Students at the University of Wyoming received a lesson in nonverbal communication from Mentalist Chris Carter Friday night in the Union ballroom.
Carter, a professional mentalist of 24 years, put on a show filled with card tricks, mind readings and predictions. However, he does not profess to be a magician. At the beginning of his act, Carter explained that he is not psychic, nor does he have special powers.
“I’m just in the business of freaking people out,” Carter said.
Logan Nelson, a freshman chemical engineering major, walked in with skepticism, but changed his mind following the show.
“I thought it was just a ton of slight of hand and saying general things that all people have in common,” Nelson said. “But, after the show, it became pretty obvious that he was a little more advanced than that. I feel like he has learned a lot about body language and the way people speak. Subtle things that people do.”
The mentalist explained that he was originally interested in becoming a magician as a child, but after taking note of how easy it was to call his uncle’s bluff when they played poker, started along a different path.
“I talked to my mom, who was a psychologist, and she started to give me books on profiling and people-reading of all sorts,” Carter said. “I worked out a very rudimentary form of what I open my show with. People flipped out, like ‘oh my god, you’re in my head’, and I was like ‘yeah, that’s what I want to do.’ I got that reaction and I dug deeper and deeper and deeper.”
Carter said that two things helped to drive his work, the first being the way the audience responds.
“My favorite part is definitely when people scream. It is all about the reactions for me,” said Carter.
The performer’s second drive is the exploration of non-verbal communication.
“I started to realize that as we become more tied into our devices and into the virtual world, we are becoming a lot more detached from actual interpersonal skills,” Carter said. “The problem with that is you can only live in the virtual world for so long. At some point, you have to make contact with people.”
In an attempt to help combat the reduction of people’s nonverbal communication skills, Carter has put out a book titled “Student Body Language.” The book is aimed at students, and was made available for purchase following the show.
“If you have the nonverbal skills, you have a real advantage in life,” Carter said. “That’s what my book is about. My book is about giving people an edge. Making them understand how to use non-verbal communication in a way that benefits them.”
Carter told the audience that the book helps people control their own body language. He said that skill could increase their chances of getting a job during interviews. Another example he gave was that the book would help readers recognize body language in professors that indicates whether or not what they are discussing will be on a test.
In addition to “Student Body Language,” Christopher Carter has a catalogue of CDs, such as “Decreasing Stress Through Hypnosis” and “Improve Your Confidence Through Hypnosis,” all of which are available for purchase on his website.
While the mentalist’s methods may be unconventional, some audience members were convinced.
“It was the coolest thing I’ve seen in a really long time,” Nelson said. “It was definitely worth coming.”
