hand. Full to the brim of nice hot steaming... Water. But I saw in my minds eye the deep dark brown richness of the cup. I closed my eyes, I held the cup to my nose and I inhaled the deep aroma of fresh coffee beans....

(Have them close their eyes and wave the cup beneath their nose)

And then stirred it and I took a sip and actually tasted it for real. ...

I was pretty surprised by that ....
But I was even more surprised to open my eyes and find my cup full of coffee.

Take a another sip. MMM
(Show them the cup full of coffee.... )

***

The trick now becomes how do I get the instant coffee into the cup??

yes it needs some polish but you see where I am going with it...

-misj-

PS- Still working on the hypnosis 101 thing

[lag]

maybe it can be added in when you are stirring the cup of coffee. first i guess you have to get the coffe powder into small filter packets. during the act of stirring that packet can be added secretly. just a rough idea. =)

Hi Misjief
Sorry to hear about your mum. may she rest in peace.
yeah, i had 8 cycles of chemotherapy. just finished one cycle of high-dose chemo. this is kinda like a relapse. the tumour being too aggressive. going for the 2nd cycle again which means i would be inactive from here for awhile..

thanks in advance for the self hypnosis post!

-Lag

[mikkparg]

Just for informational purpouses im going to reveal a routine i stirred up for the question. Nothing too complicated but it needs some work to make it come out right.

The point of the carrot force is basically a mental force where you ask the spec to name any vegetable. There is a big chance they will name a carrot. There are subtleties to it in the book to make it work better.
You could use that for your routine but making other things work requires much experimentation and study. Just getting the coffee smell will not work due to our smell region not really being a big influence in what we think.
Try the carrot force If that does not work, do preshow. Let them write down something on paper and seal it up in an envelope, but when they are writing, you look at it in a casual manner.
You should have a pack of roughly 30 cards made out of heavy paper stock with items on it. Have a few with you when you are at the show and after getting the pre show done you can see if you have the item in your library or not. If not make one. You need two persons on stage(which is better, due to much more participation.) you blindfold one and set her on the other side of the stage. You let one of the persons pick a card(you force it upon them). Then "project" the image to the person on the other side and voilà. Reading up on some dual-reality materials as well as a bit of a rethink of the thing.

M.

[Misjief]

Mikki!

I'd love to follow this up with you ...

But we divert on at least one issue. The sense of smell is one of, if not the most powerful sense tied to memory. The sense of smell will invoke a past memory faster and stronger then any other sense anchored to the memory (Assuming all were equally available to be tied back to the memory).

Part of the reason for this is it is under utilized by humans so that the data pool is so much smaller, which makes for a lot less interference, for use as a anchor and the like. We often hear and see the same things in different context but with scent is more likely to a single specific context repeated over and over to form and reinforce a pattern. Repetition is generally needed unless the situation is traumatic then a 1 go pattern is possible.

Flashing lights and sirens are seemingly different environments but the same situation - "I am busted and getting a ticket!" hence they set off alarms in us.

Knowing this you can definitely take advantage of it. For instance my first girlfriends perfume was 'obsession' - Which was ironic because I was totally way over the top nutz about her. If there is a girl I kinda like (consciously) but I can't make seem to make sparks fire for me, I will buy her a bottle of it. Emotionally I like bad girls so I can't rely on the heart. LOL

-misj-