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Events
Lecture - 3rd May - Dr Todd Landman
Todd Landman’s lecture was certainly different and it lived up to all expectations. We were expecting something a little different and that’s exactly what Dr Todd served up! Todd is a reader at Essex University and he’s clearly into philosophy, and this knowledge of him set the scene for what was to come. In the guise of a ‘metaphysical’ entertainer, and dressed in the academic style of Indiana Jones (well in my opinion anyway!), Todd began by explaining exactly what a metaphysical mentalist is – someone stuck between differing views on the physical and metaphysical worlds. Using busts and other set dressings such as a lectern style table, cloth table coverings and easels with aged maps etc, he was able to create an atmosphere of academia tinged with mental entertainment – pretty much a perfect mix.
So we sat down to a refreshingly different 2 hours. Although some of the material presented may not suit everyone’s persona, there were plenty of ideas and the rationale behind them to think about and discuss. Some of the effects included a very fast Rubik’s cube solution where the cube was simply tossed into the air to put things right. A thought of number was found to be the key to a magic square prepared in advance; an instrument in the orchestra randomly selected was found to have been predicted in an envelope stuck to the underside of the spectator’s chair; a number of balls taken at random and unseen from a bag by several spectators were correctly identified. Some nice effects all well presented and explained. Todd’s explanation of how weaving stories around effects can help to enhance them was explored with a routine involving a number of very authentic artefacts and photos from an Essex mental asylum which closed some years ago. This routine with all the props is apparently available from outlaw-effects.com.
In the second half of the evening, Dr Todd spoke about Psycrets, the British Society of Mystery Entertainers which he co-founded, and the special evenings they hold. He went on with some more effects, the first of which involved a small booklet which listed several philosophers along with information about each. A randomly selected one was then divined by Todd who went on to demonstrate that a prediction card, associated with the selected philosopher, had in fact been placed inside a box before the evening had started.
Dr Todd’s final effect was woven around tales of the Essex Witchfinder General and based on the witch hunts of the 17th century. A member of the audience was correctly identified as having removed a golden ball from a bag. This person was then put on trial as a ‘witch’ with the audience deciding the verdict of guilty or innocent. Todd correctly divined which county on an antique map of Essex the individual was thinking of, and also had correctly predicted the verdict in an envelope, which had been in plain sight all evening.
Todd is a likeable character, and has many stories and much advice to pass on to budding mentalists, and it was nice to see the subject presented in such an unusual and engaging manner.
 
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