Pyschic John Edward prepares for his 2016 shows at the St. George Theater. (Staten Island Advance/Jin Lee)
Rob Bailey | bailey@siadvance.com
Reading John Edward: For 300 bucks you can meet him at a hotel on Staten Island
Yes, John Edward is back on Staten Island doing his thing this weekend. And it’s a “special 100 person group!†event y’all — just you, John and all the lost souls in the universe, gathered in a hotel on the South Shore. With the heat ratcheting up on big name psychics making bank on the backs of a grieving people who desperately want contact with lost loved ones, it’s no surprise Edward is opting for a “VIP†event from 2-4 p.m. March 12 at Hampton Inn & Suites — 1120 South Ave. in Bloomfield — instead of returning to a high-profile venue like the St. George Theatre, where he performed his act in 2006 and 2011.
Each $300 ticket (uh, that’s a fail) comes with a “one year Evolve membership†— I have no idea what that is but it has a touted “$99 value (which includes a signed book and welcome package).†Also note: “A John Edward ‘group’ event or seminar is reading intensive. There will be question and answer sessions and messages from the other side.â€
Oh, but don’t take that “Reach Out and Connect†flyer at face value, folks. Read the disclaimer: “No one attending any John Edward event is guaranteed a reading.†Tickets are still available at JohnEdward.net, ETix.com and 1-800-514-3849. Now, in the interest of being a good borough ambassador I won’t question John’s skills here. But that’s not gonna stop me from pointing out some of the most interesting psychic “fails†in pop culture history.
Uri Geller spoons Johnny Carson on the “The Tonight Show”
Let’s start with the mother of all psychic shit shows: Don’t try to fool a former magician (like Johnny Carson), fakers.
Sylvia Browne called out by Anderson Cooper on CNN
The $700 an hour (or is it for 20 minutes?) woman was the queen of “reading” grieving people on “The Montel Williams Show.” But then Sylvia told distraught parents their missing son was dead, described his “dreadlocked” assailant — and even where to search for the body. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
‘Long Island Medium’ under investigation for fraud?
Full disclosure: I interviewed Theresa Caputo a few years back and her self-effacing style was charming as hell. And the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” clip to your left is cute, too. Claims that she uses old school cold read “fishing” shtick (and background checks and network of people eavesdropping on ticket-holders waiting on line for shows) to fake it until she makes it? Not so much. Professional myth de-bunker Ron Tebo, who investigated Caputo for more than a year, told Radar Online that she is nothing more than “a vulture preying on the most vulnerable.”
James Van Praagh: Now that’s what I’d call a cold reading
This clip is an exercise is backpedaling: Van Praagh relies on the aforementioned “cold read,” starting out with general guesses and gradually honing in on specifics to create the illusion he’s chatting up dead folk. First: He guesses an audience member’s Ma took some sort of medication. You know, like every old lady ever. From there, it’s all downhill: Did she have arthritis? (no); a back problem? (nah); or trouble with her legs? (nope). Realizing he’s bombing, he asks whether someone else has leg problems, and learns her dad had two hip replacements. Strikes gold! Van Praagh: “So he can’t walk as well as he used to.†Audience lady: “No, he walks very well.†(wah wah.) Commence more backpedaling — and some truly fabulous eye-rolling!
The Psychic Friends Network was a flatout fraud
In 1998, the Psychic Friends Network — and the ubiquitous Miss “Call Me Now” Cleo — filed for bankruptcy, claiming $26 million in liabilities and $1.2 million in assets. Didn’t Dionne Warwick, celeb spokeswoman of five years, see it coming? After all, on the advice of a psychic, she added an “e” to her last name and watched her career tank in the 1970s. But, as Slate.com’s James Surowiecki quipped: “Like so many others, Warwick’s faith in the business of getting poor and desolate people to shell out enormous amounts of money they really shouldn’t be spending for worthless advice remained unshaken.”
Honey, you are not ‘The One’
The Australian reality show “The One” — a wannabe paranormal “American Idol— set out to determine which (if any) of the competing psychics had genuine magical powers. Seeing as how they failed 94 percent of the challenges, the answer is clear. But out of many televised embarrassments, the chopper challenge to the left it the most amusing.
Sally Morgan sues Daily Mail after refusing $1M offer to prove her talents
Sally Morgan — who bills herself as “Britain’s best-loved psychic” — sued the publisher of the Daily Mail for £150,000 for printing an article suggesting she might be faking talking to the dead. Maybe the Mail‘s article (by magician and former psychic Paul Zenon) really did damage Morgan’s reputation so much that she needs the money. The irony: When allegations “Psychic Sally” was a cheat were front-page news, HuffPo offered her $1 million and the chance to clear her name by proving her powers were real. She declined. Why?
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