Hey all,
What are your opinions in regards to the "claims" someone makes as a performer and magician, and the legality of them. For instance, I do a lot of mentalism, but I perform it more as a psychological illusion, and an experiment in suggestion and body language and what have you. But I can't call my self a psychologist...even if it's in a performance setting right? Or can I if...I'm not selling myself as a licensed psychologist to help with people clinically? I mean, so much of magic patter is B.S. or storytelling, how far can we go in a performance. When I do gambling demonstrations I used to say that I worked casinos exposing how cheaters cheat. But is that wrong? As long as I'm not selling myself to casinos with that intent. What do you all think?

I am just guessing, but I don't think it is a problem legally. You mentioned a performance setting, and I think that is key. Just look at a TV show or movie. Plenty of actors play doctors or cops (or whatever), yet they don't get in trouble legally because they called themselves a doctor. Your magic is a performance, just like a movie is a performance.

The test for this sort of "dishonesty" is whether or not it follows you around outside of the show. Most people know the doctors and cops on TV are actors, and so the actors are absolved of this. On the other hand, claims made within a magic or mentalism show sometimes get people curious, and so if they start asking you questions after your act about what it was like working in a casino exposing cheaters, or whether or not you can find their missing daughter using the clairvoyance you demonstrated in the act, you're in a bit of hot water. Either you've got to continue the lie, in which case you're now swimming in unethical waters, or else you've got to confess to the fraud, in which case the show suffers.

I think you're worrying too much.

If you are selling yourself as a psychologist, you are selling yourself as a licensed psychologist. You can't be licensed without being a psychologist, and you can't be a psychologist if you are not licensed.

If you are telling people you are a psychologist with the intent that you want them to believe you, then it is considered fraud. Most times the law will go after those who are practicing psychology without a license. Your show could be considered an illegal medical practice if you are receiving payments from your audience while giving them the impression that your show is based on psychological practices presented by a psychologist.

Best advice if you should choose to take this root is consult a local lawyer. Only a licensed lawyer is able to give legal advice, and I am no lawyer.

It may all seem innocent enough, but it's better to be safe and check with a lawyer.

Untrue. You are still a psychologist, you just are not licensed and insurance companies won't pay you without it. So to be able to accept insurance, one must be licensed.

However there are laws governing the "titles" one can use and the "liability" behind such titles.

Context is everything. If one bills himself as Dr. for a performance piece then he has used "artistic license" and hasn't misrepresented himself. However if one was to use the title of "counselor" when giving readings, he would have in fact comited a crime in that there are license issuers concerning counseling.

One must also consider that "advising" others can be a sticky subject and one that might open one up to personal lawsuits if one were to be found "culpable".

I'm not a lawyer and don't play one on TV, so take what I'm saying here with a grain of salt, and consult an attorney. Magicians aren't lawyers and if fact make terrible counselors.

Fraud laws vary by state, but there are some general common law rules that are more likely than not to apply. First and foremost you're an entertainer. Entertainer's can get away with a lot. I did a quick search on westlaw and found nothing that restricts how performers represent themselves so long as they aren't dispensing advice. The most important point is that if no one is going to be hurt by something you do or say, there's no basis for civil liability. Criminal liability wold only attach if you were actively defrauding people who thought they were paying for something other than entertainment based on how you represent yourself. So long as you're in a traditional entertainment venue, I doubt you'd get any trouble calling yourself a psychologist. You're playing a character in a theatrical performance, and that's the beginning and the end of it. Where you could get in trouble is how you represent yourself to employers and bookers, who you should be careful to tell that the "psychologist" is a character that you play in performance. One good way to make sure you do that is to adopt a stage name but do business under your legal name so that employers are very clear on the difference.

Bear in mind that I'm not a lawyer, just a law student, and this doesn't constitute legal advice. If you're really worried about it, I'm sure you can find an entertainment lawyer in your area who can give you all the advice you need with the information pertinent to your state law. But honestly, I doubt you'll have too much trouble and it will be a fairly quick, and cheap, conversation with your attorney if you decide to retain one. Another option, if you're making a living doing your act, is to join the local stage actors guild who might be able to give you access to more resources as well as give you the usual guild benefits of a retirement plan and the ability to buy into group medical coverage.

It depends. No, it's not against "Copyright" (I am a copyright reviewer after all!). I wouldn't worry about doing this. Besides, it's a magicians job to be misleading

So you've generally asked two questions: (1) are you at risk of practicing a profession (psychology, say) without a license, and (2) are you at risk of committing some kind of fraud?

(1) Licensure requirements usually only kick in when one is holding themselves out as a professional and offering services in exchange for money. In your specific case of using a psychology theme to your mentalism, you have nothing to worry about. If someone sees your show, approaches you, and says, "Wow, that was amazing. You know so much about psychology, you can certainly help me work out my unresolved frustration about my mother. I'll pay you whatever you want," then that's the sort of thing that might cross the line. But otherwise, have at it.

(2) As for fraud-related infractions, you also have nothing to worry about. This isn't a blanket analysis, but it's illustrative: common law fraud is a so-called "specific intent" crime. That means you have to actually intend for your "victims" to actually act on the false statements. So the same statement in different circumstances might amount to fraud in one case, and not fraud in the other. Consider, for example, these two cases:

(a) You do a gambling demonstration to some paying spectators. In your demonstration, you mention, falsely, how you were trained in the art of false dealing in the dark underworld of New York City where your mentor had personally swindled some of the area's most ruthless and attentive card players. You mention that because it fits with the theme of your patter.

(b) You do the same gambling demonstration, and make the same false statements, in an interview for a casino security job. You make the statements because you think it will increase your chances of getting hired.

In case (a), you're not really intending for the audience to act one way or the other in response to your statements... except maybe applaud a little louder when you're done. In case (b), you specifically intend for the casino to rely on your statements as evidence of your skill. Case (a) is fine, case (b) is not.

The situation in the UK is different - the term "psychologist" is not currently controlled here and no licensing or registration is needed to call yourself a psychologist and to charge fees for "psychological" work.

Mike

I was under the impression that in UK to legally call yourself a Psychologist
that you had to have a Psychology degree to prove expertise in the area?

William

The late Dr Walford Bodie used to get himself into lots of trouble pretending he was a doctor. One day in court he was asked why he had M.D. after his name. He replied that it meant "Merry Devil". Somebody should really write a biography about this character. He was actually one of the pioneers of stage hypnotism.

As to the topic I see that magicians often represent themselves as "entertainers" when they plainly aren't. I think there should be a law against that too.

Walford Bodie is one of my all time favorite characters. A true showman who pushed "showman's license" to the limits. Ricky Jay did a fairly detailed biography of him in Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women.

Good thoughts,

Bob

I share admiration for the "British Edison."

I read the Ricky Jay thing about Dr Bodie which was wonderful. What I would like to see is a full fledged big biography on him.

That would be a great book indeed! "Merry Devil - The Life and Times of Dr. Walford Bodie"

As happens my wife is a Dr. of Psych, licensed in CA and I can tell you the legal stuff is really, REALLY strict if YOU ARE in fact a practicing therapist.

But, this is not exactly like claiming to be a police officer or federal agent and even then depending the context you could be all right. It's all about the 'con'.

While my wife was a DOC, but had not her license yet she had to practice under the purview of someone else's. She was not at that point a Psychologist, she was a Psych Assistant!

Soooo...I asked my wife: NO, you can't claim to be a Psychologist. You can say you are using psychological ploys, concepts, whatever, but you do not want to claim to be what amounts to a 'mental health professional'. I asked if she thought it was the same in all states and she was about 99% sure that it was.

Just the claim is illegal, but would probably as a first offense only cause a slap on the wrist and a caution to stop doin' it.

But, let's say you keep doing so and for some reason some person in the audience thinks you are giving them advice of some kind. They act on that advice and something untoward takes place. You could be 'sued' and it's likely that you would lose.

In other words it's not worth it. Keep your claims general and principle oriented. Using that method you could claim that you believe you are from another planet, that you are using unknown laws of physics, that the unseen side of the moon is really made of green cheese, etc. You can claim any goofy thing you like, but you can't claim to BE someone legitimately IN a profession that you are not...at least not one that is so heavily regulated and licensed as Psycology.

Hope that helps. Best,

Oddly enough in Ontario anybody can call themselves a "psychotherapist" but they can't say they are a "psychologist" unless they actually are. Mimd you, I bet there is nothing to stop you as an entertainer saying that you are a "master of psychology"