On illusions - John Hendrickson in NYT:

‘It was a chilly October night, and Mr. Pearlman was sitting for an interview just offstage after executing similarly confounding feats for more than a thousand people aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier docked on the West Side of Manhattan.
Mr. Pearlman, a.k.a. “Oz the Mentalist,” is a professional disorienter. He’s a practitioner of mentalism, a subset of magic grounded in a performer’s ability to create the illusion of mind-reading and, on occasion, mind control. Often, he appears to know things no stranger should know.’

(…)

‘It was a chilly October night, and Mr. Pearlman was sitting for an interview just offstage after executing similarly confounding feats for more than a thousand people aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier docked on the West Side of Manhattan.
Mr. Pearlman, a.k.a. “Oz the Mentalist,” is a professional disorienter. He’s a practitioner of mentalism, a subset of magic grounded in a performer’s ability to create the illusion of mind-reading and, on occasion, mind control. Often, he appears to know things no stranger should know.’

(…)

‘ “locked door,” he writes, should be reimagined as a “jammed door.” He implores his readers to “replace the word ‘no’ with ‘not yet.’” He does not reveal any of his most coveted magical secrets. After all, he has a living to make.’

(…)

‘On the low end, Mr. Pearlman charges around $150,000 per live show, and often visits multiple cities per week. His 2025 calendar has approximately 150 paid bookings on it, and dozens of TV hits and podcast interviews.’

(…)

‘“I would say not a deep dive but, like, a mile-high view,” he said, tossing out my college’s mascot as one illustrative example. Before the interview was over, he had successfully “guessed” a close friend’s nickname.
That morning, Mr. Pearlman — navy chinos, white sneakers, occasionally glancing at his phone — was also playing the role of Brooklyn dad. He was all smiles, juggling his daughter’s scooter and birthday cupcakes to drop off at her classroom. Mr. Pearlman and his wife-slash-manager, Elisa Rosen, are raising five children, the youngest of whom is five months old.’

(…)

‘“I think that technology is going to catch up to being able to read minds,” Mr. Pearlman said. He mused about how long mentalism might have before machines take over, maybe a decade, maybe less.’

Read the article here

Even the mentalist will be replaced by a machine.

But before that day, $150,000 per live show, on the low end, should give us i.e. the mentalists and the economy some comfort.

It’s a bit harsh to read that the mentalist plays Brooklyn-dad, but alas the mentalist is all about play.

Authenticity – and that’s true of course not only for mentalists – is in the eye of the beholder.