For Starr, being a magician grew tiresome after 20 years. He wanted to use his ability to read into people�s minds on a deeper level and saw mentalism as a way to do so. Now, employed through the Entertainment Group in Des Moines, Starr travels throughout the Midwest performing. His performances are typically for corporate companies, which he enjoys most for their level of sophistication and appreciation of his skill. However, he frequently entertains for after-prom, graduation, and other special events for younger audiences.

Being a mentalist differs greatly from a magician. Instead of bringing a variety of props such as rabbits, trick cards, or hats, Starr arrives at each show with only a few items in his suitcase. His props consist exclusively of a book, pen, notepad, and a set of silverware and play a secondary role to his psychic ability. Through audience participation, he performs theatrical displays of psychic phenomenon and demonstrations of an extraordinary mental ability.

�I usually start out each of my shows on a light level, and then get more and more serious with deeper levels of mind reading that characterizes possibility, not improbability,� Starr says.

As his mentalist skills define mystery, his appearance does also. Starr dresses entirely in black, from his loafers, to his leather coat and gloves. He feels the dark color elicits a sense of question. Looking into his dark brown eyes is like looking at a magic eight ball, they both leave you with both answers and mystery. Standing at a little over six feet, his tone of voice is deep and raspy, kind of like a man attempting to disguise his true identity.

At each of his shows, Starr reads into his audiences minds, primarily on an individual level by bringing volunteers onto stage. He also gets each audience member involved as a group through demonstrations such as the alphabet trick. Here, in four short minutes, Starr is able to get the audience to recite the entire alphabet backwards in 30 seconds. He attributes this to his superior memory ability and teaches others the methods to attain such a skill.

After fun, exciting techniques such as this, Starr probes further into the mind, accessing individual�s surface thoughts.

�I can�t access a person�s deep thoughts or secrets, but I can find their new ideas or thoughts,� Starr says.

He does so by taking a person and asking him questions about a certain topic such as sports or a particular feeling over an issue, like a relationship. Starr uses his keen perception and his psychic ability and asks the person several questions. Searching further into the mind, he is 99% of the time accurate in unveiling a person�s exact thoughts at a given time.

In addition to mind reading, Starr does a mind-blowing mental display with a novel. Here, he casually flips the pages of a book as a participant is instructed to tell him to �stop� at any time. Next, he asks the person to pick a word, any word, at random from the page and remember it. Within approximately two minutes Starr is able to recite the given word. Even though this demonstration illustrates his amazing mental ability, he performs it as if it just a common task, requiring no mental or physical exertion.

Starr casually talks to himself when he is arriving at an answer. Some comments he makes are �I am feeling it is a verb�.or, three syllables, no, wait, it must just be two.� He speaks to himself in a way that shows the great extent he searches his mind for the answer.

An equally important and mysteriously shocking skill this 42-year-old possesses is a form of psycho kinesis. This metal bending act is done with a set of silverware. Starr shows the audience that he has purchased the forks, knives, and spoons at Wal-Mart and drops them on the ground, producing the �clink�.clink� of the silver. He does so to achieve the respect and trust that his tools are everyday objects, nothing out of the ordinary.

Furthermore, Starr bends each prong on a fork, one-by-one, as a participant holds the object. He motions slowly with his pointer finger in an ever so easy manner for each prong to bend forward and then backward. In this same way, he takes a spoon and bends the metal into the number �9.� While doing so, his his eyes study the object in close proximity. He works in a manner as if he is simply telling the object what to do because his skill is based on his mental, not his physical strength.

�In metal bending displays, my mind operates as a way of telling the piece of silverware what to do,� Starr says. �I don�t physically bend it; it bends on its own from my psychic skill. I can bend knives into mostly any shape a person desire: pets, flowers, food.�

In any case, Starr relies heavily on participation; the audience actively becomes involved in every demonstration. He typically brings 25 individuals on stage during each of his 50 minute shows for one-on-one demonstrations. As the holiday season approaches, he is the busiest, with four to five shows per week. Around graduation, he performs two to three shows a night. Laughing, Starr states, �It isn�t the most fun doing so many shows in one night. Yet, the atmosphere during each show grows to a greater height with each mental demonstration.�

With displays such as lightning mathematical calculations and bringing innate objects to life, such as pens, Starr promises to always deliver a memorable experience.

A simple, white pen with the logo of �The Holiday Inn� sits in front of Starr on the table. He chooses this item as a way to show how mentalism really works. After staring at the object for approximately 30 seconds, he instructs it to move to the left and then to the right. The pen obeys each command he asks of it. Finally, Starr picks up the pen and twists it as if it is a flimsy piece of licorice; the lettering becomes one long smear of ink.

Acts such as these leave mystery to countless people. Although Starr will not divulge his rare mind reading ability and mental displays, he will say that he is not different than anyone else.

�I rely on my senses and intuition and use them in a way that most people don�t know how,� Starr says. �Everyone has memory techniques, I just use mine to the fullest, which allows me to develop psychic skills.�

Maybe it is Starr�s background in physics that allows him the ability to correlate mind reading to the laws of nature and mystery. Either way, as Starr continually reads into a person�s thoughts he jokes that he wishes he could in fact predict the future.