Finding a Musical Language for Mentalism at PNC

For my PNC Bank performance on August 15, 2026, I brought together a theme, music, the violin and mentalism. I was excited by the possibility of giving the show a musical shape, with sound helping to carry the feeling of the experience.

The violin interested me especially. It can be tender, unsettled or full of anticipation. A phrase can seem to hold a thought for a little longer. As a mentalist, I am already interested in timing and expectation, so there was a connection here that I wanted to explore.

The nearest comparison for me comes from filmmaking. Music can change how we understand the same image. Give a scene a little more time, or let a moment breathe, and its meaning can change again. I wanted to bring that sensitivity into the way I thought about this performance.

So I kept coming back to the relationship between the parts. What was the theme helping me say? What feeling could the music carry? Where did the violin belong within that journey? Those are enjoyable creative questions because they ask me to consider the whole experience.

Timing becomes especially interesting when music enters the picture. A pause has a different character when a musical phrase is present. Speech has to make room for sound, and sound needs space of its own. I find that relationship fascinating. It makes me listen more carefully to the shape of the performance I am trying to create.

This was also an outdoor show. That gave it another dimension. An outdoor setting asks me to think about how the performance fits the space and how I can make the experience easy to follow. The surroundings are part of the occasion, and I have to take them into account as a performer.

I enjoyed having both those considerations in the same project: the musical feeling of the show and the practical needs of presenting it outdoors. They brought different questions to the preparation, all connected by the theme I wanted to carry through the mentalism.

I am grateful for the opportunity to share this combination at the PNC Bank gathering. It gave me space to develop an interest that has stayed with me across film and performance: the way sound can give a moment more depth.

When I think back to this show, the violin remains central to what made the idea exciting for me. There is still so much I want to explore in the relationship between music, a well-placed pause and a moment of surprise.