“ In ten minutes Mind2Mind red‐lined mentalism into the future.”
From Initial Shock to the Full Realisation
When the public‐address system finally declared“ World Champions of Mentalism, Mind2Mind,” James and Marina looked as stunned as anyone.“ Eight years of grind hit us at once,” James told me.“ It only sank in on the flight out – we both burst into tears.” Their partnership began in 2017, accelerated after a 2018 private performance for David Berglas MBE, and culminated on the biggest stage their craft offers.
Engineering a Ten‐Minute Whirlwind
The routine is built for zero downtime. Isolating Marina on a satellite stage keeps her back to James and every prop, reassures sceptical spectators, and delivers a jolt of theatrical surprise. Borrow‐everything simplicity removes suspicion of pre‐selection, while the volunteer‐collected mystery box wipes out any chance of cherry‐picking“ easy” items – a key upgrade over classic second‐sight acts. At its heart lies a lightning‐fast verbal shorthand honed through thousands of hours of rehearsal. Consultant David Penn, on board since 2017, saw the couple to compress their method until the only threshold became how fast James could place objects in Marina’ s invisible view. Rehearsals at Spain’ s House of Illusion, run by Rodney James Piper, featured fifty full tech‐stress run‐throughs with deliberate glitches. Piper’ s complete dedication to the UK FISM squad – the first such effort by a Magic Circle representative – paid off spectacularly.
Rehearsal by Numbers
• 0 skipped practice days since 2017
• 1000s of objects drilled daily for instant recall
• 50 full run‐throughs under sabotaged tech
• 60 seconds to name thirty random items in forensic detail
The Jury Inquisition
Minutes after stepping offstage, Mind2Mind faced a closed‐door session with the FISM jury, Magic Circle president Marvin Berglas, Piper, and Penn. Judges suspected a stooge, especially after the PIN revelation – no preshow, nothing written, nothing spoken
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