Mentalism: Power of magic rooted in science

Minutes into the conversation, a man sitting nearly 1,000 miles away in Mumbai, asks me to think of two geometric figures in my mind, only to later leave me dumbfounded by predicting them right, including the way I’d imagined it. This is our first conversation – we’ve never met or interacted before. But that’s Akshay Laxman for you, one of India’s most popular mentalists. “I didn’t read your mind. I figured it out by decoding your personality from the conversation,” begins Akshay. For the uninitiated, mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance (perceiving things or events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact), precognition and rapid mathematics. 

Inspired by legendary illusionists David Copperfield and David Blaine, Akshay, then a mass media student, says he was most interested in the psychology part of it. “My venture into mentalism was a result of my love for psychology and performance followed by investing years of practise and effort in learn the tricks,” says Akshay, who will be performing in the city at a charity event organised by Ladies Circle 133 and Round Table 159 with Kesar Gifts. But how different is it from traditional magic? “Mentalism is a discipline of magic. Unlike magicians who pull white rabbits and doves out of hats, mentalists try to enter the audience’s mind space. It has nothing to do with supernatural powers though as opposed to popular notion. Rather, it involves cognitive psychology and subliminal messages that are inaudible to the conscious mind but audible to the unconscious or deeper mind. At the core of it, there’s a lot of science involved. It’s all about creating an illusion of reading someone’s mind,” explains Akshay, before quickly adding, “But I’m not going to tell you how it’s done.” Akshay has also been a regular on television programmes, stage productions and international art events. 

At his show titled Magic of the Mind, in the city, Akshay will be striking conversations with people deciphering the name of their first crush, their interests, creating a bond between two complete strangers, and more, peppered with lots of humour. “These will be people I’ve never met before. It’s spontaneous and all about the kind of questions you ask to understand the individual,” finishes Akshay.