While Neil Strauss's best selling book "The Game" blew the whistle on the underground seduction community, it's arguable that Mystery (who was actually featured in The Game) is the pivotal figure that brought seduction techniques to the masses.
Mystery, with his distinctive look, over the top dress style and gargantuan height is easily the most recognizable PUA. And as a top contributor to the community for many years, he is also one of the most respected.
Most people know him from his hit VH1 show, "The Pick Up Artist", but there's so much more.
How he Became a Pick Up Artist: The Mystery Persona was originally created with the stage in mind, as he was a magician in an act called "Natural Magic".
Before the Mystery persona, though, was an unsuccessful (but determined) man who spent a lot of time at bars and nightclubs trying to figure out what worked to pick up women.
It was when he became a showman on the magician's stage that he discovered that many of the techniques he used for his act worked great when picking up women in clubs or bars. On the seduction community's underground internet layers, he shared his new theories and methodologies, which were originally met with some resistance, as they were a sharp departure from the then norm.
However, it didn't take long at all for Mystery to become a household name to PUAs everywhere, and his method stuck. Mystery quickly became a guru to the pick up scene as more and more men began to experience success with his ideas.
Physical Description: Mystery is often described as good looking. He is extremely tall and has dark features, which undoubtedly add to his "presence based" style of pick up.
Add that with his "peacocking" style (the practice of wearing ridiculous clothing to add an air of mystery and garner attention to yourself) and you've got a massive character indeed.
Affiliations: Owner and founder of Venusian Arts. Former co-owner of Mystery Method Corp (now Love Systems) with Nick Savoy. Star of the VH1 show The Pick Up Artist. Former mentor of Neil Strauss (Style).
Accomplishments: Mystery's accomplishments for the seduction communtiy and men at large are almost too numerous to mention here. First of all, many industry standards were coined by Mystery. Influential and creative ideas such as:
The 3 Second Rule: To avoid foiling himself, a man should approach a woman he likes within 3 seconds of seeing her, even if all he can think of to say is "hi."
Negs: The art of disarming potentially snobby women who are used to getting hit on all the time through the use of slightly negative comments (usually towards their appearance). Note that a neg is not the same thing as an insult.
Peacocking: To peacock is to wear over the top clothing to make yourself seem larger than life, much like the bird of the same name. This is most effective in a club or bar environment, where immediately standing out from the crowd of average men is very important.
Those are just a few of the ideas which Mystery is responsible for that have become a mainstay in seduction philosophy ever since.
Beyond that, Mystery also taught students in his workshops for many years, where he would take them out in the field and do live pick up. This is a practice which continued over the years until he finally stopped doing it personally, but continued doing it through his company and later on his television show.
Mystery has become one of the most recognizable names in pick up for a reason. As a character and persona, he is perhaps without equal.
Products: Rather than releasing products, Mystery got his start by teaching men directly and personally through workshops, a practice he stopped around 2005.
Alcohol is seen as a problem to Mystery, and he states that pick up and drinking do not mix
His current company, Venusian Arts, was founded after Mystery lost a lawsuit against former business partner Nick Savoy over the ownership of their joint company, Mystery Method Corp (now Love Systems)
Mystery lost his virginity at age 21
Fellow PUA and author of the best selling book "The Game", Neil Strauss (AKA Style), was actually trained by Mystery in the art of pick up before the two become friends and wingmen
Mystery Quotes
Here are some helpful, memorable, or entertaining quotes from Pick Up Artist Mystery:
Most women of particular beauty I believe do not leave huge windows of time open between one BF and the next. Some girls when they dump one wait a long time before they get another but not 10s. 10s in fact will overlap the old one and the new one a bit IMHO.
Mystery on the "I have a boyfriend" line
I highly suggest becoming a comedian (amateur to start), a DJ (club or strip club), a hypnotist, a bartender, bouncer, etc. to live more congruently. It isn't WHAT you do that is nearly as important as WHERE you do it. A job that forces you to interact with women is a very good thing. Working in a morgue is not good.
Mystery on Having an Occupation Congruent with Pick Up
Fuck SCHEDULE. A woman NEVER schedules meetings with FRIENDS. You are framing formal dating shit this way. AND you are structuring a ... DATE.
Mystery on scheduling meet ups with women
A girl will hold up a hoop and expect you to jump through it. An example: "What sign are you?" Most just will jump through her qualification (she only asks cause she wants you to be a COMPATIBLE sign) but instead, grab HER hoop and hold it in front of her for her to jump through ... "Guess."
