During a recent episode of City Cast Las Vegas, Colin Cloud was described by fellow entertainer Matt Donnelly as a “fantastic mentalist” and one of the “biggest heavy hitters” in the business of mind tricks on the Las Vegas Strip. After five years working alongside Shin Lim at the Mirage, he’s out on his own, debuting “Colin Cloud: Mastermind” at Harrah’s on July 2. The Scot shares some thoughts on creating entertainment by exploring the depths of the human psyche.
How does your background in criminal profiling and forensic investigation carry over into your performances?
“Mentalism is the psychological branch of magic that looks like mind reading and the profiling skills really do help me work out who (in the audience) is going to be the best and most comfortable for each demonstration. My job as a performer is to make everyone else shine and be equal stars of the show. And I think I get a really good sense of someone's personality and their behavioral state to engage with them and ensure they perform well. Everyone in the show is picked at random and I can read very quickly — by the expressions, the looks they give their friends, the micro-expressions — how that person is feeling in that moment.”
Can you identify any overlapping commonalities between the criminal mind and the average Las Vegas tourist?
“There are definitely traits, mindsets, and psychologies that overlap with the Las Vegas gambler and the average household common criminal, shall we say. There can be a compulsive addiction to crime in the same way that people who gamble get hooked on that.”
You often name Sherlock Holmes as your inspiration. If the fictional detective was around in Las Vegas today, what crime or mystery would he be looking to solve?
“Probably the hacking scandal of last year. I’d love to see him involved in uncovering the mob’s involvement with nefarious activities here in Las Vegas. But I think it would be more exciting to see Sherlock Holmes walk into the casinos and ultimately clean up, just walking around and winning at every game and every table he sits down at. That, for me, would be the fun of watching him in Las Vegas.”
See the mentalist score big with Vegas audiences at "Colin Cloud: Mastermind," which runs Tuesday-Saturday at 6 p.m. inside Harrah’s Cabaret. Tickets begin at $44.95.
