A Mentalist in a Room Full of Doctors

A mentalism show for a gathering of doctors, including neurologists. You can imagine why I wanted to get this one right.

I was excited to bring The Mind Paradox to the 47th annual convention of the Association of Kerala Medical Graduates on August 7, 2026. The venue was the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson in New Jersey. It was a special opportunity to share my work with medical professionals whose achievements and experience I respect.

I curated the show with this audience in mind. For me, that starts with thinking about the people who will be watching. What kind of experience do I want to offer them? How will the ideas connect? Where should I give a moment room to develop?

The presence of neurologists made the setting particularly interesting. Here were people with professional knowledge of the brain, attending a performance built around the mysteries we enjoy exploring through mentalism. That was an exciting meeting of interests for me as an artist.

I love working with attention and perception in a show: what we notice, what we expect and how quickly we can feel certain about something. I wanted The Mind Paradox to invite people into that experience with their curiosity and their sense of play. Mentalism gives me a way to make those ideas part of an enjoyable performance.

There was also a very human thought behind preparing this show. These were people whose work involves caring for others. I liked having the opportunity to offer them some time to enjoy a performance together. Thinking about the people behind the professional titles helped me keep the show personal.

The Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram was there too. As someone from Kerala, that meant something to me beyond the distinction of the office. It brought another connection to home into the occasion. AKMG already carries Kerala in its name and its community, and the Mayor’s presence made that connection feel even closer. I was happy to have that as part of my memory of this performance.

Only a day earlier, I had been at FOKANA in Pennsylvania, supporting Gopinath Muthukad’s M-Cube presentation through camera and production work. At AKMG, I was responsible for carrying my own show.

I enjoyed moving between those roles. They let me use different parts of my experience, and both ask me to think about the whole performance. After contributing to my manasaguru’s production, bringing The Mind Paradox to this gathering made these two days especially meaningful in my journey.

I will remember AKMG for the opportunity to present a show I had shaped for this particular audience. The doctors, the Kerala connections and the chance to bring my own ideas onto that stage all mattered to me. I am glad to give those two very different stages a place in this journal.