Hello everyone!

I have been lurking for a while and decided it was time to register and join in the conversations. I figured a good first post would be to introduce myself, so here goes.

My name is Dorian Faust (Stage name of course) and I reside currently in Houston Texas. I am 26 years old and I have just started down the road to mentalism. I don't have much experience in magic, aside from a few card tricks I learned from my dad when I was a kid. However, I have a huge interest in it. I have always been fascinated with how the human mind works, and have engaged in a study of psychology (Transactional Analysis and Neuro-psychology to be precise), and when NLP started to become accessible I dove in head first. I had forgotten about my childhood dream to be a "magician" by now.

Then, through the joy of randomly stumbling around on youtube, I saw Derren Brown. I was amazed. This was a man doing what I had forgotten that I wanted to do! Mixing psychology, NLP, and deception to convince people that he could do extraordinary things, such as predictions, mind reading, body language reading, etc etc. I devoured everything I could by the man, and began watching him with the idea of figuring out what he was doing, and taking tips on how to do it myself.

After lurking several forums for a while, I figured out where to start in learning mentalism, and quickly picked up a copy of 13 Steps, and ordered the banachek dvds and dug right in. I started working the effects from banachek for friends and family and began to carry two decks with me at all times, for impromptu effects. One was a fair deck, and one was a si stebbins deck. Already I felt a flaw in my presentation though, how could I justify putting my deck back into my pocket and taking it out again to do two card tricks in a row? So I had to build a routine...

Anyway, without too much more being said, I have put together a 10-15 minute routine so far using the things I am learning from the banacheck dvds as well as 13 steps, and I am not here to ask for effects or anything of the like (although I may start to ask for tips in filling out an effect or routine), but what I am seeking help in is how to get started performing? Aside from friends and family (who have by now seen the effects so often I'm sure they're putting it all together how it's done), what advice can you give someone who is just starting out and wanting to build a name for himself? Ideally I would like to do stage shows, and make money (even if it's just enough to cover my drinks after the show) off them, and putting on a seance has been an interest of mine for a long time now.

So I ask those more experienced than I, how did you get started in performing? What advice can you offer someone wishing to become known as a mentalist?

If needed I can and will post more about the character I assume when working, as well as the effects I use in my routine (though i will not post the how-it's-done on a public forum.)

Aside from that, I look forward to getting to know you all and learning from you. Thanks for taking the time out to read this.

-Dorian.

Edit to add: am I the only guy on the planet who's into mentalism but doesn't want to use a swami gimmick? Is that going to pose a real stumbling block for me?

Hey Dorian welcome to the forum

If you're just getting started then it is best to perform for as many people as possible so you can get better at reading your audience, etc. The best way is to perform in a restaurant so you can do the same tricks over and over again...your skill level will increase dramatically.

If you want to learn how to get paid to perform then take a look at my blog http://www.paidtoperform.blogspot.com with free marketing tips for entertainers. It goes over simple marketing techniques like booking restaurants to advance marketing techniques like booking gigs for $1,000 and up.

And why don't you want to use a swami?

I really wish I could explain to you how powerful this simple gimmick is but it is impossible to explain in words. I mainly use the swami to guess how much money someone has in their wallet and this one routine has booked me tons of events. It is so powerful that I plan to post a video on the blog about how to use the swami to book gigs.

Below is a clip of me performing it in the street. But I will warn you...this clip is not how I really perform the trick to book gigs, so don't copy the performance...I didn't want to reveal the secret to getting gigs with this tool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvySIx5K7VA

Hi Dorian, hope all is well.

all the best Pete

Welcome, Dorian!

If you have questions, fire away.

If you have a cool performance story, share it! We love hearing them.

And if you have advice or tips for others, it is always welcome.

Acar