By Priyanka Nahata
April 20 2011
Nakul Shenoy has dedicated his life to mentalism and psychic entertainment. He is the only entertainer in India to have presented five TEDx Talks (and counting)
“I know its fatal but I just have to do it…Sam has no rights to live after what he did to me, yes I would kill him..I completely hate him,” thought Diana in her mind and just the very next second her thoughts were interpreted and voiced out by a ‘Psychic entertainer’. Diana was zapped and she did not know what was happening around, how did someone just read my mind so accurately, was the only question in her mind. Call them mind readers or spoon benders or even a mentalist, they just have it in them and they charm their audience with unbound spell of magic, with high level of intuition and hypnosis.
The Mandrake Way
One such Psychic entertainer is the 32-year-old Nakul Shenoy who has the power to read and interpret your mind. Nakul, a leading corporate entertainer, trainer, and a sought-after keynote speaker travels the world entertaining his audiences with his magical prowess. He grew up reading about Mandrake the Magician whose work was based on an unusually fast hypnotic technique. (As noted in captions, when Mandrake “gestures hypnotically”, his subjects see illusions and Mandrake used this technique in his battles with a variety of gangsters, mad scientists, extraterrestrials and characters from other dimensions).
But then Nakul’s real rendezvous with magic began when he was gifted a magic kit at a very tender age and soon he found a ‘magical calling’ from within. “By the age of 15 I had tried enough magic tricks. I was soon cutting and vanishing people. I had tried it all but then it never enticed me too much. I just wanted to be a real Mandrake,” says Shenoy who was obsessed with the whole genre of physiological entertainment.
Observation Is The Key
Reading minds and interpreting thoughts is definitely a very grueling task but then Nakul has created his forte and creates magic flawlessly. “When it comes to reading minds of people it’s essentially about persuading people with hypnotism. I just influence my audience to think something. A lot of persuasive communication and a proper examination of body language are required to examine the mind. It’s and out and out process where people often forget who they are for that very moment,” explains Shenoy who leaves his audience mesmerized every single time he takes charge of the stage.
Overwhelming responses, raised eyebrows, and shocked faces is what Shenoy devours on. He continues to entertain his audience with his irrepressible performance. And he thinks that each and every experience is different even though the basic framework remains the same. “Each time the audience change the acts change,” says the Psychic entertainer who often gets feedback’s like, ‘what kind of powers do you have, how did you guess all of that…and much more.
It’s Just Pure Science
“I seriously do not have any powers it’s just pure science, is what I often tell my audience.” He thinks that he has very high level of reminiscence and a great knack of hypnosis skills. What helped Shenoy hone his skills was an in-depth knowledge of non-verbal communication. He often observes the body language of people around him and thinks how would they behave in a certain situation. “Observation has really helped me a lot, now I can even read a micro expression on people’s face,” he states.
Enthralling Azim Premji
As a kid Nakul had a huge stage fright but it’s ‘magic’ that changed the course of his life. “As a kid I would run away from stage but then when I gave my first show all the shackles were broken. It’s been a fascinating journey so far and this profession has given me so many friends that I would not have met in my life otherwise,” he adds. Recalling his best experience Shenoy says, “Once I had gone for a corporate event to Wipro and I was asked to entertain Azim Premji with my tactics. It was a big big moment for me and Mr. Premji sat through the whole session and shook hands and congratulated me at the end of the event. The other one was at IIT International conference where I was the last one to go on the stage after Hariprasad Chaurasia and Louis Mani’s performance. After I finished my act I got a standing ovation from the audience it was an extremely enthralling experience for me,” shares Nakul who thinks that everything around in the world is magical.
Just Be Yourself
He firmly believes that when it comes to magic one has to be creative and stick to doing your own thing. “I cannot try and be a PC Sorcar. I am Nakul Shenoy. It’s just very important to do your own thing and aping other magicians will not fetch you anything. It’s important to be different but you need to remain original at the same time,” he says who thinks that movies like The Illusionist and Prestige were the best illusion films ever made. Coming to our very own Hindi flick Guzaarish, Shenoy remarks that, “I didn’t watch the movie because I heard that they showed magic in a very bad light.”
Note: Article reproduced from The Indian Mandrake spells his magic like never before – My Bangalore
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