Traditional, mental wizardry from Newfoundland magician

Be prepared to be fooled, tricked, delighted and ultimately enthralled by a performer whose brand of magic is a little different from the sleight-of-hand more common among traditional practitioners of the craft.

Jeremy Bennett is only 24, but the Flat Bay native has already made a name for himself with appearances on Vision TV's "Would You Believe," as a motivational speaker, giving lectures and performances at corporate events and conventions, and the regular magic performing circuit. And Mr. Bennett, who now resides in St. John's, graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish with a double major in psychology and philosophy.

Those studies relate to his interest in magic and mind games, and people who want to sample some of his talent will have a chance to do so.

He's appearing at the Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts this Friday, Nov. 20, where the audience will be treated to one of his specialties - mentalism.

"That is the psychological side of magic," explained Mr. Bennett. "You're not going to see me cut people in half or pull bunnies out of a hat, or that kind of thing.

"You're going to see magic effects where I apparently read people's minds, influence their thoughts. But on the other hand, I do incorporate traditional-style magic into the show. For instance, I may deal with someone's five or 10-dollar bill and I change into a higher denomination and give it back for them to keep."

Initially, people are hesitant to give him the cash, he said. But at the end of the show, Mr. Bennett added, they go home a lot happier.

Mainly, the show is "kind of" psychological, the type of performance that makes people question what they believe, he said.

In the performance, patrons may also hear Mr. Bennett talk a little bit about the supernatural as that is his background: his research includes topics as disparate as UFOs, crop circles and possession.

His interest in such topics was what Vision TV liked, which resulted in him spending time with the show's producers and films in the United Kingdom for an episode. That one focused on the topic of chaos magic (or "chaos magick," a term used by its practitioners to differentiate from traditional magery). Mr. Bennett has become somewhat knowledgeable on that subject.

First arising out of England in the 1970s, chaos magick takes the approach that those who perform believe they can use the power of their minds to alter reality.

"It's different from what other magicians do on stage," said Mr. Bennett.

His self-description of being a mentalist may be somewhat familiar to those who have heard of "The Amazing Kreskin," known for feats of "apparent" mind reading and other mental feats. However, that performer does not incorporate magic in his shows.

However, Jeremy Bennett does - and he hopes that Friday's show will challenge the audience's perception of reality.

The performance kicks off on Friday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the centre box office.