Secret Magic Talk - Your Mind
Ingo Oschmann, Andreas Fleckenstein and Alexander Lehmann discussed my "Your mind" trilogy in their German podcast "Der Secret Magic Talk". Here is a summary of the segment.
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Vincent Hedan is a French mentalist whom some listeners may already know through his book about Pi. Of particular interest is his Your Mind… trilogy, consisting of Your Mind Is My Playground, Your Mind Is Still My Playground, and Your Mind Will Always Be My Playground.
The books contain some very strong routines, all firmly rooted in mentalism without becoming mystical or bizarre. Hedan originally comes from a card-magic background, and he develops many interesting ideas from that foundation.
One routine uses a principle reminiscent of the well-known Mona Lisa Puzzle. Instead of a puzzle, Hedan works with a large collection of Polaroid photographs. One photograph is selected and ultimately matches a prediction.
Another very clever idea is based on a children’s toy: a shape sorter containing geometric blocks such as stars, triangles, and other shapes. Hedan uses the toy as a kind of alternative to ESP cards. It becomes an entertaining mentalism routine in which the performer knows when each symbol was placed into the container. It also works very well as a stand-up routine.
His chair test is particularly effective. Many traditional chair tests involve bringing four or five people onstage, which can quickly become cumbersome for the performer and sometimes makes it difficult for the audience to follow exactly what the effect is. Hedan considerably simplifies the structure: there are still five chairs, but only two participants, a couple. At the end, the couple are seated next to each other while the remaining chairs are left empty. It could work particularly well in a wedding setting.
Another routine uses a simple cardboard switch box in an unusual way. A silk ribbon protrudes from the box. A spectator pulls out as much ribbon as they wish and cuts it. The remaining portion is placed inside the box. When the box is opened, the rest of the ribbon emerges with a weight attached to it. Written on the weight is a prediction matching the exact length chosen by the spectator—for example, 1.86 metres. It is a very simple but effective idea that uses a familiar prop in a different way.
There is also a nice routine involving balloons, somewhat reminiscent of a chair test. Three people stand behind three balloons of different colours and change places. The balloons are then popped, and at the end a prediction is revealed that matches the resulting order.
In their practical approach, some of the routines are reminiscent of Luca Volpe’s work: technically, they are very easy to perform, while being thoroughly explained in the book. Hedan also provides many ideas concerning presentation and practical performance. Although the book is written in English, it is very easy to understand and well illustrated.
Overall, it receives a clear recommendation: a book full of good ideas, the kind of book you do not simply read once but can take off the shelf again and again to browse through. The routines are easy to perform, clearly presented, and offer plenty of material to think about and develop further.
Vincent Hedan is, in any case, a great thinker and magician.
One of the speakers adds that he had barely been aware of Hedan beforehand and had mainly encountered his name in connection with his book about Pi. Since that particular subject did not personally interest him, he had never really explored Hedan’s other work before.
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You can listen to the full podcast in German here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/secret-magic-talk/id1574030695?i=1000727777539
