There are quite many pretty easy to learn mentalism tricks revealed. And here is one of them. This trick in particular was well presented in the TV series “The Mentalist“. So first watch the video fragment where the main character Patrick Jane performs the mentalism trick to his colleague. Then read through the text carefully. Then watch the video again, paying attention to the details. I have to point out, that the routine below is a good start if you are at the beginning of your journey of learning mentalism tricks.

Step 1 – Choosing a Moment

This mentalism trick is recommended to perform in the comfortable, relaxed and calm atmosphere. For example, I wouldn’t do it in the club where you have to shout into the ear of a person when speaking. I wouldn’t do it in the middle of the street or in a subway, where someone can push or distract you or the spectator (a person, who you are performing the trick to). However, complete isolation like being locked up in your room just two of you is not necessary either. You have to see by yourself when it is appropriate to perform.

Step 2 – Preparation

The spectator and you have to stand 50-70 centimetres (~20-25 inches) apart face-to-face to each other. You have to be relaxed. Take a deep breath and intentionally feel yourself chilled and relaxed. Then make a small pause, look into the eyes of the spectator, and with a little bit lower and calmer than usually voice ask the spectator the following:

“Are you ready?”, – wait for the positive answer of the spectator. Then ask:

“Feeling awake, mentally alert?”

After the nod, “yes” or another form of positive answer of the spectator, say some sort of approval, like “Perfect!” or “Excellent!” and move on to the next step.

Step 3 – The Screen

You continue in the same calm and relaxed way:

“I want you to imagine the screen between you and I”, and pause.

While you are saying the phrase and making a pause, you are drawing with your point fingers an imaginary rectangular screen in the air between the spectator and you, approximately equally away from both of you. The screen should not be too big. Roughly it should not be higher than the head of the spectator, not wider than his/her shoulders, and not lower than his/her chest. As I mentioned above, the screen is supposed to be rectangular with the long side placed horizontally.

As soon as you can see that the spectator has projected the screen in his/her mind, it´s time to move on to the next step.

Step 4 – A Triangle

You say: “On that screen I want you to project a basic shape. Like a square, but not a
square.”

While saying that, you have to be making a certain gesture. Lift your hands into the air in front of you approximately at the level of your neck and put your thumbs, point and middle fingers so, as if you were holding a triangle of a size a bit narrower than your shoulders. You do not want to make it obvious, so make sure you do it naturally, relaxed and subtle. The main purpose of that is to push subconscious mind of the spectator to think of a triangle.

After your words “…but not a square”, while continuing “holding” the triangle, ask sincerely:

“Is everything clear?” or just “Got it?”, like in the video.

And after his/her positive answer, you say:

“Lock it in!”, and move to the next step.

Step 5 – A Circle

You continue:

“Now I want you to project another shape and put that shape around the shape you already have.”

While saying “..another shape..” move your hands so, as if you were drawing a circle around the triangle that you were just holding. You don’t have to draw a full circle. Just make a gesture which would push the spectator to think of a circle.

Wait for a confirmation of the spectator, then say:

“Perfect!” or “Fantastic!”, – and move on to the next one.

Step 6 – Cold Reading

Now you have to play along as if something mysterious was happening. Make serious and concentrated face and say:

“Here is the fun part. Now concentrate, and project that onto the back of my mind. Look right here [point to the place between your eyebrows]. Open up your mind, and send it to me. ”

Make a pause, you can close your eyes if you want, breathe in deeply and breathe out slowly. Carry on in a mysterious way:

“Ok. Now I started to feel it.”

With a cheering intonation:

“It’s a triangle inside a circle!”

The job is done and it’s time to enjoy your success and the reaction of the spectator.

Most probably you will get asked “How did you do that?!” In this case you can say something basic like: “Oh, it’s pretty simple. It’s one of the forms of mind reading. Maybe I’ll explain some other time”. And change the subject as if nothing has happened. You can also go for something more interesting, that would keep up the interest of the spectator and build up your reputation of a mentalist, like the guy in the video did: “Oh, that’s nothing! That’s just a calibration key to real mind reading. Now I have access to all your innermost thoughts.” But the best way is to think of something that would suits you personally.

If you want to learn few more tricks, then you can see this post. There you will find video tutorials of the three simple yet impressive mentalism card tricks.

In case if you are wondering where and how you can get deeper into the art of mentalism, then I recommend you to look through this post: How to Become a Mentalist. There you will find a brief guide and useful recommendations, like what books your should start with, what online course is the most effective and complete.