Mystery (venusian artist)

Erik von Markovik (born Erik James Horvat-Markovic on September 24 1971), better known by the stage name Mystery, is an innovator in the seduction community, a main character in the non-fiction book The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss, was featured in the 2007 VH1 reality television series The Pick-up Artist, and is the self-proclaimed "world's greatest pick-up artist". Von Markovik's contributions to the seduction community are collected and taught as the Venusian Arts by the company of the same name.

Biography

Markovik was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario of German ancestry. He legally changed his name from Erik James Horvat-Markovic in his early 20's.

Markovik was, by his own account, unable to attract women in his teenage years, at one time a Dungeons and Dragons player. He has also described himself as a "late bloomer", having not gone through puberty until the age of 16, and not losing his virginity until age 21. As a result of his [...] frustration and loneliness he traveled to nearby cities over a 10-year period and approached women. Over time and after thousands of cold approaches, he developed a routine based system for successful approaches called the Mystery Method.

Markovik had worked as a close-up magician in restaurants in New York and Toronto while trying to get a job as a magician on a cruise ship. He credits the experience with helping him to learn the ins and outs of human interactions. Von Markovik, like other magicians including Penn & Teller and James Randi, does not believe in the supernatural. He self-identifies as an atheist.

At age 16 he managed to win his first talent show, with a magic performance and the appearance of six doves. During a competition in 1992, young Markovik won the admiration of the founder of The Magic Alliance.

In 1995, Markovik performed his first self-levitation in Quebec. In 1996, he created a Madonna from concentrated liquid flesh at Kingswood Music Theatre in Paramount Canada's Wonderland. By 1999, Markovik traveled to Los Angeles where he performed for Will Smith and friends. He appeared on a show titled Natural Magic in Russia.

Markovik instructed and then befriended author Neil Strauss, who went on to become Markovik's 'wingman', and ultimately a mentor in the seduction community himself. Together with a number of other seduction mentors, Markovik and Strauss rented a large residence in Beverly Hills ('Project Hollywood'), which soon became a mecca for aspiring students. The friendship is recorded in Strauss's book The Game.

On April 11, 2007, Markovik appeared on the television show Late Night with Conan O'Brien to promote his book The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women into Bed. Markovik explained Mystery Method concepts such as going "in field", "peacocking", the structure of a pick-up, and the importance of not telegraphing interest when approaching a group of people.

Involvement In the Seduction Community

Markovik discovered the seduction community during the 10-year period he spent developing his technique, and regularly posted his ProgresS and findings on the Internet newsgroup alt.seduction.fast in long, detailed posts called "field-reports".

Technique and Contributions

Markovik is credited with coining a number of now-ubiquitous terms and Concepts in the seduction community. Markovik has introduced concepts borrowed from Evolutionary Psychology and Theatrical Showmanship, engaging his experience as a Magician. Terms such as "set", "peacocking", and "the 3-second rule" were coined by Markovik. Markovik introduced the concept of the infamous "neg", a backhanded compliment intended to snub a potential mate ("target"), telegraph a lack of interest ("false disqualification"), and encourage the target to prove her worth ("qualify").

Though seminars and workshops on seduction technique preceded his involvement, Markovik is credited with introducing "in-field" workshops, in which small groups of students were appraised on their technique as they approached unaffiliated women in bars and nightclubs. The focus of the workshops was limited to approaching, establishing rapport with and a dominant social position to the targeted women; broader relationship skills were not covered.

Professional Involvement

Markovik is the former figurehead and head instructor for the company Mystery Method, which runs seminars to teach men seduction, and sells a variety of multimedia products on this theme, based on his work. Markovik now heads the company Venusian Arts. Markovik held his first college seminar on May 4, 2006 at MIT. A reality series titled The Pick-up Artist debuted on August 6 2007 on VH1. In the series, Mystery and his wingmen trained eight "lonely, socially inept" men in an eight week bootcamp in Austin, Texas to compete for The Title of "Master Pick-Up Artist".

Books

  • The Venusian Arts Handbook (2005). Mystery & Lovedrop, additional contributions by Style, Sinn, Wilder, and Toecutter. The Mystery Method Corp. LLC. (ebook)
  • The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women Into Bed (2007). Mystery, Lovedrop. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312360115
  • The New Model (ebook, 2007)

See also

  • Mystery Method
  • Neil Strauss

References

  • Strauss, Neil (2005). The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists. ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-055473-8

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