The sudden urge to call a friend who turns out to be in need, the shared gut feeling between a set of twins — some shrug it off as intuition, others might apply spiritual meaning to it, and still others might consider it magic.
For William Rader, it may be all of the above. The 25-year-old Oklahoma City mentalist said he has always felt a strong sense of the unexplainable connections that exists between people.
In fact, he believes that everyone shares that capability to some extent.
“From an early age, I discovered we all have the ability to connect with others on a higher level,” he said. “As a mentalist, I try to understand how and why people think the way they do. Based on this information, I try to influence their thoughts and decisions and read their minds.”
And mind-reading is exactly what he does. It’s an evening of fun meant to enrapture audiences with full-out entertainment.
“It’s a celebration of what’s interesting about ourselves,” Rader said.
Recently, he discovered an audience member had been to outer space. He explained that he’d picked up something ethereal, and coaxed the man into discussing it.
Rader stressed that his show is not about poking fun at people.
“If you come up onstage, you’re going to get a huge round of applause,” he said. “You’re going to be looking good. I don’t embarrass anybody.”
Even audience members who might not be comfortable in the spotlight, Rader said, can still be part of the excitement.
“I’ve designed [my show] to include and engage every member of the audience, even if you never set foot onstage,” he said. “At the end of the night, you will see that we can all have connections with one another on an entirely different level.”
In addition to Saturday’s show at The Boom, Rader demonstrates his act from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Fridays at Pink Elephant Cafe & Tres Cantina, 305 E. Main in Norman, and will perform with OKC Improv on Aug. 18.
“[I won’t have] illusions and bunnies, or be using handkerchiefs. That’s why I label it as mentalism: Because it’s all about our mind and how we interact with one another,” he said. “That’s really what’s this show’s about. I want the audience to feel like they’re the stars.”
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2012.