Page 9 - Jewish News_04-2021

FEDERATION NEWS April 2021 9A

An evening of virtual amazement

with mentalist Sidney Friedman

By Gayle Guynup
or an evening of pure amaze- While Friedman was honing his gut feeling when I hit the right one,” events on his calendar were either
ment and fun, join The Jewish mentalist skills, it was music that he said. canceled or postponed.
FFederation of Sarasota-Mana- dominated much of his early life. He As a mentalist, Friedman first “Around May or so, I decided I
tee, along with Federations in Tampa, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in achieved national recognition when, would learn all of this technology and
Fort Myers and Daytona, for an eve- music composition and piano at the in 2000, his book, Your Mind Knows buy the equipment (lights and multi-
ning with mentalist Sidney Friedman prestigious Eastman School of Mu- More Than You Do, reached number ple cameras, and all sorts of bells and
on Tuesday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m. sic in Rochester, New York, and did one on Amazon for self-improvement whistles). I figured out how I could do
“A magician performs sleight of post-graduate work books (No. 8 overall), re- my entertaining in this way. I can have
hand, illusions and things like that, in Stockholm, Swe- sulting in appearances on hundreds of people on Zoom and call
while a mentalist does things that are den. He has won nu- The View and other nation- on them and make the experience inter-
sleight of mind,” Friedman explained. merous awards and al programs, and later on active. By about August, I was ready to
“I use mind power, intuition and psy- honors for his mu- Today, 20/20 and The Ear- go and once again started performing.
chological influence, all to entertain. sic, and was a com- ly Show, to name but a few. I have been doing between three and
It’s much like magic, but instead of poser fellow at the Today, Friedman does seven of these shows every week since
using physical dexterity and sleight of Boston Symphony a lot of corporate events, then,” he said.
hand, I use mental dexterity,” he said. Orchestra’s famed mixed in with a lot of char- He says that working virtually
He certainly amazed me. Tanglewood Music ity events. “I have done can be more challenging, but his ex-
Shortly after beginning our conver- Festival. more than 200 Jewish perience in television and radio really
sation, he asked me to think of a person “When I was Federation events in some helped. “At least with Zoom, I can ac-
I knew well. I looked at Sidney through in my 20s, I would 14 years all over North tually see the people. For the viewer,
the Zoom camera while thinking of my start using this gift Sidney Friedman America. I have also per- it is like they are watching television,
friend. In those few moments, he wrote to entertain people, and little by little, formed for other Jewish charities, and but they are interacting with me. Espe-
down on a pad the letter J (my friend’s I created a career out of performing, other charities and nonprofits, as well. cially for the Federations, I try to work
name is John), his age and color of combining the music with the mental- I think it is getting close to 400 in all. in their whole theme of giving and the
hair, both of which were correct. I was ism,” Friedman said, adding that music When the economic collapse of 2008 importance of giving,” he added.
hooked. is still a big part of his life. happened, it impacted many of the big After a couple more demonstra-
Friedman grew up in the Chica- In his mentalist performances, donors who would normally have giv- tions of his skills, which left me totally
go area. “I’ve had these mental abili- Friedman incorporates music by ask- en to nonprofits. The charities were re- baffled about whether this man was a
ties since I was about four years old,” ing people to think of a song. Then he ally struggling, looking for new ways mind reader or a magician, he added,
Friedman said. “For example, when I will sit at a piano and play the song to attract people to their events. So I “You know, I love what I do. It’s a bit
was young, my mom lost her wedding that comes into his mind. “I usually get started performing,” he said. bizarre, but it is totally fun.”
ring and was looking all over for it. I it right about half to two-thirds of the “In February or March of last year, Tickets to Sidney Friedman’s vir-
pictured a blank movie screen in my time,” he said. as the pandemic was just starting, tual event on April 6 are $10. To reg-
mind, and on that screen appeared the “For years, I was doing this sort of we all thought it would be a couple ister, visit jfedsrq.org/events. For more
image of the location, and that’s where thing on radio and television shows. of months and it would be all over,” information, contact Trudi Krames at
she found her ring. I would do that all Now I do it on Zoom, and it’s very Friedman said, adding that all of the tkrames@jfedsrq.org or 941.706.0037.
the time as a kid,” he explained. similar – though in some ways it’s even
He gleaned some understanding of more impressive because we are thou-
his skills on a family trip to Estes Park, sands of miles away from each other,”
Colorado, where there was a member Friedman added.
of the Arapaho Native American tribe So, what skills does a mentalist
who saw Friedman’s gift, took him need to possess?
aside and explained many things to “One skill is being able to take Guiding investors and their
him. my own consciousness and imagine it
Friedman says he believes people leaving my mind and going right into families for over 20 years.
all possess these skills to some degree. yours and looking out through your
“We all possess the skill to shoot a bas- eyes. Not only do I see what you see, Ally Zemelman, CRPC ®
ketball, but most of us can’t make more I also hear what you hear, smell what Financial Advisor
than two out of 10 free throws from the you smell, taste what you taste and feel Vice President – Investments
line. A few of us can make five out of what you feel,” Friedman said.
10, but the pros can make eight out “I try to use all of my senses. Peo- 1819 Main St., Ste. 230, Sarasota, FL 34236
941-361-5812
of 10,” he explained. “We can’t all ple talk about visualization. I use what ally.zemelman@wellsfargo.com • wfadvisors.com/ally.zemelman
be LeBron James or Michael Jordan. I call sensualization – using all five CA Insurance # 0C84346
Most people, I think, have more of senses. I am also very big on Transcen-
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and some, like me, have a little extra into a certain state and then images Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate
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gift,” he said. will come to me, and I will just get a

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