An interactive mentalism performance
Irina Costache / Everyday schoolgirl
On Thursday, December 2, mentalist couple Antonina La and David Hall performed an interactive mind-reading show in the University of Massachusetts Student Union Ballroom.
“Mentalism is like magic, but it’s for your mind. So what your eyes are seeing here tonight may not be real. But what your mind will feel and experience will be, ”Hall said at the start of the show.
Mentalism is a performance act, often classified as a subcategory of magic, in which performers exhibit extraordinary mental abilities. The Mentalists’ show included acts of mind reading, telepathy, and some form of mind control, which Hall referred to in one of the acts as “neuro-linguistic programming.”
In an act of mind reading, La identified the exact date of birth of a volunteer audience member. They picked James Mayer, a freshman in electrical engineering, who was asked to look at his license and imagine his date of birth. At this point, La stood on stage while volunteering in the audience. Within seconds, La revealed her date of birth.
“It was crazy. i thought so [the show] was planned. But I wasn’t expected, ”Mayer said.
Besides reading minds, the show was filled with incredible coincidences. At the start of the show, for example, Hall devised a number with the help of two volunteers. The number consisted of the multiplication of three three-digit numbers: one from Hall and two from the volunteers.
At this point, the number didn’t mean much. But throughout the show, the number started to pop up several times. In one case, the number corresponded to the serial number of a dollar bill donated by a volunteer as part of another act.
La and Hall’s highly interactive performance relied on voluntary audience participation. Fortunately, the audience seemed engaged in the performance and a significant number were eager to volunteer for the acts. “It was great to see everyone put their hands up and go on stage and get excited. We are very happy, ”La said.
The event, coordinated by the University Programming Council (UPC), had strong student participation. “It was a great participation. They [UPC] does a great job with marketing, ”Hall said. He added that “colleges are one of our favorite places to perform just because of student backlash.”
From UPC, first year marketing and communications student Prisha Mark said “we worked with them [Antonina and David] before and they are great. And we usually get a really good turnout and everyone on campus loves them. “
Based in Boston, Antonina and David have performed across the country and abroad. According to their website, what makes their shows unique is “that they not only entertain you, but also engage you in the mind-blowing experience that is mentalism.”
In addition to their expertise in mentalism, the couple also have training in improv, sketch and comedy theater. Hall is also trained in hypnosis in Las Vegas and presents a comedy hypnosis show called “Cards Against Hypnosis”.
The couple come from different parts of the world, creating for multicultural shows. Hall comes from a small town in southern Vermont. La is from the Urals region of Russia. They have been playing together for seven years now, David said.
Mustafa Almutawa can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @safiookarim.
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