Originally, ‘inexplicable means’ were thought of and portrayed as the work of ghosts or spirits. Nowadays, though, telekinesis is considered as more of a human phenomenon – the power to move objects with your mind.

One of the most famous telekinesis practitioners of all time is Uri Gellar. Uri became known worldwide for his ability to bend spoons using the power of his mind. Uri himself claimed that what he was real, and that it relied on a special power- an energy force from within himself that allowed him to perform incredible feats.

The main reason for Uri’s success was that he was able to convince people that what he was doing was real. In fact, as recently as September 2006, a survey about belief in various religious and paranormal topics conducted by phone and mail-in questionnaire polled Americans on their belief in telekinesis. Of these participants, 28% of male participants and 31% of female participants selected “agree” or “strongly agree”!

People’s belief in telekinesis provides magicians the opportunity to truly astonish an audience with telekinesis or PK style magic tricks. If you already perform some mentalism or mind reading magic tricks you will know first-hand just how much stronger the magic can be for an audience if they believe that what they are seeing could be real. Even if you don’t perform mentalism, you will no doubt have experienced the impact of Derren Brown’s performances have had on real people, because everything he does seems plausible.

Telekinesis is not mentalism, and it isn’t magic. It is a type of effect that bridges the two genres perfectly, because it retains the visual style of traditional close up magic, with the themes and believability of mentalism. If, like many performers, you like to mix both magic and mentalism, then adding a telekinesis trick to your act will help you transition from one style to the other perfectly. That’s not to say that is the only use for tricks of that nature- many of the best telekinesis tricks are so powerful you may want to consider using them as your ‘closer’ or even saving them for a stand-alone performance.

To give you some ideas, here are some of the absolute best telekinesis products available right now:

Liquid Metal
This is the ultimate instructional DVD if you are looking to add some metal bending to your act. The full routine is phenomenally powerful, and one of the strongest pieces of magic you can perform for a live audience. Whilst not necessarily for a beginner, the teaching is excellent and if you are willing to put the time in to perfecting the trick, you will have an honest-to-goodness MIRACLE in your hands!

Loops
If you prefer a more organic approach to your magic, you may want to consider Loops By Yigal Mesika. This allows you to do a huge range of telekinesis magic tricks using everyday objects like playing cards, money, forks  What is particularly good about Loops is that you can even cause the movement to happen on a spectators hand. You can create the impression that it is your spectator that is making the magic happen, adding to the impossibility and making the tricks believable.

Spin
If you are thinking of trying some telekinesis, and want to be able to perform anytime without having to carry any special props with you, then SPIN is perfect for you. This is one of the strongest things you can perform impromptu. If you haven’t heard of this trick or seen the demo, go and watch it now and you will be amazed at the strength of this effect- all performed with regular objects.

Control

If you’re looking for a combination of telekinesis and strong magic then you should try this out! Control allows you to impossibly cause a small stone, or other small item to become animated in your spectator’s hand. You can cause a cigarette to topple over underneath an upturned glass an even make a coin completely vanish. Amazing, original and something that your spectators will absolutely remember you for.

This really depends on your performance style. In the main, telekinesis tricks work well when presented seriously. Remember, you are selling the idea that what is happening is a result of mental power, or concentration. Presentations with minimal speaking can allow for focus on the visual, and allow you to play on the fact that you are using a lot of physical effort during the trick (TIP- remember how David Blaine presented his levitation on his early TV specials? People were convinced it was real because he was so ‘physically drained’ after his performance). This style of presentation also has the advantage of giving you a legitimate reason for not repeating the trick, which a lot of magic tricks don’t afford you.