Just think of Derren Brown... he's the best example for people who just want to do things he does and try to google his methods. FORGET IT!
They will NEVER find out, it's too much effort. (none of them ever heard of Corinda)
Mentalism is save... don't worry too much

Sebastian: I am a little sceptical that any method which is used in actual performance can be kept secret. Somebody will eventually find a way to duplicate it (even if he doesn't use the original method). The most powerful magic secrets actually are available on the net, several of them for free. Yet most people won't recognize them even if you told them what they are. E.g., how to write a good presentation is of little interest but the single key to success in magic. And how many people even on this board dismiss Annemann and Corinda as "outdated"?

Drew: I fully agree with you. Magic is more than methods. Again, what you need can be found on the internet, but most people just ignore it. What is it worth to know five different ways to do the cut-and-restored rope if you cannot entertain with any of them?

ribanner: Just a few comments on your thoughts:

Since when is sex illegal?


If you actually visit a website on card tricks you will have to wade through hundreds of effects, tricks, and moves. Plus, before you found it you will have run into dozens of bad and hundreds of aweful sites before you actually find something you have seen performed. Specific secrets are buried under the gigantic amount of junk.


There are millions of e-books. Even if your idea is in one of them what is the likelyhood that somebody (including you) will find it and not buy the idea from you directly? I am rather buying stuff from people like Richard Osterlind knowing that it is great and proper credit is given rather then from somebody I don't know and who just copied and pasted from Annemann and Corinda and doesn't mention where he took his things from.


They can delete your mails as swiftly as anybody else's. This is harder than getting rid of snail mail.

Think of it this way: if a spectator decides that he wants to know a secret, he will do whatever is necessary to get to that secret, whether by snail mail or email mail. Neither methods are "wrong", but one is a little less time consuming. Now, his friend, who doesn't want to know the secret, won't bother with the search; he might, hoewever, be forced to watch his friend's poor presentation of the effect, once learned. And he might expose it that way.

Bottom line: only those who want to know will look and search. And they, my friends, are just like you and I were when we started...right?

Lee

A large percentage of working Mentalists are performing for corporate clients and have no interest in television or the local magic clubs because they are too busy making a living.

A few may publish their work and also sell effects but I'm positive that this is done only years after such creations have been used and new material is in it's place.It is then released to the magic community.

I'm sure that most are not concerned that the methods they use would be exposed because if the work is not in print then there is no place to go to find it.



Sebastian

Poor and boring performances will kill mentalism long before the internet does.

D Kristof

That's totally true

VERDAD!!!! true

Sean

Sad but true!

Great book about first post in thread:
The future just happened by Michael Lewis
Jobbed out in a remainder store £2.99 for a hard back!
TJ

Fast forward 16 years...

Mentalism is alive and well!

Is it?

Yep.

Every generation may have a similar view, yet, the magic, mentalism, world still exist
Remember in the old days when magic only taught from person to person and then suddenly someone decided to release magic book to the public.
People use to only read books to learn the secret, some of the best kept secret maybe hiding between the line, and then video tutorial become popular.
There use to be a 4-5 DVD set and some good trick hidden within, and then more and more single effect download available.
People use to respect the secret and then someone become a Youtuber and reveal secret for FREE on the internet in order to get more sub
I have seen Joe Porper's Strong Box being reveal on YouTube by someone famous in magic industry as a little puzzle box.
Will these things hurt the magic/mentalism, maybe, but ultimately people still enjoy a good performance. At the end of a good performance, people will say to you I don't care how you do it, but it is an amazing experience.

I just performed last night - classic PK touches with a twist and some direct thoughtreading. Crowd went wild even though some of these things are Youtube exposed now. It's about YOUR presentation - believability, invisible compromises and emotion/value/storytelling attached to the effect. Also about routining - how I tied the touches and the thoughtreading together in a seamless effect. There were a couple of kids interested in magic there who knew the basic method of PK touches because of it being on Penn & Teller and Got Talent etc. but didn't stop them from enjoying the effect (and being fooled by a certain part of it). The key we forget is there are still 1000s of laypeople who have NEVER seen anything like Mentalism performed in front of their eyes. And I re-remembered that last night

What percentage of people will actually bother to go online to see how something was done though? I would say it is very small.

Five points going forward...

1. Mentalism will never die, but it does have a branding issue in being more and more lumped into magic as many magicians call themselves "Magician and Mentalist" and performers who don't really understand Mentalism who frame it badly.
2. We, as a community, need to STOP supporting the exposers, especially the YouTube exposers. If you see someone who does this, such as Spidey or Scam Nation or any of the YouTube sell outs don't support the conventions they are at, don't buy stuff from them, let them know you don't agree with what they are doing.
3. Mentoring is the way to learn best. Find people who you respect and forge relationships. It's easier than ever to do this, and this is where we will grow quickly.
4. Support books. I know most of you already do.
5. We don't need more mentalists (or magicians) generally, we need the people who have devoted their lives to this art to just keep evolving and getting better at what they do.

What is even more horrible is when you watching random YouTube video, and the recommended video is "Halloween Mind Reading Magic Trick Reveal"

Ok, now that IS a problem. I still think it's rare that people look up an effect on YouTube but having it fed to them as clickbait isn't good.

YouTube recommends videos based on your watch history. If you look up magic or mentalism, you're a lot more likely than the average viewer to get such a recommendation. Unfortunately the popularity of Fool Us and magicians on AGT isn't helping.

Validation for why I never provide a video of my published effects, nor allow any video of any performance.

You cannot find my work on YouTube, and hopefully never will. Yes, this restricts my presentations opportunities, but I never charge anyway.

Not a solution for every performer - just making it an option.