KOCHI: Mentalist Preeth Azhikode focuses on areas of mind-reading, hypnosis, telepathy and prediction. A native of Kannur, he has been performing mentalism shows across the state for the past eight years. A resident of the city since 2014, he also holds a place in the India Book of Records for being the fastest mind reader. According to Preeth, mentalism is a mixture of psychological techniques and magic. “Magic shows create effects such as vanishing acts, while mentalism is more related to extrasensory perception (ESP),” says Preeth.
One of his recent shows was organised by the Life Insurance Corporation of India during the launch of a new scheme. The fields of psychology and magic have fascinated Preeth since childhood. “Reading comics on Mandrake and watching shows of magician Gopinath Muthukad intrigued me as a child, developing my interest in magic. I also took books from library to learn more about psychology, a field which fascinated me,” said Preeth. Preeth ventured into mentalism quite late in his career, after reading books and online materials written by western mentalists.
An expert in making predictions, Preeth had successfully forecasted the scoreline of the 2018 FIFA World Cup final and the headlines of six prominent dailies following the 2014 Lok Sabha election results. “I had predicted the goals that each team would score in the final. The predictions were written on paper and put in a transparent glass box near the entrance of a cinema theatre in the city for the public to see. The box was locked and the key given to then Mayor V K Prashanth,” he said. Before venturing into mentalism, Preeth held a number of magic shows to create awareness on social issues.
One of his daring acts as a magician was driving a motorbike through the NH66 stretch of the city while blindfolded. Midbrain, a course that encouraged students to study blindfold techniques and educated them on misconceptions spread by spiritual leaders by using these techniques, drove Preeth to perform the stunt.
“I wanted to prove that there was nothing special about it. There are numerous methods in magic for performing such blindfolded acts,” he said. The act was performed in 2017 and Preeth wore an aluminium sheet over his face to prevent visibility.