It is no secret that Kenton is my mentor in Mentalism. One of the first living legends that offer me his ideas and allow me to understand the creation of mental mysteries.
I used my version of his wonderful "Time Machine" in my act several years ago and I know that is super powerful as a strange piece of hypnopoetry, surprising coin change (that doesnt feel like a normal magic trick at all) and the final revelation of the thought of year.
In all honestly, I dont perform it anymore due I prefer now to create and express more credible experiences for my audiences but we can learn a lot about this piece and particularly this performance.
First of all, observe his natural script. His pace, pauses, silences and interesting narrative that offers at the beginning regarding the "Time Machine" metaphor.
First of all, observe his natural script. His pace, pauses, silences and interesting narrative that offers at the beginning regarding the "Time Machine" metaphor.
Notice then his soft and caring attitude towards his participant. Most of the times the first solution to any potential heckler is just not being an a$$h0le, and some people dont realize that they mistreat audience members.
I love how his needed procedure flows so naturally, without any guilt. All actions are motivated and even if you "know" the core method used to get the date, you can appreciate his psychological subtleties and attitude.
One of the key factors in "Time Machine" is the proper use of "visualizations". You can see how Kenton stimulates all five senses, not just the visuals. If you want to learn more about this you can check the work from Paolo Cavalli and Milton Erickson.
Finally, I love the last image from the video, which I also use as feature image (which is not good quality in graphical terms, but it can teach us as lot about performance´s focus). Is ALL about them. Let THEM be the stars.
They will still offer you credit, applause and attention. If you want more ideas about this, you can check my "Humanistic Performance Approach" (contribution to Neal Scryer & Friends) just clicking HERE
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