By Haiba Iftikhar
Srinagar: Have you ever thought of someone reading your mind and verbalizing the accurate answer to your surprise? Well, this is not something unreal. Aazan Makdoomi, 26, a mentalist from Kashmir does it to perfection.
A mentalist is someone who blends close-up magic, humor, and mind manipulation to produce a mesmerizing, live entertainment act. Mentalists are multi-talented; some specialize in mind reading and mental manipulation, while others offer hypnosis and perform magic acts.
Aazan developed an interest in mentalism ever since he was a teenager and his skills have been fine-tuned over the course of 10 years.
“In 2010, I began learning magic tricks, such as slight of hand, playing cards, and coins via YouTube. And then I saw a show called ‘Deception’ in which Kieth Barry was guessing people’s ATM pins,” Aazan said.
Fascinated, he did some research to find out who Kieth Barry is, what he does, and what it’s called. He tried to find out if there are any additional aspects of this field. Aazan knew right away that this is what he wanted to do.
Aazan then moved on to look at other mentalists and their published work, which he could access only through a paid subscription. Eventually, he was content with the paid material rather than the freely available material from Google or YouTube. There was a major difference between the two.
“When I saw it, it was like opening a treasure chest. Whatever I was learning, I was getting more accurate and it did start working,” he said.
Aazan began doing magic tricks with his classmates and friends to gain experience. His coin or card tricks impressed everyone. His motivating factor was the fact that he was doing this activity in front of these people while they were oblivious to it. He noticed that people aren’t aware of how much information they’re giving away without realizing it.
“There are just two skills in this field: reading people, their body language, expressions, the way they conduct themselves, the way they speak, everything about them. The second skill includes, influencing them; Planting ideas in their heads. Both have their own distinct methods,” he said.
He is proficient at tailoring his programme to every sort of audience. “Aazan made me bend a coin in my palm. He told me to channel my energy to the coin and I just applied some pressure to it. It was not enough to bend a whole coin but it did!” said Azra, who met Aazan at a local café where he used to perform on weekends.
“I believe people need more stories. At the end of the day they go home, sit with their loved ones and discuss whatever has happened with them throughout the day, they should have stories to share. By giving them these stories, I become a part of their lives,” Aazan said.
Derren Brown is his favorite mentalist. He is one of the most accomplished mentalists who can influence people’s perceptions.
“I can create a scope for mentalism in Kashmir. If not me then who? My motivation isn’t money, it is an improvement, and that will only happen if I perform a lot,” he exclaimed.
Pandemic also hit Aazan as he could not perform. However, technology came to this rescue and he discovered people performing mentalism virtually. He used social media by randomly picking people virtually and performing for them.
“The best part about being a mentalist is to see people doubt their reality for a few moments. When I figure out something as simple as someone’s password, it makes people question their reality, and that look on their face is priceless,” he said.
