Preface by Bernard Werber: - The Secrets of Mentalists.

“Pascal Le Guern and Tibor the Mentalist (Stéphane Krausz), My Two Teachers of Magic and Mentalism”

Magic lies at the foundation of every profession. All the more so in mine. You have to hold people’s attention, surprise them, and fill them with wonder. In doing so, the person receiving the message becomes a child again, rediscovering curiosity and interest in everything around them.

In truth, illusion brings a little dream into ordinary life. Magic should be taught in schools. Magic should be placed everywhere.

When I write a novel, I have the same concern: to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, to create a diversion in order to surprise them, and, in the end, to reveal something that leaves the reader stunned or, at the very least, makes them smile. And for this effect to work, the reader or spectator must have had all the elements needed to find the answer, but must have been distracted by a false lead or a diversion.

A magician, and a mentalist just as much, must know a multitude of disciplines in order to perform their effects effectively: psychology, to choose a volunteer and adapt to their reactions; dexterity, to conceal certain elements; a sense of observation, to discover how other people’s tricks work; mathematical logic, to remember formulas; inventiveness, to improve existing tricks; stagecraft, to light or reveal elements in a way that multiplies the effects; memory, since some tricks work with lists that must be learned by heart; and above all, humor, to handle a trick that goes wrong.

I met Pascal Le Guern after receiving a letter in which he asked me to help him write a novel. I then suggested that I guide him in my field if he would teach me the art and practice of his. And so, we exchanged lessons in novel writing for lessons in magic. Pascal taught me a few card tricks, sleight-of-hand tricks, and he also taught me hypnosis.

I met Stéphane Krausz during the shooting of a film. He was the director, and I was an actor. We immediately got along, and I watched him become passionate, first as an amateur and then gradually as a professional, about magic. Stéphane specialized in mentalism, which seemed to him better suited to the kind of show he wanted to create. I believe he had always wanted to read people’s minds, especially those of young women! And for him, the advantage of mentalism over magic is that spectators often find themselves interacting with the effect, whether individually or collectively.

Stéphane took the name Tibor as a tribute to the father of the famous mentalist Uri Geller, known for bending teaspoons on television in the 1980s. At first, I saw Stéphane fail several of his tricks, but far from giving up, he turned his weakness into an advantage: “You think I failed? Well, no, in fact, I succeeded even better than you thought!”

People often have the impression that magicians and mentalists take no risks, but I know, because I know both authors of this book very well, that they sometimes pay dearly with their own bodies simply to achieve an effect. For example, they may find themselves having to carry heavy and complicated equipment. I remember Pascal wearing, strapped to his calf, in order to stop the second hand of a watch, a large electric battery connected to an electromagnet, which had the unfortunate side effect of regularly demagnetizing the videotapes and bank cards of the people around him. I once saw Stéphane, during a performance he was giving at my home, head off grimacing toward the bathroom, asking for the help of a doctor friend equipped with tweezers: he was troubled by constant feedback because he had pushed an earpiece too deeply into his ear! That is the price to pay for applause.

Fortunately, most of the experiments proposed in this book require no physical risk at all. The most spectacular tricks are often the easiest to perform, sometimes even without any complex equipment.

Pascal and Stéphane were my two private teachers of magic and mentalism. Some of their tricks even inspired the structures of short stories for me. I am happy that, in this book, they are revealing simple methods so that you too can have fun astonishing the people around you.

Enjoy your reading.

Bernard Werber
www.bernardwerber.com