The practice of mentalism takes many years of dedication and practice to perfect. The best mentalists in the world have the ability to convince an entire room that they have performed seemingly impossible feats. This kind of skill does not come lightly and is based on keen powers of observation and an intimate understanding of the human psyche. Like most things in life, confidence is the key to becoming a world class mentalist. Fortunately, you can start to develop the type of rock solid confidence that is possessed by mentalism’s top practitioners today. Here are a few ways you can employ the basics of mentalism in Miami to improve your confidence.

The Sounds of Silence

There’s something particularly alluring about the strong silent type. Having the ability to command the presence of an entire room without saying a word is one of the most enviable qualities that top mentalists have mastered. Now, you might not be there yet, but you can get there with practice. Start small. Try not to be the first person to speak in a conversation. When you’re asked a question, take a moment to collect your thoughts before answering. Before long, you will find that you’ve developed the reputation as someone worth listening to, and you’ll find friends and acquaintances hanging on your every word, or lack thereof.

Mirror, Mirror

Body language is one of the earliest form of human communication and remains one of the most important. The next time you watch a stage performance, especially a mentalist, take note of how the performer carries himself. Pay close attention to how he interacts with audience members. If you look close enough, you’ll probably notice that the performer is mimicking the audience member’s body language. This is an old performer’s trick to gain trust with their participant and the audience at large in order to fully engage them in the performance. When you use body mirroring in your own life, you’ll probably find that people are much more drawn to you than they were before and seem compelled to confide in you.

Focus

The pursuit of mentalism as an art form requires a great deal of commitment. You must dedicate days, months and years of your life to practice in order to fully master mentalism. In short, you must be single-minded. People generally consider single-mindedness a negative personality trait, but it can be a positive when it’s in pursuit of your life’s one true goal. When you’re studying mentalism to improve your confidence, make sure to go after your goal with the type of focus that is possessed by the world’s foremost practitioners of mentalism.

See Mentalism in Miami

Confidence is one of the keys to living your best life. Unfortunately, confidence doesn’t come naturally to many of us. When you want to improve your confidence and, in turn, improve your life, then you should take a page out of the book of the world’s best mentalists. To see a demonstration of mentalism in Miami, then see a world class performance by Mio. Read some testimonials about Mio’s great performances, and watch some videos of Mio in action.

If you are visiting the Miami area and need some evening entertainment, a magic show can be the perfect option. As you search for the perfect show to attend, you might also come across advertisements for mentalists. We’ve previously covered what mentalists actually do, but today we’re going to go into a little more detail about the difference between a mentalist and a magician. Once you learn more about mentalism and magic as a performance art, you’ll have an even greater appreciation for these shows in Miami. Just remember that a magician never reveals his secrets!

Focus

The primary difference between mentalism and magic is the sort of tricks they perform.  Magicians may come onstage and pull a rabbit out of a hat or saw a woman in half, but a mentalist’s goal is to make his audience believe he has psychic powers or the ability to read minds. Because mentalists must learn how to observe and convince other people, the ending result of their performance can depend a great deal on the audience. A magician’s trick, on the other hand, is the result of misdirection and sleight of hand. Since so many artists use both mentalism and magic, you can imagine how one performer’s show can vary.

Performance Style

Because a mentalist and magician have different goals, a show will also differ in performance styles. For instance, magic shows have a lot in common with theatre; obviously, there is a stage, and a magician might even use costumes and add drama to make the trick more exciting. When mentalists perform, there is more emphasis on personal interaction and creating a narrative in order convince the audience that no trickery was used. Mentalists want their audience to believe in the possibility that they really do have supernatural powers—or, at the very least, to be so astounded that they have no explanation as to how it was done.

Audience Perception

Even though magic and mentalism are equally impressive, audiences typically have different reactions and interpretations of the performance. Most people are aware that magic tricks are illusions, and so the audience is usually left wondering how the tricks were performed. Some audience members may even try to learn the trick themselves. After a mentalist’s show, he leaves the audience wondering, “How did he know?!” Admittedly, it’s hard to find an explanation for what appears to be psychic powers.

Of course, some magicians are also mentalists, and vice versa. And while these differences are enough for some to make the argument that mentalism and magic are entirely different forms of performing arts, we know one thing for sure: both take an incredible amount of skill. No matter what sort of show you decide to see, you won’t be disappointed. Miami is full of talented mentalists, so be sure to get tickets while you can!

If you’d like to see the amazing mentalism and magic of Mio, visit our website or watch some of our videos. You can even contact Mio to book for events, parties, and more.

Mentalists aren’t like other magicians or illusionists—mentalists perform tricks or illusions with their minds. This takes performances to an entirely new level by incorporating and interacting with the audience in ways other performers do not. Mentalism and close-up magic is so spectacular because of mind-blowing tricks that define the artistry. Here are a few techniques to get you started in the world of mentalism.

Look Closely

 Being extremely observant and paying close attention to your surroundings is key to becoming a great mentalist. It is important during performances to be attentive and to carefully watch your audience to aid in illusions. Picking up on body language and other telling signs and cues from the audience will make your show that much more wonderful. This can be practiced daily at any time and any place. Take special care to be particularly observant of everything around you in your everyday life to build these skills. Incorporate these observation techniques into your performances, and sit back and watch how your illusions and tricks wow your audience.

Cold and Hot Readings

Cold readings are very popular amongst mentalists and mind readers as well. If done correctly, participants are left in awe of the performer’s knowledge of a stranger’s life. During a cold reading, the mentalist will speak about things in a person’s life they know nothing about. Using auditory cues and close observation will enhance your cold reading skills and help you advance to more difficult mentalism tricks.

 Despite what the name suggests, a hot reading is not the opposite of a cold reading. It is actually basically the same as a cold reading except the performer knows some things about the participant beforehand. This knowledge allows the performer to draw more clues about the participant and give a better reading. The same techniques used in a cold reading should also be used in a hot reading.

Getting into the world of magic and mentalism is an exciting challenge. It won’t be easy, but the look on your audience’s face will be well worth the hard work. With these techniques you will be well on your way to becoming a masterful mentalist. Check out Magic by Mio in Miami to see mind-blowing tricks and learn more about the world of mentalist magic.

Despite fantasy seeing a resurgence after Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings blockbusters and the Harry Potter phenomenon, there are still somehow too few shows in television that explore the wonder and charm of magic. SyFy’s The Magician seeks to remedy that, premiering January 25th on the SyFy network at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard time.

The series is based on a trilogy of New York Times best-selling books, which chronicle the adventures of fresh high school graduates who discover that their career path does not have to involve a typical university. Instead, the protagonist Quentin and his friends stumble upon Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a fully-realized magic institute of higher learning. SyFy adapts the series to make the characters college post-grads, but preserves the exciting nature and harrowing plot turns that made the novels so popular.

Tune in to see magic come alive on the small screen. You can even catch a special early airing of the pilot by following the YouTube link after the jump.

Based on the Hit Novel Series by Lev Grossman

The Magicians began as a book series published by American author and journalist Lev Grossman. The first book in the series, The Magicians, was released in 2009 to wide acclaim. It follows the story of modern-day recent high school grad Quentin Coldwater who becomes somewhat of an outcast for his obsession with a fictional book series detailing the magical land of Fillory. Quentin’s unusual focus on magic along with some hidden talents cause him to attract the attention of the Brakesbills College admissions staff, who manage to recruit Coldwater through subtle means. Coldwater begins attending Brakebills in upstate New York, meeting new similar-minded friends and unlocking the hidden depths of the mysterious art of sorcery.

The first novel became an instant hit, winning author Lev Grossman the 2010 Alex Award for adult-oriented books that open young adult readers to new literary possibilities. Grossman was also given the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2011. The Onion A.V. Club and the New York Times both gave the novel favorable reviews, praising it for its dark, mature handling of a subject matter traditionally treated as juvenile.

The Magicians was followed by two sequels: The Magician King was published in 2011 and The Magician’s Land in 2014.

The Award-Winning Books Come to Life

Back in 2011, Fox optioned a television adaptation of The Magicians into a prime time series. Conceptual work and some draft scripts were created, but Fox declined to order a pilot. SyFy picked up the reigns in 2014 after the book series gained more popularity, greenlighting the production of a pilot episode. Impressed by the quality of the in-development pilot, SyFy went ahead and ordered a 12-episode season, due for premiere in January 2016.

Now, The Magicians finally has a chance to get the wider audience it deserves. The mature themes and art direction of the series are bound to resonate with a prime time cable audience hungry for thrills and intrigue. And while the skills the Brakebills students display are fictionalized, having sorcery and magic represented on television is always an exciting time for magicians.

The world was devastated by news of the death of several celebrities recently, including endearing wizard actor and consummate villain Alan Rickman. But perhaps the biggest loss, if such a thing could be measured, was that of David Bowie. Bowie transcended what it meant to be a pop star or a professional musician, often seesawing between enigmatic icon and approachable everyman.

To many of us in the magic community, David Bowie meant something particularly special. His songs and on-screen personas embodied the idea of what it meant to be a misfit, an outcast or just misunderstood. While others were pushing towards conformity, Bowie pushed back by embracing his weirdness. He was forever completely unafraid to exhibit whatever version of his true self he happened to favor at the moment. His daring, experimental and most of all passionate approach to art lent just a little more magic to the world. He inspired countless young, awkward teens to pursue a second identity as a rockstar, fashionista or even a magician.

On-screen, Bowie displayed the most magic of all. Only an actor on occasion, Bowie always seemed to be cast when a film called for a true sorcerer — someone eccentric yet who oozed effortless charisma. These appearances have made an impact that can be seen on the stage and screen as others try to capture Bowie’s rare, ephemeral form of artistry. He will truly be missed, but at least we have these performances to remind us of how weird and wonderful he truly was.

Thomas Jerome Newton — The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Bowie’s first film role and one that still has the biggest cult following. His waifish, breathy personality at the time perfectly fit the role of an alien who seems otherworldly in ways that are hard to pin down. The raw star power of Bowie’s performance and his ability to enchant without chewing up scenes speaks to innate powers that even a mentalist in Miami would be jealous of.

Jareth the Goblin King — Labyrinth (1987)

The role he is best-known for, and with good reason. Bowie’s campy but captivating turn as the feather-haired Goblin King is one of the most memorable, even by ‘80s kitsch standards. Mind-bending effects and puppets by the Jim Henson Creature Shop helped further build on the magical world that Jareth lived in. The film also helped subtly propel the career of contact juggler Michael Moschen, who would stand behind Bowie and perform blind sphere juggling tricks that many assumed had to be special effects. Jareth was also quite the showman, tossing snakes that turned out to be scarves and toying with the mind of young Sarah. In all, Bowie’s appearance on Labyrinth gave us something utterly unique and yet cozily familiar, like finding a long-lost childhood toy hidden underneath the couch.

Andy Warhol — Basquiat (1996)

In one of Bowie’s most delightful cameos, he takes on the persona of art/fashion icon Andy Warhol with the perfect amount of eeriness and aloofness.

Nikola Tesla — The Prestige (2006)

Playing famous inventor and eccentric visionary Nikola Tesla with the same weighty distance lent to Warhol and his alien Thomas, David Bowie manages to steal the entire movie in the few scenes he appears. Tesla’s exploits have given him a late-start cult following in the modern era, a trait somewhat shared by Bowie as more people get introduced to his earlier works. The sheer unexpectedness and parallel celebrity wielded by Bowie made the cameo a delightful fit in a movie all about magic and surprises.

Make Your Own Impact

Follow in David Bowie’s glorious footsteps by pursuing everything you do with passion and unrestrained honesty. His commitment to art left many impressions on his surviving fans.

You can see how others work hard to make an immeasurable impact through their performance by reading testimonials about Mio’s mentalist in Miami act.

Go see a mentalist in Miami. You will get so much more out of it than you expect. Many people are willing to go to a mentalist act if they happen to be on vacation or really just want to see any show that night, but too few understand how worth their time it is to plan ahead and go out of their way to make it to a mentalism show.

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Like many other professions, the mark of a truly-skilled mentalist is that they make their job look effortless. A familiarity with your trade and confidence in your skills belie the complex mechanisms that are going on inside your skull.

The only problem with this high-level, smooth execution is that it can conceal what is really going on in the process of a mentalist interacting with their audience. To help you understand what you will need to get to this point, here are five skills that mentalists use to make their job look easy:

A Desire to Learn

With close-up magic, practice makes perfect. The same is true of mentalism, but a lot more research is needed before your practices can even be effective. After all, you do not want to exhaust the good will of friends and family who volunteer as “guinea pigs” by wildly going in        many different directions when you try to apply your budding skills.

Instead, read up on behavioral psychology. Pay particular attention to how emotions and thought affect the body language, facial expressions and general demeanor of your subjects. The more literature you absorb on the subject, the quicker you will be able to recognize and learn from the more nuanced real life examples.

Excellent Observation

A mentalist is a detective. In fact, Sherlock Holmes used many of the same skills a mentalist uses in order to quickly deduce things about his suspects and clients. Naturally, Sherlock is fictional, but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ingenious writing lent us an excellent model of someone who lets nothing escape their notice.

Be like Sherlock! Try to soak in everything you possibly can about someone just based on subtle aspects like their clothing, breathing patterns, build, accent and general personality. Even something unassuming like a hat can reveal stunning revelations in the hands of a skilled observer.

Be Patient and Calm

When trying to read someone with mentalism skills, the last thing you want to do is show what you are trying to do. Letting the subject in on your thought process allows them to mislead you with targeted responses or control physical “tells.” Instead, you must keep them guessing and also encourage them to let down their guard so that their emotions are more transparent.

You cannot accomplish any of these goals if you get frustrated by wrong guesses or if you plunge headfirst into deductions too early. Always take a moment to consider what your next move will be, especially as you are first starting out. Rethinking something instead of blurting it out can save a bad reading and help it recover into a good one.

Work Well with People

A common trait among mentalists, at least ones that aren’t like Holmes, is that they “disarm” their audience and their subjects by acting friendly and candid. Part of being entertaining is having an engaging presence, even when you are simply greeting your audience.

Use your research and observation to not only work on deducing what people are thinking, but also to learn how to warm them up to you and make you more likable during performances in general.

Never Give Up on Being a Mentalist in Miami

Persistence is just as important as patience. Everyone has a rocky start, and the path to true skill is always bumpy. Keep at it, and eventually your talent will equal or surpass your ambitions.

You can take some cues from Mio if you want to learn more about being a mentalist in Miami by visiting our videos page.

You are likely familiar with “mentalism” as a performance art, made popular by famous shows like Psych and The Mentalist, but did you know that “Mentalism” used to be a formal branch of academia? Mentalism once referred to a type of psychology that helped bring the science of human thought and emotion to the forefront of public discussion.

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Dean Lahan of Stockport, England calls himself “The Fingerless Magician,” although that moniker is not quite accurate. When he was only 18 months old, he was afflicted with bacterial meningitis and nearly lost his life. The doctors were able to save him by amputating his infected tissue, leaving him with only one leg, two partial thumbs, three partial fingers on his right hand and none on his left. His parents regarded these limbs as a blessing considering that, for a moment, they were not sure if baby Dean would make it at all.

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Magicians are a mainstay of entertainment around the world, but far fewer people are familiar with mentalists. While shows like The Mentalist have helped spread more awareness of the performance art, many people still end up scratching their heads when they see a poster advertising a mentalist.

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