Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Project 365 (27/365): Drawing Duplication

.:27/365: Drawing Duplication:.


Hello, boys. Meet Angela Funovits. Yes, she counts as a mentalist.

One of the most common demonstrations of mind-reading for the mentalist has got to be the drawing duplication routine. An act often performed by the irrepressible Uri Geller, this crowd favourite has two people, a volunteer and the mentalist, standing back to back, and while the volunteer is drawing something on the canvas, the mentalist is apparently drawing a very similar thing.

It’s considered remote viewing, to a large extent, but it’s still one of the coolest applications of this particular skill. Given the mechanics, the simplicity of the script when it comes to performing this routine cannot be denied, and is precisely what makes it appealing to the working performer. I mean, how much simpler can it be, right? You draw something, the mentalist duplicates it. Sometimes, knowing that the mentalist is using intuition to get things right makes near misses even more amazing than having the mentalist get it 100% dead on.

That being said, the Drawing Duplication routine is certainly one of the most powerful routines out there, and there are a million and one ways to do it. I sometimes include it in my show when I have a string of mind-reading feats I wish to demonstrate, and overall, it’s a definite crowd-pleaser, especially if your volunteer decides to be a bit naughty with his or her drawing.

Just about every mentalist of note has their own take on it. From Guy Bavli to Osterlind to Banachek to Maven to Derren Brown, these mentalists have made it clear that this act is a keeper and it’s a classic for a reason. You’d be insane to not include it in your act if you’re a full-time mentalist. It’s short, sweet, direct to the point, and makes for a nice memento after your performance.

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