A new week, a new chance to learn!
Today, from the insight of Living Legend Kenton Knepper, from his recent "Making Mystery" project.
What a beautiful twist on our responsibility as Mystery Performers. Most of the time, we focus too much on "claims" or "disclaimers", but rarely on "responsibility", concepts that are tightly related.
No, I can't be responsible for what they understand, because communication is always a mystery in itself. But I can be responsible for what I say and what I intend.
There is a lot of misunderstanding from people trying to see Mentalism as charlatanism simply because the performer seems to apply unknown techniques to achieve his goals. But isn't that the whole point!?
Disclaimers appear to be the ultimate way to ensure an "ethical" performance, but we know, through personal experience and the work of many greats such as David Hoy, Derren Brown and others, that no matter the level of disclaimers you give, people will simply perceive the reality of the experience as they desire.
On the contrary, if your disclaimers ruin the mystery experience by declaring that everything is fake, we are actually disempowering people from their own enjoyment of the experience. Our words can create or destroy. Let us use them to uplift people in individual ways, and to embrace mystery itself as the nature of everyday life.
That's why Kenton always focuses on the complete distance from "advice", which he spells "add-vice". Nobody needs more vices.
We need to offer anti-vices: liberation, imagination, and awe.
You can offer a fantastic mysterious experience and offer people a new experience beyond rationalism and materialism. We can use performance as a bridge towards a higher narrative of empowerment and meaning.
No matter your fictional claim, be sure to invite people into a journey into the mysteries of their own minds, inspiring them to tap into their own potential.
Don't offer advice in any case. Let them figure things out as they can, on all levels.You are not there to give direct answers, but deeper questions.
This quote is not just about being "nice" to people, but actually about being astute enough to not just suggest things directly, but to facilitate their own self-suggestion, which works at a deeper level, not just of "education" but of "inspiration".
Thanks, Kenton, for your inspiring and transformational work.
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