As it is Written: An Overview of the Mentalism Cult
by P. Craig Browning

"In the beginning..."

O.k., I’ll not go that direction (though I’m seriously tempted). The primary problem of my heading down that particular path is confusion when it comes to the purpose behind this particular article. No, it’s not a walk-through on some new items that’s out there or extending to you all insights shared by another when it comes to why they have created this or that effect of tome as the case may be. Rather, I wanted to lend reprise on something that I’ve spoken on in the past so as the help folks better understand the issue of "old" versus "new" schools of thought when it comes to this thing we call “Mentalism”.

If I were to render to you a "Reader’s Digest" perspective that described what best defines the “New” school of Mentalism I’d have to relate it as being what one of my more outspoken chums referred to as “The Dunninger Mold”, i.e., Mentalism that is presented in a very safe commercial manner that is amusing, perplexing and exceptionally close to being obvious tricks versus mental- or even paranormal-oriented “miracles”. There’s far more to it than that, but to sum things up, this is what the New School is all about. Ironically, it is a tradition that pre-dates old Joe, tracing back in time to the early days of "psychic investigation", even back to the times of a certain Mr. Abbott or as far back as another investigative hobbyist by the name of Reginald Scott, at least when it comes to “modern magic” and the bias so much of our craft has when it comes to things of this sort.

The development of this less enchanting mode of performance came about as the result of two issues:

a) The abusive antics of The Church;
b) A rather honest belief by certain showmen when it came to wanting to educate the public so they wouldn’t get caught up in some sort of sham.

There is a Part “C” to this scenario, but it shows up much later in the game on the coattails of Houdini’s high profile expose’ shows in the early decades of the 20th century. Many "weekend warriors" (magic hobbyists) saw the psychic debunking angle as a great PR vehicle and thus jumped on that band-wagon. Interestingly, it was during this same time (slightly before) that certain factions within the craft started moving further and further away from the more obvious parameters of show biz and focused their energies more into the art of delivering to their patrons a very real and chilling sense of experience, free from the plethora of mechanical devices and card tricks so many others were exploiting when it came to the course of standard fair when one was viewed as a showman. Though very much exaggerated (akin to the film "Reefer Madness" and how it portrays marijuana use) the Tyrone Power’s movie “Nightmare Alley” offers a wonderful demonstration of these two modes of performance… I’ve personally never seen anyone end up maddened and turned into a hardened drunk as the result of catering to the shut-eye market but the whole purpose of this expose’ classic was to detour the public from supporting anything psychic or of the spiritualist mind set while likewise placing fear in the hearts of all the magic chaps that may be contemplating said course.

"Why would someone be considering that course of work so close to the days of Houdini’s days of terror?" you ask.

Take a look at the early contributions of Robert Nelson and even Burling Hull or Larsen; countless performers in those days stood with one foot on either side of the famed fence, supporting a storefront operation by day while doing home parties and club acts at night. Nelson himself played no less than 3 different male mediums on the Radio for various networks as did many others like "Doctor Q and A", et al; A practice common to mentalism well into the 1980s

Like Robert Nelson before him, Richard Webster has given to Magic and Mentalism an amazing plethora of material that is quite priceless if you are a serious student of this craft and ALL it entails. Ironically I know of young people over the past decade or so of this new wave within the craft’s popularity, that have been told quite directly to not pay attention to either of these legends because “they were con-men”. Sadly, our side of the magic world has had such liable expressed by the more cynical (as well as those who haven’t the talent to actually invest themselves into the art of Mentalism as was required by the older modes of tradition) more and more since the late 1970s the impetus of which seems to ooze from a variety of sources but generally the whole of organized magic; it is as if some unwritten law exists that states (generally) that real magicians cannot condone such practices. So much so that members of one noted forum that’s supported by magazine subscribers gave rousing kudos to a recent post that suggested that anyone that did readings or shows without a deliberate disclaimer, should be arrested and imprisoned.

Not the first time stage magicians sold their soul to the auspices of the Holy See in exchange for supposed status.

I’ll not deal with the famed debate as would be my norm; I’ll simply state that one does not need to read Tarot cards or palms to be a crook: honesty, morality, and ethics exist within the individual. If it is your penchant to take money form little old ladies on Social Security then you will (most that do this now days are known as Televangelists, Lawyers, or Insurance Agents...other examples of usury exist throughout the corporate world), and though we are all aware of it (and victims of it), we seem to lend to it carte blanche rather than applying the same rules to everyone, across the board. Then again, that’s what keeps lawyers busy earning those big homes and nice cars: it really does pay to be a creative liar.

When it comes to the Old School side of Mentalism you will find that many of its earliest proponents were men and women curious about mysticism, the paranormal and unique phenomena. In fact many of these people were the “founders” of what became the accredited science of Parapsychology… then again, it would take a few decades before that would become an official thing in that Psychology itself was still in its formative years.

Contrary to popular belief many of the Old School are skeptics and though they may work within the “shut-eye” world and not employ deliberate disclaimers, they are the more effective watch-dogs when it comes to educating and protecting the communities they work in, when it comes to possible charlatan activities as well as dangerous cult awareness.

Do understand that these people are “skeptics” and not “cynics”, the latter of which tend to make things an issue where the elder of the two retains a sense of decorum as well as sufficient honor when it comes to respecting the beliefs of others. Many of us hold to a very pragmatic point of view promoting the idea that wise people of faith ask questions and do not buy into their beliefs blindly: if ignorance truly were bliss this world would not know the hell it’s seen over the past seven years…

A great divider between the habits of old vs. new is the “character”. For folks such as my self, you are never really “off stage”: Mentalism is a way of life. Then again, many commercial performers have discovered how hard it is for them to not be who they were on stage when the show is over. What we perceive and what the public expects are two entirely different things. Like it or not, people want to have a connection to those of us that come off looking and feeling “real”… just ask Banachek; his show is disclaimer heavy and yet he is confronted show after show by the believers, many wanting a private session with him. That isn’t only the reality of this game, it is why so many of the old timers (including a few of your heroes), had those offices for doing private readings and so much more!

The BOR ("Back of Room" sales) for the Mentalist has frequently been our bread & butter. Where most are content with stock pitch books and maybe an audio tape (well, CDs now days) that are likewise readily purchased cheap and sell high, the pros like Brown, Banachek, etc. have real books that they, at a minimum, co-authored, books and other materials that tie into the theme of their program. Many, such as my self, also offer related paraphernalia such as pendulums, crystals, dowsing rods, etc. Things that many in this New School of thought not only poo-poo but miss out on… they’re chasing the dollar signs and have blinded themselves to the one resource that can match if not surpass your rates of hire each night.

The Old School mavericks won’t lose a bit of sleep when it comes to selling this sort of material in that they understand what it is and why it is. A prime example of how valuable it is can be seen in something the Old Schoolers do that most of the New Schoolers have difficulty in: the "Home PSI parties" or “Horoscope parties".

Trust me; if you are depending on the $25.00 to $75.00 typical per person admission rate to carry you through, you’re going to go hungry. More importantly, if you aren’t doing legitimate readings for guests as part of the service and pitching your wares and your time (for more in-depth sessions or lecture services, etc.) you will find it exceptionally difficult to get bookings and to likewise meet your bills in between the few you do get. As if all this weren’t enough to chew on, there is one other very important point to consider when it comes to the home psychic party service: people don’t want to pay to see a fake mind reader.

I’m not saying that there aren’t markets for such things; there are. But when it comes to serving the "Stepford market" (as in, these gatherings are typically housewives/soccer moms with very few men – think of it as a Psychic Tupperware Party) you’d best be on your game and being that “expert” in Tarot, numerology, etc. and not trying to come off “honestly” as some shmuck magician that’s read a couple of books on said topics. The public wants the real deal far more than not, that’s the bottom line. The majority of the guys and gals working this market have some semblance of belief and more than a passing understanding on both, the esoteric side of this particular coin as well as the more logical and analytical points of view.

Recently I was given a little ditty created by a dear magician friend of mine (who shall remain nameless, so as to protect the guilty). Long story short, his “Reading System” was pure crap filled with contrived garbage and bogus “numerology”. Worse it was all enshrouded in a Kabalistic theme that was not accurate to the Kabala.

This “Illusion” in this case, exists in the mind of my friend and his belief that you can feed people horse-pucky of this sort and get away with it. His perspective is very much akin to people like Ray Hayman who has taught folks in his Cold Reading notes that you don’t have to know the meaning of the cards and that you can make up names for the lines on the hand. In either case you are looking at examples of magicians lying to themselves firstly and encouraging you to lie and misrepresent things to your patrons.

Who’s the bigger charlatan: the guy that is BSing someone with a “magic trick” that has absolutely no validity when it comes to the Reader’s craft, or the guy that has invested a good deal of his life learning what those lines on the hand or the symbols in the cards actually mean?

At least when I say that I’m a Tarot Card Reader I’m telling people the truth… but then most of us within the Old School mode of thought go out of our way to tell the truth even as we lie our butts off.

The Old School players are not charlatans and con-artists; contrary to the ravings of the good folks in certain forums, I don’t think you’ll find honest grounds for lynching us or locking us up in jail for doing what we do. Primarily because the majority of us aren’t breaking any laws, including ethical laws and even professional boundaries.

This does not mean that the Old School mode is for everyone: it isn’t! It does not mean that the Old School pros don’t cross back and forth between the two disciplines: we most certainly do! The most important point is however, those of either path fulfill very real niches in the world and though it might seem at times that we are contrasts to one another, we really aren’t as far apart in degree as some would think; we just need that little bit of adjustment Mr. Cassidy and Mr. Knepper has been trying to help us embrace over the years.

In Summary…

I know this has been an exceptionally long article this month but I’ve been having a barrage of requests from all sorts of folks, wanting answers and perspective on this topic; a topic I think we all really need to sit down and do some thinking on. Nothing led me closer to fulfilling these requests more than my friend Paul Brook’s latest tome ("Alchemical Tools"). I know, I hyped the crap out of it last time around but like so many others I see in this particular compilation, the marriage of two ideas (though Paul does lean more towards the Older School’s ideas I believe… even as a formally trained shrink).

As to the future… well, I do believe we are going to see a huge amount of compromise, shifting and change and all the while it will all remain pretty much the same. We will always have our soothsayers and naysayer’s no matter the issue. It is however the dream that is shared by all and it will take all kinds in order to continue that dream, allowing both mentalism and the world of magic to survive, prosper and grow.

I’ll catch you next month with one of our favorite topics: Morality and Obligation… Believe it or not, it’s about Hypnotism and a new book by Anthony Jacquin that’s causing a bit of a stir.

Craig Browning