Be taught how to read minds...
Fri, 31 Mar 2017 09:26:00 BST
Volunteers who attend a special event at the University of Huddersfield will be taught how to read minds… and then get the chance to demonstrate their new-found skills before a live audience.
It sounds like magic. Indeed, the session is organised by the University’s Magic Research Group, part of its Drama Department. But the technique to be taught is a proven one, based on detailed study of body language. It might even become the basis for new technology that defies hackers by making smartphones and other devices ultra secure.
The event is open to all members of the public aged 15-plus – is titled The Trick - How Magicians Invented Invention.
It is co-organised by Nik Taylor, who is Subject Area Leader in Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Huddersfield, where his lecture and research subjects include performance magic.
He is co-editor of The Journal of Performance Magic, alongside Stuart Nolan, a performer who combines traditional disciplines of deception with the use of innovative technology. He has researched the mind-reading technique that has been dubbed “the ideomotorresponse” and this is what he will be teaching at the University of Huddersfield event.
Stuart Nolan – who has a scientific background in cellular biology – has worked on mind-reading with the research institute CogNovo and with Pervasive Media Studio for a show at the Venice Biennale. He has taught the technique to several groups of people, with a very high success rate, although some display exceptional aptitude. They include musicians and … tango dancers.
“They were the best people I ever taught. When you are dancing tango you put your hand in the small of your partner’s back and you are working out where they want to go. You get so good at that that you almost know where they want to go before they do.”
The event on Saturday 22 April is free and takes place at the University of Huddersfield’s Sir Patrick Stewart Building. The Trainee Mind-reader Workshop begins at 5.30pm. Participants will be taught the techniques and then asked if and how they would like to take part in the subsequent show The Trick, which starts at 7.30pm. It is expected that those who attend the workshop will stay on for the performance, but audiences are free to attend the evening show only and witness the feats of mind reading.
Places can be reserved online.
