Cold Reading Question.

ziedth

Hi all.

If this is breaking the charter or anything then MODS by all mean delete the thread I apologise but I just had a few drinks back home and got talking to the mother about when she got called up on stage during a Kieth Barry show and it got me thinking.

For anyone who is not familar with it he stops his heart on stage while holding a lightbulb (I think) and a member of the crowd (my mam) who is a nurse comes up and takes their pulse to confirm it has stopped etc.

Anyway, the end part of the trick when he comes back he said something like Jimmy (My passed grandfather) was hi.

Now, I'm aware of the basic princible of cold reading but I just don't understand how in a million years a magician (Although not the word I would use to describe the likes of John Edward) could possibly know this. Jimmy being the name only close friends and family would call him and not his birthname James.

Anyway, thanks in advance and again if it breaks any charter I apologise I'm just too drunk to read it

oeb

ziedth wrote: »

Hi all.

If this is breaking the charter or anything then MODS by all mean delete the thread I apologise but I just had a few drinks back home and got talking to the mother about when she got called up on stage during a Kieth Barry show and it got me thinking.

For anyone who is not familar with it he stops his heart on stage while holding a lightbulb (I think) and a member of the crowd (my mam) who is a nurse comes up and takes their pulse to confirm it has stopped etc.

Anyway, the end part of the trick when he comes back he said something like Jimmy (My passed grandfather) was hi.

Now, I'm aware of the basic princible of cold reading but I just don't understand how in a million years a magician (Although not the word I would use to describe the likes of John Edward) could possibly know this. Jimmy being the name only close friends and family would call him and not his birthname James.

Anyway, thanks in advance and again if it breaks any charter I apologise I'm just too drunk to read it

Hi ziedith,
It is unlikely that cold reading was used for an effect like that, not the way you describe it anyway (Randomly and abruptly pulling a name out of thin air). But if you want to know more about the subject, Ian Rowland has a fantastic book out called The full facts of cold reading.

ziedth

Thank you,

I must actually get it because it's something that I think would interest me. It does seem that it couldn't be cold Reading but I don't honestly see what else it could be. She's obviously not a stooge and I brought Mrs Ziedth to the same show on a different night and he did the same trick with a different girl. Thanks for your reply.

oeb

ziedth wrote: »

Thank you,

I must actually get it because it's something that I think would interest me. It does seem that it couldn't be cold Reading but I don't honestly see what else it could be. She's obviously not a stooge and I brought Mrs Ziedth to the same show on a different night and he did the same trick with a different girl. Thanks for your reply.

With cold reading, you basically work on the hit and miss approach. You score hits, which are ideally remembered "Ohhh my god, he knew that my uncle died of a heart attack!" and misses, which are usually forgotten, or at least mentally shoved out of the way by the impact of the hits. For something similar, take a look at how regular gamblers always seem to remember their wins, and forget their losses.

Another part of cold reading is allowing the target to make their own mental connections. If for example, just the name jimmy was thrown out there, without any specified connection, it allows the target to come up with their own meaning. In your mothers case for example, she would have made the connection to her deceased father, to another person the connection might be an uncle, a cousin or even a friend (Alive or dead).

Most likely though, if a name was just pulled out of thin air, and in both shows referred to a father, than it was most likely either accomplished with pre-show work or with standard mentalism techniques.

ziedth

I'm actually nearly sure that before he went under for all the world he said he comes close to the otherside so "Jimmy says hello" is def not the same as the John Edward school of "what is your connection to Jimmy" ya know?

I'm of course not saying it's real just an amazing trick knowing that my Ma wasn't in on it (God love her she wants to believe in it being a pure catholic) and thinks it's real.

I'd say your right and that it's a much simpler trick dressed up to look that way.

Zillah

There's all sorts of ways it could have been done. I could suggest a thousand but without more information we will never know. Maybe he researched his audience (were tickets booked online?) for people with a medical background (for this trick), and found the name through a friend, or overheard something, or saw an obituary etc. There are literally thousands of ways it could have been done.

He could also have just picked a common name out of the air, betting that someone of your mothers age is likely to know a whole bunch of dead people. If he was wrong, no loss she walks away slightly confused. If he's right, he gets people posting online trying to work out how he performed this impossible act. A lot like cold reading, in that sense.