The Archive
What used to be premium-only is going public in weekly stages. Past posts are being updated regularly, so check in.
The Skeptic at Table Three: Managing Disbelief Without Breaking the Room
March 5, 2023
There's a man in the third row. He arrived with his wife, who looks genuinely curious. He looks like he's waiting for something to go...
Part 2 of 4 · The Mentalism Persona
Part 2: The Mask That Makes Promises, How Your Mentalism Persona Sets Ethical Constraints You Cannot Ignore
February 10, 2023
In Part 1: The Second Skin Problem: Building a Mentalism Persona That Survives the Long Set, the argument was structural: your character has to be...
Part 1 of 4 · The Mentalism Persona
The Second Skin Problem: Building a Mentalism Persona That Survives the Long Set
January 1, 2023
I'm not going to tell you persona is everything. That's a workshop line, and workshop lines are where real thinking goes to die. What I...
Part 1 of 2 · Contact Mind Reading
Hellstromism: The Lost Art of Contact Mind Reading and the Performers Who Nearly Buried It
December 18, 2022
I don't necessarily believe that thought travels through skin. I do, however, have a strong conviction that something travels, something real, something the body broadcasts...
The Q&A Act Reconsidered: Billet Work, Switches, and the Power of the Written Confession
November 20, 2022
In Part 1: Annemann's Shadow: How 'Practical Mental Effects' Quietly Rewired Modern Mentalism, we traced how Annemann's foundational text quietly restructured the philosophy beneath the...
Reading Cold in a Warm Room: Why Some Venues Kill Mentalism Before It Starts
October 17, 2022
The room beats you to it, every time. You haven't spoken yet, your props are still packed, and the audience has already decided how much...
Forcing Belief: The Neuroscience Behind Why Mentalism Hits Harder Than Conjuring
September 26, 2022
Forcing Belief: The Neuroscience Behind Why Mentalism Hits Harder Than Conjuring The Difference Nobody Talks About Show someone a card trick and they applaud. Read...
Pre-Show as Performance: The Art of Intelligence Gathering Before the First Effect Begins
May 21, 2022
The show doesn’t begin when you ask for silence. For a working mentalist, the show begins when the first guest arrives, or in some cases...
The Force Unseen: Psychological Forcing Techniques for the Modern Mentalist
April 21, 2022
The best kind of force is the kind that does not even feel like force. You can mix up the cards in the deck if...
Annemann’s Shadow: How ‘Practical Mental Effects’ Quietly Rewired Modern Mentalism
April 7, 2022
The Book That Defined the Genre Without Saying SoPick up a copy of Practical Mental Effects and you are holding something that has shaped every...
The Participant Problem: Managing Volunteers Who Resist, Overperform, or Try to Expose You
March 6, 2022
Every working mentalist has a story. The volunteer who whispered the method to the table next to them. The séance sitter who broke the circle,...
Cold Reading Is Dead, Long Live Warm Reading: A Mentalist’s Field Guide to Genuine Connection
January 1, 2022
The Problem Nobody Wants to Admit Cold reading has a reputation problem. Not among magicians. Among everyone else. The mechanics are on YouTube. James Randi...