How To Study Mentalism (To Become A Professional Mentalist)

How to study mentalism and be one of the most stunning mind benders around

Mentalism is a popular form of magic that has had a resurgence of late. With famous mentalists like Derren Brown and Oz Pearlman taking stage and having their own shows.

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How to study mentalism has never been easier. With mentalism books available on Amazon. Plus a very special mentalism course to download from the internet. Begin by reading blogs on mentalism like this and watch YouTube videos too. But at some point you’ll need to invest in training too. If you’re looking to master mentalism to become a professional mentalist, I suggest at least one course, plus read at least 2-3 mentalism books on the subject.

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How to study mentalism and become a professional mentalist

As with any learning or studying process, studying mentalism is no different.

Many would like to learn mentalism online for free. However, there’s only a certain amount of information you’ll be able to get online. At some point, if you want to become a master of mentalism, you will need to invest in courses and books too.

That is of course if you want to become a professional mentalist at some point. However, if you simply want to impress a few friends at parties, you’ll probably be able to pick up enough information and tricks to learn ‘party mentalism‘ online for free.

Studying mentalism has never been easier. There are plenty of mentalism books to read on the subject. As there are courses to help you master mentalism too.

More Reading: Master Mentalism Course (I Want To Learn Mentalism)

You will also learn from blogs like mine and of course YouTube videos like the ones included in this article.

Another approach would be to find someone else who is also a mentalist. Ask them to coach you with your skills. However, this can be an expensive route to take and can cost upwards of $300-500 per hour.

Or if you go to the likes of Mr. X on the master mentalism course, this would cost around $1,500 for the very same information.

What are the skills required to be a mentalist?

There are many skills you need to master to become a mentalist. For each of these skills you’ll be able to study the subject matter around the skill. But then as with all studying, where there’s theory, there’s always practical too.

With mentalism, and magic for that matter, many times the effect or trick is actually quite simple once the method is revealed. However, the skills and techniques required to perform the effect or trick may take many hours of practice.

The types of skills you should learn and study include the following:

Supernatural abilities and the skill to read minds

One of the most impressive skills to learn and master in mentalism is mind reading. Actually, mentalists cannot mind read, they only simulate it.

Mind reading and supernatural abilities needed to look like a psychic include learning about cold reading and the Barnum effect.

For both of these skills you can learn them through reading books or on the Master Mentalism course explained in more detail below.

Learning how to read body language

Learning to read body language is a great life skill to have. But it’s also an essential skill to study and learn for mentalists too. Spotting nonverbal language is a real skill to learn. Derren Brown talks about this in his book Tricks of the Mind, one of the reading musts for becoming a mentalist.

When you consider we speak to one another more in body language than we do using the spoken word, you’ll realise how important it is to learn. Ex-FBI agent Joe Navarro’s book ‘What Every BODY Is Saying,’ is also a must read.

Studying embedded suggestion techniques and hypnosis

In addition to tricks around cold reading and learning the art of understanding nonverbal language, there’s NLP suggestion techniques too. Derren Brown is a master at this clever NLP technique, as demonstrated in the video below:

The embedded suggestion technique is extremely powerful. Not only can it be used in mentalism, but it can also be used to influence people in every day life too.

The trick with this technique is in disguising the ‘suggestions’ that are hidden within what you say. You need to be able to master this technique and practice’hiding’ the suggestions you wish to embed.

What’s amazing about this effect is your subject will be convinced the idea you ‘planted’ was their idea. This is demonstrated in the above video with Simon Pegg.

More Reading: Master Mentalism Course review (Includes the features and the Pros & Cons)

If you are also interesting in performing stage hypnotism like Derren Brown, which I consider a mentalism skill, you may be interested to watch the video below for some ideas.

Mentalism magic and slight of hand tricks

Mentalism isn’t only about ‘mind control’ or reading body language and using cold reading. There are many mentalism magic tricks you can learn too. I suggest studying these first and begin to perform these to build your confidence.

There are many card tricks you can do that cross over from magic to mentalism magic. There are also tricks that don’t involve playing cards too.

An example of a mental magic trick that doesn’t involve playing cards can be done using a Nomad Pad. This is a pad that was invented by Mathieu Bich. He’s one of the magicians to fool Penn and Teller on a UK show on ITV. See the video below:

Master mentalism course

As already mentioned earlier in this article there are courses to learn mentalism. But there are not many to choose from.

One such course is Master Mentalism, which is co-authored by Ryan Clark and Mr. X Las Vegas.

Whilst books are good, you cannot beat a course. Some are dated, like the 13 Steps to Mentalism. Plus whats even better is you also get over 500 card tricks you can study and learn too.

In addition to the above bonus, you’ll also get ‘David Blaine Brutally Exposed.’ Plus 30 days free access to Mesmerize Monthly.

More Reading: Master Mentalism Course (I Want To Learn Mentalism)

Int this monthly magazine you get access to magic, mentalism and hypnosis videos. Monthly full-length conversational hypnosis audios and much much more. They have a special offer on at the moment too. Well worth a look. You can find out more by clicking on the link above.

Practice, practice and practice

One you begin to study mentalism you may get overwhelmed. If this happens choose perhaps three effects and master these.

Any professional mentalist will probably only have maybe three effects to begin with. But with each effect there are many methods for each.

Hone these effects to perfection by practicing over and again.

As with any new learning, the only way to truly learn something new is do go out and do it. If you fail, try again. Stick at it and don’t give up.

If you are studying mentalism at the same time as keeping your job, observe people. Watch their body language and see what you are able to pick up.

In your lunch break test out what you’ve already learned. If you go out for a drink after work with colleagues, tryout your new mentalism effects on your work-friends down the pub.

Mentalism tips

If you are looking at mentalism as a profession. If you are hoping to make a living from performing mentalism on stage, then don’t waste all of your time looking for free stuff on the internet.

Invest your money and save time. Buy some books is a good start, but take a look at the Master Mentalism course noted above.

For next to nothing, you’ll receive this amazing mentalism resource. You could be the next Derren Brown or Oz Pearlman performing on Britain’s Got Talent or on America’s Got Talent.

For further inspiration, watch the video below with DNA mentalists:

Did you spot how they switched their T-shirts whilst they did the trick? Due to the camera shots and how you can’t see these mentalists the whole time you don’t actually see them completely do it (You see a bit of Darren, but not Andrew). However, their shirts are switched at around 1:43 into the video.

Watch how Darren is adjusting his T-shirt as he follows Simon Cowell up to the stage. The audience don’t see it, as he has his back to them. Most of the TV viewers don’t see it as they are focused on Simon.

The camouflage part is not a full t-shirt, but just a front covered by their jackets. It’s likely that at the point Darren is bringing Simon Cowell on to the stage, Andrew will turn away and remove his camouflage section too. Very clever.

A hint about how the mentalism trick was done

Also, just to give you a hint as to how DNA did this trick…it’s in how Darren speaks to Andrew. He is using a similar technique to subliminal suggestion. Hidden within his words are the number and the name of the contact. It’s easy to miss and is very cleverly done. They have obviously practiced this technique over and again.

There are only 10 numbers (including zero), and Darren only has to communicate three of the numbers of her phone number. Which of course he sees. I will leave it to you to see if you can spot exactly how it’s done.

Your next stop could then be Las Vegas!

More Reading: Mentalism and Mind Reading course review (Includes features & Pros & Cons)

If you would like to learn how to do amazing mentalist tricks that will make your friend’s jaw drop, look at the Master Mentalism course.

Master Mentalism is an in-depth course that will show you the secrets behind most of the popular mentalist magic tricks there are.

In just a short time after learning from Master Mentalism you will know exactly how mentalists do what they do!

For a ridiculously small investment on your part you will be learning some fantastic mentalism and magic skills. These skills will not only make you the life of a party, but they will set you on your way to become the next famous mentalist!

I hope you enjoyed this article about how to study mentalism

I’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your journey to become a performing mentalist or magician (or both). Please comment below. Please also share your experiences, both good and bad.!

If this article hasn’t answered all of your questions. If you have more questions either about mentalism or magic, I will try to answer them (or specifically about how to study mentalism), please comment below with your questions.

There will also be many more articles about mentalism for you to read and learn about this fantastic skill.

Have fun and enjoy your journey!