Psychological Mind Reading: what is it?

Psychological mind reading is all the rage at the moment with bookings being taken for corporate events, weddings and private parties. The extremely entertaining, fun and astonishing antics of mind readers on television have boosted this once niche form of entertainment into the public arena. The best news of all is that the public love it.

I mean, what can be more entertaining than having your mind read in person?

When we watch psychological mind reading on television there is always those niggling questions:

“Is the person having their mind read an actor?”

“What has been going on before the camera starts filming?”

“What have the editors cleverly omitted?”

But when you are standing there and it is happening to you, and the people you know, there is no question that what you are witnessing is the genuine article. This is why people find psychological mind reading to be exceptional entertainment.

So it’s obviously a blessing that television shows have raised the profile of mind readers…right?

Well, it’s a double edged sword.

While the profile of psychological mind reading has been raised, the abilities of mind readers has been greatly inflated. The use of television and it’s editing possibilities has enabled the presenter to perform impossible feats of psychological mind reading; that would not be possible without the medium of film.

This is something that we all expect from television these days, as editing allows for shorter, to the point programming. It also isn’t a completely bad thing, as these types of show are immensely entertaining.

Types of Psychological Mind Reading

I would simply like to readdress the balance and give you a list of things that a real life mind reader may be able to provide at your event for your guests, in order that you can make the best informed choice:

Drawing Duplication

The mind reader will ask a guest to draw an image and the mind reader will then attempt to replicate the image that the guest has drawn. Even though it was drawn covertly.

Book Tests

Using any book, a word is selected randomly by the guest, from the millions of words inside, and the mind reader will attempt to deduce the word or phrase that the guest is thinking of.

Influence

The mind reader may influence one or more guests to think of certain numbers or words. Even though the answers will feel like completely free choices, the performer will be able to demonstrate that he had, in fact, implanted them via some form of prediction.

Amnesia

After having the participant memorise a symbol or word, the mind reader will then attempt to wipe that symbol or word from that person’s mind. Sometimes the thought may disappear completely, at other times it will be sufficiently altered.

These are but a few broad categories that give you a basic idea of what to expect from psychological mind reading and a modern day mind reader who attends your event. I myself perform a few things that are beyond this basic list. However, I feel it is important to keep the list as generic as possible in order to encompass what the vast majority of mind readers will be performing.

At the time of booking always feel free to ask the performer what is included in his performance repertoire. Most likely the material will fall into one of the four categories above.

In Closing

You should now have a more realistic view of what psychological mind reading is and what a mind reader can offer at your event. Live mind readers may not have the capability of television tomfoolery, but the minimal difference in the abilities demonstrated are more than made up for by being there in person. People just love to see mind reading with their own eyes and experience it first hand.