Despite fantasy seeing a resurgence after Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings blockbusters and the Harry Potter phenomenon, there are still somehow too few shows in television that explore the wonder and charm of magic. SyFy’s The Magician seeks to remedy that, premiering January 25th on the SyFy network at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard time.

The series is based on a trilogy of New York Times best-selling books, which chronicle the adventures of fresh high school graduates who discover that their career path does not have to involve a typical university. Instead, the protagonist Quentin and his friends stumble upon Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a fully-realized magic institute of higher learning. SyFy adapts the series to make the characters college post-grads, but preserves the exciting nature and harrowing plot turns that made the novels so popular.

Tune in to see magic come alive on the small screen. You can even catch a special early airing of the pilot by following the YouTube link after the jump.

Based on the Hit Novel Series by Lev Grossman

The Magicians began as a book series published by American author and journalist Lev Grossman. The first book in the series, The Magicians, was released in 2009 to wide acclaim. It follows the story of modern-day recent high school grad Quentin Coldwater who becomes somewhat of an outcast for his obsession with a fictional book series detailing the magical land of Fillory. Quentin’s unusual focus on magic along with some hidden talents cause him to attract the attention of the Brakesbills College admissions staff, who manage to recruit Coldwater through subtle means. Coldwater begins attending Brakebills in upstate New York, meeting new similar-minded friends and unlocking the hidden depths of the mysterious art of sorcery.

The first novel became an instant hit, winning author Lev Grossman the 2010 Alex Award for adult-oriented books that open young adult readers to new literary possibilities. Grossman was also given the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2011. The Onion A.V. Club and the New York Times both gave the novel favorable reviews, praising it for its dark, mature handling of a subject matter traditionally treated as juvenile.

The Magicians was followed by two sequels: The Magician King was published in 2011 and The Magician’s Land in 2014.

The Award-Winning Books Come to Life

Back in 2011, Fox optioned a television adaptation of The Magicians into a prime time series. Conceptual work and some draft scripts were created, but Fox declined to order a pilot. SyFy picked up the reigns in 2014 after the book series gained more popularity, greenlighting the production of a pilot episode. Impressed by the quality of the in-development pilot, SyFy went ahead and ordered a 12-episode season, due for premiere in January 2016.

Now, The Magicians finally has a chance to get the wider audience it deserves. The mature themes and art direction of the series are bound to resonate with a prime time cable audience hungry for thrills and intrigue. And while the skills the Brakebills students display are fictionalized, having sorcery and magic represented on television is always an exciting time for magicians.

The world was devastated by news of the death of several celebrities recently, including endearing wizard actor and consummate villain Alan Rickman. But perhaps the biggest loss, if such a thing could be measured, was that of David Bowie. Bowie transcended what it meant to be a pop star or a professional musician, often seesawing between enigmatic icon and approachable everyman.

To many of us in the magic community, David Bowie meant something particularly special. His songs and on-screen personas embodied the idea of what it meant to be a misfit, an outcast or just misunderstood. While others were pushing towards conformity, Bowie pushed back by embracing his weirdness. He was forever completely unafraid to exhibit whatever version of his true self he happened to favor at the moment. His daring, experimental and most of all passionate approach to art lent just a little more magic to the world. He inspired countless young, awkward teens to pursue a second identity as a rockstar, fashionista or even a magician.

On-screen, Bowie displayed the most magic of all. Only an actor on occasion, Bowie always seemed to be cast when a film called for a true sorcerer — someone eccentric yet who oozed effortless charisma. These appearances have made an impact that can be seen on the stage and screen as others try to capture Bowie’s rare, ephemeral form of artistry. He will truly be missed, but at least we have these performances to remind us of how weird and wonderful he truly was.

Thomas Jerome Newton — The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Bowie’s first film role and one that still has the biggest cult following. His waifish, breathy personality at the time perfectly fit the role of an alien who seems otherworldly in ways that are hard to pin down. The raw star power of Bowie’s performance and his ability to enchant without chewing up scenes speaks to innate powers that even a mentalist in Miami would be jealous of.

Jareth the Goblin King — Labyrinth (1987)

The role he is best-known for, and with good reason. Bowie’s campy but captivating turn as the feather-haired Goblin King is one of the most memorable, even by ‘80s kitsch standards. Mind-bending effects and puppets by the Jim Henson Creature Shop helped further build on the magical world that Jareth lived in. The film also helped subtly propel the career of contact juggler Michael Moschen, who would stand behind Bowie and perform blind sphere juggling tricks that many assumed had to be special effects. Jareth was also quite the showman, tossing snakes that turned out to be scarves and toying with the mind of young Sarah. In all, Bowie’s appearance on Labyrinth gave us something utterly unique and yet cozily familiar, like finding a long-lost childhood toy hidden underneath the couch.

Andy Warhol — Basquiat (1996)

In one of Bowie’s most delightful cameos, he takes on the persona of art/fashion icon Andy Warhol with the perfect amount of eeriness and aloofness.

Nikola Tesla — The Prestige (2006)

Playing famous inventor and eccentric visionary Nikola Tesla with the same weighty distance lent to Warhol and his alien Thomas, David Bowie manages to steal the entire movie in the few scenes he appears. Tesla’s exploits have given him a late-start cult following in the modern era, a trait somewhat shared by Bowie as more people get introduced to his earlier works. The sheer unexpectedness and parallel celebrity wielded by Bowie made the cameo a delightful fit in a movie all about magic and surprises.

Make Your Own Impact

Follow in David Bowie’s glorious footsteps by pursuing everything you do with passion and unrestrained honesty. His commitment to art left many impressions on his surviving fans.

You can see how others work hard to make an immeasurable impact through their performance by reading testimonials about Mio’s mentalist in Miami act.

Go see a mentalist in Miami. You will get so much more out of it than you expect. Many people are willing to go to a mentalist act if they happen to be on vacation or really just want to see any show that night, but too few understand how worth their time it is to plan ahead and go out of their way to make it to a mentalism show.

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Like many other professions, the mark of a truly-skilled mentalist is that they make their job look effortless. A familiarity with your trade and confidence in your skills belie the complex mechanisms that are going on inside your skull.

The only problem with this high-level, smooth execution is that it can conceal what is really going on in the process of a mentalist interacting with their audience. To help you understand what you will need to get to this point, here are five skills that mentalists use to make their job look easy:

A Desire to Learn

With close-up magic, practice makes perfect. The same is true of mentalism, but a lot more research is needed before your practices can even be effective. After all, you do not want to exhaust the good will of friends and family who volunteer as “guinea pigs” by wildly going in        many different directions when you try to apply your budding skills.

Instead, read up on behavioral psychology. Pay particular attention to how emotions and thought affect the body language, facial expressions and general demeanor of your subjects. The more literature you absorb on the subject, the quicker you will be able to recognize and learn from the more nuanced real life examples.

Excellent Observation

A mentalist is a detective. In fact, Sherlock Holmes used many of the same skills a mentalist uses in order to quickly deduce things about his suspects and clients. Naturally, Sherlock is fictional, but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ingenious writing lent us an excellent model of someone who lets nothing escape their notice.

Be like Sherlock! Try to soak in everything you possibly can about someone just based on subtle aspects like their clothing, breathing patterns, build, accent and general personality. Even something unassuming like a hat can reveal stunning revelations in the hands of a skilled observer.

Be Patient and Calm

When trying to read someone with mentalism skills, the last thing you want to do is show what you are trying to do. Letting the subject in on your thought process allows them to mislead you with targeted responses or control physical “tells.” Instead, you must keep them guessing and also encourage them to let down their guard so that their emotions are more transparent.

You cannot accomplish any of these goals if you get frustrated by wrong guesses or if you plunge headfirst into deductions too early. Always take a moment to consider what your next move will be, especially as you are first starting out. Rethinking something instead of blurting it out can save a bad reading and help it recover into a good one.

Work Well with People

A common trait among mentalists, at least ones that aren’t like Holmes, is that they “disarm” their audience and their subjects by acting friendly and candid. Part of being entertaining is having an engaging presence, even when you are simply greeting your audience.

Use your research and observation to not only work on deducing what people are thinking, but also to learn how to warm them up to you and make you more likable during performances in general.

Never Give Up on Being a Mentalist in Miami

Persistence is just as important as patience. Everyone has a rocky start, and the path to true skill is always bumpy. Keep at it, and eventually your talent will equal or surpass your ambitions.

You can take some cues from Mio if you want to learn more about being a mentalist in Miami by visiting our videos page.

You are likely familiar with “mentalism” as a performance art, made popular by famous shows like Psych and The Mentalist, but did you know that “Mentalism” used to be a formal branch of academia? Mentalism once referred to a type of psychology that helped bring the science of human thought and emotion to the forefront of public discussion.

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Dean Lahan of Stockport, England calls himself “The Fingerless Magician,” although that moniker is not quite accurate. When he was only 18 months old, he was afflicted with bacterial meningitis and nearly lost his life. The doctors were able to save him by amputating his infected tissue, leaving him with only one leg, two partial thumbs, three partial fingers on his right hand and none on his left. His parents regarded these limbs as a blessing considering that, for a moment, they were not sure if baby Dean would make it at all.

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Magicians are a mainstay of entertainment around the world, but far fewer people are familiar with mentalists. While shows like The Mentalist have helped spread more awareness of the performance art, many people still end up scratching their heads when they see a poster advertising a mentalist.

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