The Amazing Kreskin, RIP

[hownos]

This guy was a talk show regualr back in the 70s and 80s and then fell out of fashion. I was never exactly sure what he claimed to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghFzI9zq-WY

[nyctc7]

I certainly remember him. He was kind of like the Richard Simmons of mentalism. Meaning he was unique and entertaining but kind of annoying. I don't think he claimed to be anything other than highly perceptive, but really he just comes form a long line of magicians of the mentalist variety.

[Citizen Rules]

When I was a kid I met Kreskin in the men's bathroom at Harold's Club casino in Reno:eek: True story!...We were having dinner there as my aunt and uncle both worked in the casino and kids were allowed in the dinning room with their parents. This was in the 1960s and I was pretty young and so my dad took me to the bathroom as I wasn't suppose to walk through the casino. In the bathroom my dad spotted Kreskin and says that his wife (my mom) watched Kreskin's tv show. Kreskin seemed a bit odd to me but nice enough.

[hownos]

I certainly remember him. He was kind of like the Richard Simmons of mentalism. Meaning he was unique and entertaining but kind of annoying. I don't think he claimed to be anything other than highly perceptive, but really he just comes form a long line of magicians of the mentalist variety.

I think he might hold the record for most talk show appearances. One of those guys who would never say no not even to local tv.

[Captain Steel]

I just heard about his passing yesterday. Truth to tell, I didn't know he was still alive. I haven't heard his name mentioned in decades.

But when I was a kid, his show was regular viewing in my house. My dad had a love for anything to do with magic (stage magic & slight of hand that is), and I guess that transferred over to Kreskin as well.

As nyctc7 said, I don't remember Kreskin claiming he had any paranormal or extrasensory powers (as someone like Uri Geller did), at the same time I don't think he focused on debunking those who did (unlike "The Amazing Randi" a.k.a. James Randi).

[nyctc7]

Captain Steel -- "The Amazing Randi -- a professional magician and, as James Randi, a professional debunker -- finds Kreskin's claims harmless but a little silly. 'If Kreskin says he believes in precognition or ESP then he probably does,' he says. 'Magicians are not immune to believing in that woo-woo any more than anyone else.. Randi says Kreskin's find-the-paycheck trick is just old-fashioned 'Hellstromism,' named after the German 'muscle reader' who found hidden objects by studying people's unconscious reactions."
https://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/2009/03/jerseys_amazing_kreskin_can_fo.html

That last part rings true as I saw a video of Kreskin trying to find his check...he held a woman (who knew the location) by the arm and started walking, and it seemed obvious to me that he was trying to convince her to show him the location by their body movements (nudging her one way or the other and testing her reaction), in other words using his knowledge of suggestibility to get her to reveal the spot without her realizing that was exactly what was happening.

[Gideon58]

I remember Kreskin. He was amazing. RIP

[hownos]

Captain Steel -- "The Amazing Randi -- a professional magician and, as James Randi, a professional debunker -- finds Kreskin's claims harmless but a little silly. 'If Kreskin says he believes in precognition or ESP then he probably does,' he says. 'Magicians are not immune to believing in that woo-woo any more than anyone else.. Randi says Kreskin's find-the-paycheck trick is just old-fashioned 'Hellstromism,' named after the German 'muscle reader' who found hidden objects by studying people's unconscious reactions."
https://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/2009/03/jerseys_amazing_kreskin_can_fo.html

That last part rings true as I saw a video of Kreskin trying to find his check...he held a woman (who knew the location) by the arm and started walking, and it seemed obvious to me that he was trying to convince her to show him the location by their body movements (nudging her one way or the other and testing her reaction), in other words using his knowledge of suggestibility to get her to reveal the spot without her realizing that was exactly what was happening.

I had to google Hellstromism. It's actually a real thing.