@Richard – excellent point. I used to close my stand up show with a prediction of the Murderer, Weapon and Room from a game of Clue.

Thanks to both you and Danny

Can I get an “AMEN!” I hear ya Jay . . . that’s where I stand.

As much as I love to argue/debate a philosophical point, I’m actually not arguing here. I’m genuinely curious what it is that makes a difference.

So the question then becomes . . . how does a brightly colored prop change what type of genre you are performing?

Much of it seems to be a “feeling.” If it can give the impression of magic instead of mindreading, it’s often labeled mind magic.

If it relies on props – especially bright visual props – it’s usually considered mind magic.

There are even some which go so far as to say if the presentation isn’t deadly serious, it’s mind magic.

Of course, the exceptions to these “rules” include Kreskin, Dunninger, and Annemann.

@Chet – Bizarre magic isn’t as “un-cut-and-dried” as mental magic vs. mentalism is in my mind. I’m still very interested in just a simple bullet-point list of the difference. Usually when I ask this question, the response I get is very similar to the one you just gave . . . I could write a book about it . . . but nobody can write a sentence about it . . . very strange. I honestly do not know what people are claiming the difference is, so I can’t even take a side or a stance because I don’t know what the argument is.

Jeffersonian: Give me some time and I may come up with an entire article about the ongoing argument(s) between the terms “mentalism,” “mental magic,” and even “bizarre magic.”