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Profiler

Rose, Christopher

Christopher Rose

(Based on 1 review)
The mentalist invites the spectator to participate in a personality reading. Explaining that personality exams have existed for a number of years but only speak truth to their limitations. He shows the spectator a set of cards, each with a representation of one of the sixteen different role variants in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. On the opposing side of the cards, there are different Rorschach images open to interpretation. After explaining the four different dynamics that determine a role variant in the MBTI, the mentalist offers the participant to find the personality type that most closely resonates with his or her self-image. Afterwards the cards are mixed and placed on the table. The mentalist then proceeds to reveal the four dynamical aspects of the participant’s personality in reference to the MBTI.

The first dynamic is revealed by asking the spectator to name the first word that comes to his mind; with this word the mentalist draws connections between it and the first dynamic to sponsor a mild cold reading before revealing the hidden information. To continue, the mentalist uses the aforementioned chosen word to determine a random Rorschach image among the set. That is to say if the word chosen was “curiosity”, then the mentalist takes the cards and counts nine cards down (one card for each letter of the word) and drops the remainder on top. The top card is then used to reveal the second dynamic by asking the participant to describe what image he sees in the inkblot. As before, the mentalist draws connections between the described image and the personality dynamic to be revealed. This adds further to the cold reading style of the effect, and is repeated two more times to finally reveal all four dynamics of the participant’s personality.

Finally, the mentalist, having revealed the four dynamics of the chosen personality, reveals the chosen Role Variant with 100% accuracy. In a final inquiry to the participant, the mentalist asks if there can be any connection drawn between the word chosen in the beginning and the personality type chosen. Given, of course, that had a different word been used, the final Rorschach card would also be different. After hearing the connections made by the spectator, the mentalist reveals the final ending by showing that the last Rorschach card used was, in fact, the chosen card from the beginning. In conclusion, the spectator witnesses a psychological miracle.

Testimonials:

“If Hannibal Lector performed mentalism, this would be his favorite effect and Christopher would be his consultant.”
-Chris Smith, Magic Smith

“Not only is ‘Profiler’ a strong psychological performance piece; it is also a study in personality traits, with working knowledge, that can be used outside the stage and in real life.”
-Loki Kross, Urban Shaman, Las Vegas.

Reviews

Robert Charles

Nov 18, 2011

Christopher Rose has put much thought into incorporating personality readings using Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and incorporating Rorschach images for readings of people within the reach of anyone who is willing to put the time and effort into working on this effect. Memorization and an understanding of performing readings is one reason why this effect is not for those just beginning their journey into the world of mentalism.

There are 16 business size cards, each one with a printed personality type (Healer, Performer, Inventor, etc.) and on the reverse side is a Rorschach image that matches the personality type. They are given to the participant who then moves one card from the front to the back until they find a personality type which they feel closely resembles their own. The cards are shuffled.
The performer then asks the participant to name a word (it must be at least 8 letters long to accomplish the trick as the performer must do this 3 times). Each time the letters are counted the participant looks at the Rorschach image and tells the performer what he/she sees; by doing so the performer provides a reading connecting each image with the variant roles. The 3rd time brings the chosen personality card to the top and enables the performer to reveal that the final card matches the chosen personality type.

Finally, this is a piece of mentalism that will work for small groups of people, one on one, or close-up as the cards are small. Although one could attempt it on stage, but it would require good lighting and eye sight in order to determine what image you’re looking at, etc. and I believe the cards would be easier to handle if they were poker size. The difficulty of this effect is that the performer has to memorize the Rorschach images to match the personality type as well as various groupings of cards. In my opinion this is quite challenging if you have poor eyesight or are far away from the cards the image may be hard to read and some of them look very similar.
When the cards are shuffled it’s not clear who can perform the shuffling. Also, clarification as to which side of the deck is the top and which side is the bottom would be helpful and a larger type font would have made it a more pleasurable experience to learn this effect.
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