‘Mind Reader’: Tap into the powers of a mentalist

Extraordinary metal powers or simple parlor tricks? Get the inside story on manipulating the under-utilized aspects of the human brain in Lior Suchard’s “Mind Reader.” Read an excerpt.

Los Angeles, March 23rd 2009, 9:28pm

One night I was in Los Angeles with a friend and his family when a car followed us home from a party, slipping into the private gated community behind us. We darted into the house, wondering what to do, while the car parked across the street. There were four of us, and we decided to go back outside and investigate. Safety in numbers, we thought. But the moment we stepped into the darkness outside the house, a large man leapt out of the car and screamed, “Don’t move. Whoever you are. Police.” He was holding a gun. We’ve all seen it in movies but it’s really, really scary when it’s happening to you. Then, almost before we knew it, there were six police cars, sirens blaring, and a helicopter circling overhead lighting up the sky. What was going on? The first policeman yelled at me, waving me forward. All around me lights were flashing and there was constant noise and movement but all I was looking at were guns. Within seconds I was handcuffed, my hands bound together in front then jerked up over my head. The policeman patted me down, not rough but purposeful. Invasive. I searched his face, his eyes, but didn’t see anything. My mind was just full of the word “why?” and choked up with fear. From my jacket pocket he pulled out one broken spoon, a handful of long silver nails, one pencil and one small notepad. He brandished the broken spoon right in my face like it’s a weapon, yelling furiously, “What the hell? What the hell is this?” For a moment, I was silent. Shocked. “I’m, I’m a mind reader,” I stuttered. “A mentalist. A performer?” He stared at me in disbelief, glared at the items in his hand, and then shook his head, telling me to balance on one leg.

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It turned out that he thought I was driving drunk – I wasn’t – and he called for back-up when he saw four men start out of the house towards him. All the officer found on me was a broken spoon, some long silver nails, a pencil and a small notepad. The spoon had been broken in two with the power of my mind at a private party two hours before. The nails I would bend in practice to prepare for a Japanese TV show the next week. And the pencil and paper were for every day mind stunts – you never know when you might need them. These items are the tools of my trade, and they have taken me from a small town in Israel to TV shows, live shows, private parties, lectures, business conventions, and trade shows in more than forty countries around the world.

When you’re standing there scared for your life with strange thoughts flashing through your mind, you find yourself reduced to your essence. While I balanced on one leg and proved I wasn’t drunk or dangerous, the policeman looked at that broken spoon again and said, “A mind reader?” His voice suspicious, but his eyes open, vulnerable. I reached for my notebook and pencil, looked into his face and scribbled something down for myself. Then I asked him, “If I were to ask you to think of a number between one and a hundred what would it be?” My fear was gone. He thought for a moment. “Twenty eight.” I tore the paper from my notebook and gave it to him. It said, “The policeman will say 28.” He was blown away, grinning from ear to ear like a child.

My name is Lior Suchard, and I am a mentalist. I entertain people by showing them the amazing power of the mind. I love to see their eyes widen with surprise when I tell them what they’re thinking, or even better, when I make them think what they’re thinking. I love the positive energy that comes out of all my shows, my encounters, big and small, on the streets of Tel Aviv, at a TV show in Japan or before 800 people in Vegas. No matter who someone is, they become like a child again when they experience that sense of wonder. It’s why I do what I do, and my experience with the policeman reminded me of that. If my essence is getting people to laugh and wonder with a broken spoon, a handful of long silver nails, a notebook and a pencil, then I’m OK with that. Besides, the experience gave me another cool story to tell, which is part of my essence too. LA cops, huh?

Excerpted from Mind Reader by Lior Suchard. Copyright © 2012 by Lior Suchard. Excerpted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.