Mental Amusements 2020
2020 | Virtual, Bristol Riverside Theatre
Mental Amusements is an interactive, virtual magic show created by the award-winning mentalist Vinny DePonto. His mind-reading skills exhilarate and flabbergast audiences. Since DePonto can’t go to Coney Island, he’s bringing the carnival into audiences’ homes. By grabbing a ticket, audiences are granted admission into a carefully-crafted carnival of the mind, designed exclusively for the virtual stage. Originally presented by Bristol Riverside Theatre.
“The show transformed us all into wonderstruck children, as [Vinny DePonto] pulled out surprise after surprise, making us laugh and clap our hands and shake our heads in amazement. Honestly, can’t remember the last time I felt like that. Can you?”
— VJ Hume, CV Independent
“This mental magician performs psychic experiments that will definitely leave you wondering, How the f**k did he do that?!?”
Imagine having your mind controlled, your secret thoughts revealed and predictions made about your imminent future — all through the screen and from your own home.
Mental Amusements is a brand new, interactive, virtual mind-reading show created and performed by award-winning mentalist Vinny DePonto. Inspired by his annual tradition of visiting Coney Island in New York, Vinny uses a combination of psychological tricks and illusions to take you on an amazing and entertaining journey through the mind.
You will be granted admission into a carefully crafted carnival designed exclusively for the virtual stage.
PRESS
Metro Philadelphia
INTERVIEW: Mentalist Vinny DePonto’s new show is a ‘carnival for the mind’
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Molly Given for Metro Philadelphia: For those who don’t know, what is it exactly that you do?
Vinny DePonto: I’m a mentalist by trade—which means sort of like a magician, but I focus more on the psychological tricks. I’m also a theater-maker by trade, I’ve been in the theater world for many years and my art is a combination of psychological tricks, illusions, visual art, immersive storytelling—that sort of thing.
Obviously, the pandemic has affected everyone, so what did you do to change your show to the virtual front?
I had to completely re-imagine my work for the virtual stage. A lot of live performer’s work is interactive, it’s not just actors. You need participation, you need people in the room and a live human mind to read, so it’s been a challenge, but it’s also been really a great and unexpected joy to perform. To be honest, I was sort of against it at first but I thought I would need to try it—not even just for the money, but for my own well-being. I like performing, it’s a great passion and I love theater, so I wanted to create a project that I could have to stay positive and to get lost in wonder. That reminded me of the carnival. When you go to a carnival as a kid or the amusement park, you kind of leave the outside world outside. You come into this sort of world of amusements, so that’s what I wanted to do for people, even if it’s just for an hour. I sort of discovered after doing it for quite some time that people from all over the world were coming to my show—It was pretty incredible, I got to meet people from China and Australia who were watching my show at all hours of the day, which is great.
What can people expect from your upcoming virtual show, what does it incorporate?
Without giving too much away, it’s an interactive mind reading show, and it’s like I said—a carefully crafted carnival for the mind. There are interactive tricks with objects that you can do in your own home, there are some mind control effects that I do through the screen, and it’s all sort of put together in an interactive, thematic way.
What can the front row ticket holders expect?
I’m trying to make that experience as personal as possible. We’ll have eight different people in the front row every single night, and everyone is watching just like everyone else from home, nobody is an actor or plant or anything. These are people who rotate in and out based on who buys the ticket, and I’m trying to make it as personal as possible, which means when they pop up on the screen, I’ll talk to them a bit. I’ll do a bespoke illusion and psychological tricks just for them, and there are those moments built into my show. So I will definitely interact with the people on a personal level.
What’s been the biggest change going from the in-person to the virtual format for your line of work?
I’ve been a stage performer for 20 years now, and I think the hardest thing is trying to craft a connection to the screen. We are all so bogged down by our virtual, computer and screen life, and I think my goal was to dissolve the screen. I use a lot of things in my show that are not technology, or at least modern technology, that I hope will try and convince people that we are in the same room together. So, the biggest challenge has been crafting a connection that you would get in person and the energy that you would feel in person.
On the other hand, what’s been the most beneficial aspect of switching to the virtual show?
Just like I mentioned before, that we’re not confined to people in a local area. We’re doing this at BRT but we could be selling tickets in Australia, in LA—it literally allows me to be in a virtual tour and not leave my studio.
What do you hope audiences take away from the show after getting to experience it?
I would hope that they feel like it’s a unique experience and I hope its just not another Zoom show. I hope that our connection and exploration of amusements and wonders transcend the screen and I hope that people feel that way. We’re all a work in progress right now and dealing with uncertainty, and I think the job of a magician is to use uncertainty to bring wonder to people. I think that’s what I’m trying to do here, and It will evolve I’m sure as we all evolve.
