The Archive
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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...
The Ethics of Belief: Simulation, Responsibility, and Where the Line Actually Is
November 7, 2022
I don't claim to be psychic. I want to be clear about that up front. But I've watched people leave a performance room with something...
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...
Spirit Trumpets, Slates, and Ectoplasm Cabinets: Collecting the Physical Artifacts of Fraudulent Mediumship
September 2, 2022
Spirit Trumpets, Slates, and Ectoplasm Cabinets: Collecting the Physical Artifacts of Fraudulent Mediumship Why This Category Rewards Serious Attention The physical apparatus of fraudulent mediumship...
The Collector’s Eye: Authenticating, Sourcing, and Valuing Antique Occult Instruments
August 7, 2022
Most collectors learn the hard way. They buy what looks right, trust a seller's word on age, and discover six months later they've paid a...
Sound Design for the Séance: How Audio Architecture Shapes Belief and Sustains Atmosphere
July 23, 2022
In Part 1: The Architecture of Dread: Building Atmospheric Tension Before a Single Word Is Spoken, the focus was physical: room arrangement, sightlines, the deliberate...
The Séance Table as Mise-en-Scène: Designing Environments That Break Skeptics
July 2, 2022
By the time your first participant sits down, the séance has already been running for twenty minutes. The work happened while they were in the...
Beyond the Slate: Forgotten Instruments of the Victorian Séance Room
June 5, 2022
In Part 1: Spirit Slates and Their Shadows: The Forgotten Spiritualist Prop That Still Haunts the Stage, I talked about how people began using the...
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...