Many young boys dream of being a superhero – a Batman or a Superman. And although he’s not responding to signals in the sky or wearing red underwear on top of his pants, Mysterion, a self-proclaimed “psychological entertainer,” does possess a superpower of sorts. Mysterion can read your mind. Kind of.
With ten years of experience honing his skills at a wide variety of events, such as company parties, seminars, galas and bar mitzvahs, Mysterion’s impressive talent has brought him international success performing in festivals all over the U.S, Europe, and even, the Bahamas.
His routine includes feats of mind reading, spirit communication and telekinesis (the ability to move objects with one’s mind). What he does is a strand of mentalism and he openly admits that he can’t actually read minds, but instead uses psychology to get his results.
“I use psychology and slight of mind – not slight of hand,” he said in an interview.
He assures that his act is not a gimmick and that he does not use trick props. He even encourages future audiences to bring their own cutlery for his spoon-bending segment.
This Georgian College trained chef quit the kitchens to fulfill his love of performing and exercising his persuasive nature. He discovered his knack for persuading early in his life and practiced on family members. He recalls asking both his grandmother and aunt to buy him a toy – typically Star Wars-related, he adds – without the other knowing, under the condition that he behave all week. And sure enough, both relatives, unaware of the other’s involvement in Mysterion’s ruse, bought the young trickster the toy he wanted.
“I still do that bullshit now,” he laughed.
However, persuading is only part of his performance. The other part is observing ideomotor responses, which are unconscious body movements such as nodding and eye movement. These responses communicate to Mysterion and give him a general feeling of his subject, allowing him to predict certain things.
Along with performing 30-40 shows a month and managing the “Kentucky Butcher” of Ontario Independent Wrestling, he is also writing a book about adapting to audiences which is not specifically meant for mind readers, but is a general life skills book. Even though he has memorized his script and has been performing for so long, Mysterion acknowledges that each show varies.
“I have to be on my toes, there are a lot of curve balls that can be thrown at me,” he says.
Mysterion got his stage name from the Spiderman super villain Mysterio, and “stuck an ‘n’ on it.” A little digging revealed to him that the word actually means “secret” or “knowledge beyond,” and is also a biblical term for a mystery beyond human comprehension.he found that mysterion the word actually means secret, knowledge beyond, and is also a Biblical term for a mystery beyond human comprehension. How fitting.
