Axel Hellstrom
Axel Hellstrom (December 22, 1893 – July 22, 1933) was a German muscle reader, mentalist and stage magician. He redefined the art of muscle reading to such an extent that this technique, also known as "contact mind reading" and "Cumberlandism" (after a 19th-century practitioner named Stuart Cumberland), is now best known by the name "Hellstromism".Mason, Tom; Danko, Dan; Railing, John; Orleans, Danny. (2001). ''The Book of Mentalism''. Scholastic. p. 34. Biography Hellstrom was born Axel Vogt. He lived in Germany and fought in World War I where he watched a man perform an act of muscle reading. At the time, Germany did not allow mind reading unless it had a plausible explanation. The only type of mind reading allowed was muscle reading, and so Axel took advantage of it. He studied it carefully and taught himself everything. He entertained his fellow soldiers and became quite good at this old technique. After the war, he and his wife moved to America where he knew his art form w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Muscle Reading
Muscle reading, also known as " Hellstromism", "Cumberlandism" or "contact mind reading", is a technique used by mentalists to determine the thoughts or knowledge of a subject, the effect of which tends to be perceived as a form of mind reading. The performer can determine many things about the mental state of a subject by observing subtle, involuntary responses to speech or any other stimuli. It is closely related to the ideomotor effect, whereby subtle movements made without conscious awareness reflect a physical movement, action or direction which the subject is thinking about. The term "muscle reading" was coined in the 1870s by American neurologist George M. Beard to describe the actions of mentalist J. Randall Brown, an early proponent of the art. History Muscle reading is also known by the names of those who have used it in popular performances. The success of one early performer, Stuart Cumberland, led to the technique's alternate name of Cumberlandism. The fame of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mentalist
Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ psychic or supernatural forces but that is actually achieved by "ordinary conjuring means", natural human abilities (i.e. reading body language, refined intuition, subliminal communication, emotional intelligence), and an in-depth understanding of key principles from human psychology or other behavioral sciences. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognition, psychokinesis, mediumship, mind control, memory feats, deduction, and rapid mathematics. Mentalism is commonly classified as a subcategory of magic and, when performed by a stage magician, may also be referred to as ''mental magic''. However, many professional mentalists today may generally distinguish themselves from magicians, insisti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stage Magician
Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Stages Repertory Theatre, a theatre company in Houston, Texas Music Performers * Stage, an American band featuring Ryan Star Albums * ''Stage'' (David Bowie album), 1978 * ''Stage'' (Great White album), 1995 * ''Stage'' (Keller Williams album), 2004 * ''Stage'', by Mónica Naranjo, 2009 * ''The Stage'' (album), by Avenged Sevenfold, or the title song (see below), 2016 * ''Stages'' (Cassadee Pope album), 2019 * ''Stages'' (Elaine Paige album), 1983 * ''Stages'' (Eric Clapton album), 1993 * ''Stages'' (Jimi Hendrix album), 1991 * ''Stages'' (Josh Groban album), 2015 * ''Stages'' (Melanie C album), 2012 * ''Stages'' (Triumph album), 1985 * ''Stages'' (Vedera album), 2009 * '' Stages: The Lost Album'', ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stuart Cumberland
Stuart Cumberland (1857–1922) was an English mentalist known for his demonstrations of "thought reading". Cumberland was famous for performing blindfolded feats such as identifying a hidden object in a room that a person had picked out or asking someone to imagine a murder scene and then attempt to read the subject's thoughts and identify the victim and re-enact the crime. Cumberland claimed to possess no genuine psychic ability and his thought reading performances could only be demonstrated by holding the hand of his subject to read their muscular movements. He came into dispute with psychical researchers associated with the Society for Psychical Research who were searching for genuine cases of telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic .... Cumberland argue ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total population of over 84 million in an area of , making it the most populous member state of the European Union. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The Capital of Germany, nation's capital and List of cities in Germany by population, most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Settlement in the territory of modern Germany began in the Lower Paleolithic, with various tribes inhabiting it from the Neolithic onward, chiefly the Celts. Various Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in European theatre of World War I, Europe and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, Middle East, as well as in parts of African theatre of World War I, Africa and the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I, Asia-Pacific, and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare; the widespread use of Artillery of World War I, artillery, machine guns, and Chemical weapons in World War I, chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of Tanks in World War I, tanks and Aviation in World War I, aircraft. World War I was one of the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflicts in history, resulting in an estimated World War I casualties, 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded, plus some 10 million civilian de ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Muscle Reading
Muscle reading, also known as " Hellstromism", "Cumberlandism" or "contact mind reading", is a technique used by mentalists to determine the thoughts or knowledge of a subject, the effect of which tends to be perceived as a form of mind reading. The performer can determine many things about the mental state of a subject by observing subtle, involuntary responses to speech or any other stimuli. It is closely related to the ideomotor effect, whereby subtle movements made without conscious awareness reflect a physical movement, action or direction which the subject is thinking about. The term "muscle reading" was coined in the 1870s by American neurologist George M. Beard to describe the actions of mentalist J. Randall Brown, an early proponent of the art. History Muscle reading is also known by the names of those who have used it in popular performances. The success of one early performer, Stuart Cumberland, led to the technique's alternate name of Cumberlandism. The fame of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mentalism
Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ psychic or supernatural forces but that is actually achieved by "ordinary conjuring means", natural human abilities (i.e. reading body language, refined intuition, subliminal communication, emotional intelligence), and an in-depth understanding of key principles from human psychology or other behavioral sciences. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognition, psychokinesis, mediumship, mind control, memory feats, deduction, and rapid mathematics. Mentalism is commonly classified as a subcategory of magic and, when performed by a stage magician, may also be referred to as ''mental magic''. However, many professional mentalists today may generally distinguish themselves from magicians, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Magic (paranormal)
Magic, sometimes spelled magick, is the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed in the belief that they can manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces. It is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices sometimes considered separate from both religion and science. Connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history. Within Western culture, magic has been linked to ideas of the Other, foreignness, and primitivism; indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference" and likewise, a non-modern phenomenon. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people. Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), a British occultist, defined " magick" as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will", adding a 'k' to distinguish c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Banachek
Banachek (born Steven Shaw; 30 November 1960) is an English Mentalism, mentalist, magician (illusionist), magician, and thought reader. He first came to public attention as a teenager for his role in James Randi's Project Alpha (hoax), Project Alpha experiment, which exposed the lack of objectivity in parapsychology, parapsychology research. As director of the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge conducted by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), he has since tested the authenticity of many self-described psychics, none of whom has managed to pass scientific control, scientifically controlled tests of their claimed paranormal abilities. Banachek is currently a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, a program of the Center for Inquiry, and the president of JREF. Early life Banachek was born in England and raised in South Africa and Australia. He was abandoned at the age of nine in South Africa with his two brothers, aged one and three, and raised them by him ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kreskin
The Amazing Kreskin (born George Joseph Kresge Jr., January 12, 1935 – December 10, 2024), also known as Kreskin, was an American mentalist who became popular on television in the 1970s. He was inspired to become a mentalist by Lee Falk's comic strip ''Mandrake the Magician'', which features a crime-fighting stage magician. He always presented himself as a mentalist, never as a psychic, who operated on the basis of suggestion, not the paranormal or supernatural. Early life and education George Joseph Kresge Jr. was born on January 12, 1935, in Montclair, New Jersey, to a Polish father and Sicilian mother and grew up with his younger brother in West Caldwell, New Jersey, where he would reside for most of his life. His father worked for a battery manufacturer. Kreskin attended Seton Hall University, earning a degree in psychology. He worked for several years as a clinical psychologist while developing his act. Career From 1972 to 1975, Kreskin's television series ''The Amazing W ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |