Mind Reading, Risk & Clay Shooting: Alpha & Ammo with Validus Risk Management

Corporate events have taken me to some unusual places over the years, but combining mind reading with a day of clay pigeon shooting was definitely a first.

In November 2025, I travelled to Purdey at The Royal Berkshire for Alpha & Ammo, a corporate event hosted by Validus Risk Management. The brief was an interesting one: create a memorable experience for their guests that would complement the day rather than interrupt it, combining short group performances with more personal mind reading as everyone moved between activities.

There was also an opportunity to make the mentalism relevant to Validus itself. During the planning stages, three themes kept emerging: risk, uncertainty and perception. For a mind reader, that's rather fertile ground.

What followed was a brilliant day involving bespoke mentalism, an enthusiastic group of guests, plenty of clay shooting and several hours performing in one of the more unusual environments I've encountered at a corporate event.

A Corporate Enquiry with a Difference

The initial enquiry came from Edward Rashba, Vice President of Marketing at Validus Risk Management. Edward had previously worked with a mentalist at a corporate event in Utah and had seen first-hand how powerful the experience could be, particularly during the more personal one-to-one interactions.

For Alpha & Ammo, he wanted something that went beyond simply booking a mind reader to entertain between activities. He was interested in incorporating elements of Validus and its work into the performance, and during our conversations three themes quickly emerged: risk, uncertainty and perception.

Those ideas gave me plenty to work with.

Alongside some established pieces designed to quickly communicate what I do, I created a bespoke effect around Alpha & Ammo 2025. The aim wasn't to turn the performance into a company presentation, but to make the mentalism feel as though it genuinely belonged at this particular event.

The plan was also deliberately flexible: perform for the whole group, then become part of the wider day with more personal interactions as the guests moved between activities.

The Night Before

With an early start planned, I travelled down from Newark the previous afternoon, changing at King's Cross before continuing towards Pangbourne and checking into The Elephant for the night.

I remember feeling that familiar pre-event nervous energy while packing. When you're working away from home, there's always the nagging thought that you've forgotten something important.

After dinner and a short evening walk, I returned to my room, went through the performance one final time and tried to get some sleep. I've never slept particularly well away from home, so when I woke at around 4:30am, I eventually gave up, made a coffee and started preparing for the day.

A few hours later I was standing outside waiting for my taxi when it started to rain.

Considering much of the day involved following guests around an outdoor clay shooting course, I remember thinking the timing could have been better.

Arriving at Purdey at The Royal Berkshire

Thankfully, the weather wasn't enough to dampen the anticipation of the day ahead.

When I arrived at Purdey at The Royal Berkshire, I was immediately impressed. It was a stunning setting and had exactly the sort of atmosphere you'd hope for from a venue hosting an event like Alpha & Ammo.

I stored my luggage and performance case in the cloakroom and met the member of the Purdey team who was overseeing the event from the venue's side. She helped me get settled and make the final preparations before I met Gareth and some of the Validus team.

Everyone was incredibly friendly and professional, which always makes those final few minutes before an event considerably easier.

Then the guests began to arrive.

What had been a relatively calm room quickly came alive with conversation. There was a real buzz about the place and a sense that people were genuinely excited about the day ahead.

For most of them, of course, the main attraction was the shooting.

They didn't yet know quite what the mind reader was going to do.

Setting the Tone with Mentalism

Once everyone had arrived and settled in, it was time for my first performance of the day.

The opening session needed to achieve quite a lot in a relatively short amount of time. I wanted the guests to understand immediately what I was about, experience some strong moments of mind reading, and establish the energy that I could then build upon throughout the rest of the event.

I began with a couple of pieces designed to do exactly that, involving the group and introducing them to the strange world of mentalism. I then brought in something much more personal to the occasion — the bespoke piece I'd created around Alpha & Ammo 2025.

That small piece of customisation made the performance feel connected to the event rather than something that could simply have been lifted from another show and dropped into the room.

Most importantly, the group were fantastic. They were upbeat, responsive and willing to get involved from the beginning. Within those first few minutes, any lingering nerves from the early start and journey down had disappeared.

The tone had been set.

Next came the safety briefing, the guests were divided into their shooting teams, and Alpha & Ammo was about to move outside.

So was I.

Mentalism on the Shooting Course

After the safety briefing, the guests were divided into teams and began making their way around the shooting course.

This was where my role became a little less conventional.

Rather than disappearing until the next scheduled performance, I headed out with them, moving between the different groups and performing whenever the opportunity presented itself. If someone was waiting for their turn to shoot, had just finished at a station or was simply standing chatting with colleagues, I could step in and create a few minutes of mind reading.

It worked brilliantly.

The atmosphere was relaxed and everyone was clearly enjoying the experience. The more time I spent with the groups, the more natural the interactions became. Before long, it felt as though the guests had their own personal mentalist accompanying them around the shooting course.

As the competition began drawing to a close, groups started gathering together out in the field. I continued performing close-up pieces and joining conversations while everyone waited for the remaining teams to finish.

It was a completely different environment from the conference rooms, hotels and drinks receptions where I often perform, but that's part of what made it so enjoyable.

The mentalism wasn't competing with the event.

It had become part of it.

From the Shooting Field to Lunch

By the time the shooting came to an end, everyone was ready to head back inside for lunch.

While we'd been out on the course, the room had been transformed. It looked fantastic, with the tables prepared for lunch and a Purdey cap waiting on the seat of every guest.

I usually eat separately from guests when I have another performance to deliver. It gives me a little time to reset, organise what I need and mentally switch from the informal style of close-up mind reading back into performing for the entire room.

After spending the morning moving between small groups outside, the final session brought everyone together again.

The audience continued to be fantastic — energetic, polite, responsive and completely willing to get involved. By this point we'd also spent several hours together, so there was a familiarity in the room that hadn't existed during that first performance earlier in the morning.

I remember getting changed afterwards and having that very satisfying feeling that the day had gone exactly as I'd hoped.

After more than twenty years of performing, you develop a pretty good instinct for when an event has really landed.

This one had.

“The Feedback Has Been Excellent”

Unfortunately, there was one person missing from Alpha & Ammo: Edward.

After organising the booking from New York and being so enthusiastic about bringing mentalism into the event, he'd had to cancel his flight to the UK. It meant that despite all our conversations and planning, we still hadn't actually met in person.

Once I'd packed everything away, a taxi took me back to Pangbourne station and I began retracing the previous day's journey home. By the time I reached King's Cross, there was just one final job to do — pick up a couple of cheese and onion pasties to take home. For reasons I can't entirely explain, that's become something of a tradition whenever I'm travelling back through King's Cross after a performance.

More importantly, it wasn't long before I heard from Edward.

The response he'd received from the team was simple:

“The feedback has been excellent!”

That was particularly satisfying. I'd left the venue feeling that the day had gone extremely well, but hearing that the guests and Validus team felt the same way was the perfect way to finish the experience.

Almost a year later, Validus and I are now discussing the possibility of doing it all again for Alpha & Ammo 2026. Nothing is confirmed just yet, but Edward is planning to attend this year's event.

So, if everything comes together, we might finally get to meet.