We all know that most performances, whether it’s a song, a dance, a parody, or a combination of the three always aim to entertain.
However, mentalism is a type of performance that brings entertainment to the next level and even causes the audience to think and wonder, “How did that happen?”
But, a mentalism trick is only as good as the mentalist themselves.
In this article, we’ll talk about 5 unbelievable mentalism acts you should know of. These acts are some of the greatest of all time.
So let’s get started!
1. Eric Dittelman (2012)
Eric Dittelman is an alumnus of one of the world’s best talent shows, America’s Got Talent. He joined the contest during Season 7.
Although the promising mind reader got eliminated in the semifinals, his mentalism acts were still some of the best highlights of the season.
One of his best performances was during the semifinals when Howard joined him in his act. He had Howard color a self-portrait using a couple of colored markers. He colored his face green, his shades red, his hair blue, and drew horns, a mustache, and a goatee with a pink marker.
Before Dittelman revealed his own drawing, he demonstrated a mentalist’s psychic ability by influencing the crowd and the TV viewers to think of a shape within another shape.
And guess what? Almost everyone went with a triangle inside a circle, which was what he had anticipated.
Finally, when he revealed the drawing he had of Howard, they used the same colors of the same parts of the face, and everyone was in awe.
Here is Dittelman’s act that displayed his incredible persuasion skills.
2. The Clairvoyants (2016)
America’s Got Talent seems to have amazing mentalists on the show.
Vienna-based couple and mentalist duo Thommy Ten and Amélie van Tass wowed America and the world with their mind-blowing performances. They finished runner-up in Season 11 of America’s Got Talent.
Two of the show’s judges, Howie and Mel B, joined them in one of their incredible acts, where they used clairvoyance to establish a psychic connection between the two participants.
In the act, they had Howie wear a blindfold while Mel B’s eyes remained open. Then, they instructed both to raise their left hands whenever Thommy or Amélie tapped them with a finger.
Thommy stepped away from Howie while Amélie continued to tap Mel B’s shoulder with her finger. As if by magic, Howie raised his left arm the same time Mel B raised hers. It seemed as if the two participants were already starting to build a psychic connection.
Later on, Amélie gave Mel B several flashcards with different words and had her shuffle them inside a box. Mel B picked a card while Howie stayed at the very front of the stage.
When Thommy asked Howie if he had a word in mind, he uttered “sunshine”, and to everyone’s surprise, it was the very word on Mel B’s card. It was as if they had miraculously transmitted thoughts to one another, which made the act even more unbelievable.
To watch the performance on America’s Got Talent, here is the link to the video:
3. Derren Brown (London Underground, 2016)
Derren Brown is an English illusionist and mentalist who began performing in the early 1990s. He debuted on television in 2000 and has since become one of the most famous mentalists in the world.
To date, he has published several books, such as Absolute Magic, Confessions of a Conjuror, and Tricks of the Mind.
He has many popular mentalism acts, but his performance on the London Underground in 2016 was one of the best. Because it happened in public transport, it looked and felt raw and authentic, especially to those who were lucky to have witnessed it in person.
The act began as he approached one of the passengers and asked the man where he was getting off at. The man answered, and Brown sat next to him and continued speaking, telling him how easily a train of thoughts can be confused, waving his hand in front of the man’s face, as if deleting his memory. Then, he asked the man again where he was getting off.
Suddenly, the man looked confused, unable to answer. He looked up, trying to get a clue, but had no idea.
Brown lightly touches the man’s forehead with a finger, and he remembers again. He proceeded to other passengers and the same bizarre thing happened. One wave of a hand and they forget, one tap of a finger, and then, they remember.
Now isn’t that just incredible?
Watch this video and tell me how he did it!
2. David Blaine (Quarantine Magic, 2020)
Everybody knows David Blaine. He has made countless TV appearances for many years now and is undoubtedly one of the best and most popular magician-mentalists of all time.
Blaine is best known for his street magic tricks and endurance performances. He has even set many world records in the past years.
It is difficult to choose just one mentalism act from Blaine, so we’ve selected one that is most suitable to the situation the world is in at the moment.
In 2020, when the pandemic hit, David Blaine began adapting to the work-from-home setup by performing live virtually. One of his first attempts was at The Late Late Show with James Corden where he did an awesome card trick through a video call.
First, he asked James to take out a deck of cards and shuffle them. Then, he instructed Corden to think of a card without picking one from the deck and say it out loud. He selected the eight clubs.
Then, Blaine asked Corden to take out one card for each letter of his name, and flip it and show it to the screen. Once Corden was done with the last card, Blaine asked him to snap his finger over the remaining cards on the deck. Corden then picked up the card, flipped it, and it was the Eight of Clubs, the same card he had thought of previously.
The fact that it was done virtually makes the trick even more incredible.
To watch the rest of David Blaine’s quarantine work from home trick, check this out:
1. Richard Osterlind (Annemann’s Extra Sensory Perception, 2015)
Richard Osterlind has been performing as a professional mentalist for over 35 years. He began as a drummer for a rock band who also performed illusions on stage. He later studied hypnosis and began performing hypnotism shows.
Osterlind is best known for his ESP performances, especially Annemann’s Extra Sensory Perception effect, one of the most straightforward displays of telepathy.
In this effect, the mentalist uses a deck of 32 cards that depict symbols, shapes, or designs. All of the symbols are easy to draw. The mentalist has a dry erase board where he draws the symbol a participant randomly picks.
In his act, Osterlind asks a participant to take some cards from the deck. Without looking at the bottom card yet, he instructs them to hold the cards to their chest. Then, he tells them to take a peek at the card while he attempts to read the participant’s mind. He then proceeds to guess the symbol correctly.
He has a couple of Annemann’s Extra Sensory Perception performances, and here is a peek at one of them:
Conclusion
Not all mentalism acts are created equal. While all tricks and performances by mentalists entertain and ignite curiosity, there are just some acts that are unbelievably incredible and out of this world.
These 5 performers, who we believe everyone should know of, are undoubtedly some of the best anyone has ever seen.