The top 10 mentalist
This is a list of the top ten mentalists in my opinion. Some of them you might not agree with but you can definetely take something away from each of them especially if you want to know how to become a mentalist Feel free to stay and watch a few of the videos of these master mentalists in action.
1. Derren Brown.
Without doubt the most prolific and influential mentalist of our time. Derren brown was born in 1971 and is an English born mentalist, i’m sure you are all familiar with the works of Derren brown. Since his first broadcast in 2000 (Derren Brown mind control) Derren has been constantly refining his skills and looking to out do himself with each appearance. Whilst some people actually believe he has psychic or real magical abilities he openly admits everything he does is the result of suggestion, psychology, misdirections and showmanship with a little sprinkling of “Magic”. Derren Is by far the most recognizable and publicly influential mentalist of our time and perhaps the best person to watch if you want to learn mentalism.
2. The Amazing Kreskin
I love Kreskin, though his popularity only really picked up in America. Those from a UK or other audience outside of America might not be familiar with his mentalism feats. He became famous around the time that Derren Brown was born and therefore was performing way before Derren brown. He was inspired in his early years by a comic by Lee Falk which featured a crime fighting magician. In many ways he prepared the audience for future mentalists to dazzle them.
3. Max Maven
Max Maven is another great mentalist whom on first glace you can tell he believes in showmanship. The way he looks and the way he speaks really helps immerse people and prepare the audience to expect something special. I find him very entertaining.
4. Uri Geller
Uri Geller is on this list mostly because he put bums in seats. Many people around the world watched Uri Geller he is possibly still the most famous Mentalist/Illusionist. The major difference between Uri and Kreskin or Derren Brown is that he tells people that he has supernatural abilities. Uri is most well known for bending metal objects. He also got exposed by James Randi but it’s not really a secret that he doesn’t actually have paranormal abilities
5. Marc Salem
Marc Salem is a mentalist that specializes in non verbal communication. He refined his abilities to read body language. He also has a good sense of dry humor. Who can stop and start his pulse at will and identify objects whilst blindfolded. He believes that people give off a tremendous ammount of information non verbally and he has an amazing ability of acurately assessing what someones non verbal communication is telling you. He is actually really good and definitely should receive more attention.
6. Gerry Mccambridge
Gerry comes from a different background that you might imagine one would follow to perform mentalism. His father was a New York Detective and an expert in interviews and interrogation and what he learned about observation and reading body language really rubbed off on Gerry. A testament to how important reading body language is. You can find some of the best mentalism books here there are some great ones about body language written by people from intelligence agencies.
Gary use to run the las vegas strip and has performed over 500 shows there. in 2004 Gerry had his first prime time TV show which had over 6.2 million viewers tune into watch. Watch the show below
7. Craig Karges
The self proclaimed “extraordinist” (he invented the word) he’s very good at what he does which usually involves reading minds, levitating tables and bending metal. He is a big performer and has performed over 5000 times through out his career.
8. Banachek
Banachek is a quality mentalist whom has written quite a lot of literature on the topic and even invented a few tricks such as the famous Penn and teller bullet catching trick.
If you like Joe Rogan there is also a really good skit with Banachek and Rogan.
9. Bob Cassidy
Bob Cassidy has done a lot for mentalism his book is mentioned in our essential reading list he also breaks down the 37 best books to learn mentalism (all in his book). You will probably recognize him. I love his confidence whilst he performs.
10. The Evasons
The only mentalist mind reading duo on the list. Watch them if you haven’t already.
