I'm trying to find information from the press regarding Uri Geller use of cold reading.
Any help will be great.
Here is one example.
From Esquire March 1976:

"Where did you get that?" he asked as he touched the gold links with his finger. "From an older woman, yes?"

"Yes."

"And that also?" he asked. He was referring to a watch I was wearing, also a gift. "That is a very beautiful watch," he said, "very delicate. Something is written under it. An inscription? Yes. But not written to you."

"That's correct." There indeed was an engraving under the watch, and it was not about me but another man.

And then, as Geller was talking, I noticed he was holding my bracelet in his hand, delicately pinching it with the very tips of his fingers, holding it in front of him like a pawnbroker examining a hock. He swiveled around, turning his back to the table, holding the bracelet in the light. It was odd; I had not felt the bracelet being taken from my arm.

"She is an actress, yes?" he said, indicating the woman who had given me the jewelry. "I know that I am right. I can tell you much," he continued, studying the bracelet dangling between his long, white fingers, staring obsessively at the piece. I watched him a moment, and then my attention was diverted. A crystal saltshaker with a silver-plate cap was moving determinedly by itself across the white tablecloth toward the edge of the perfectly level surface. It was like watching a tiny bishop wearing a silver miter shuffle across a snowy field. I watched it travel for a moment and then, a few inches before it reached the table's edge, I moved my unbraceleted hand and picked it up and returned it to its accustomed place at the center of the table. I was aghast, but Geller appeared not to notice the incident. He continued to examine the bracelet and to tell me very private things about myself and the woman who had given me the jewelry. I was surprised at what he knew, since we shared no friends in common.

He turned back to me, handing me the bracelet, smiling at me. "Your father, does he have powers?"

"He's an evangelist."

"Ah, I am right! "



He then sat up abruptly. "I keep seeing fire from you."

"What?" It startled me.

"In New Orleans. I see you and fire. I see you running from fire."

I laughed. "Well, I'm never going to goddamn New Orleans again."

"I will tell you something." And then he stopped. He was irritated about something. "Why are you thinking about a statue of a fish when I am talking?"

My mind had wandered. I was thinking about a wine bottle made like a fish that I had seen at a party the night before. "I wasn't thinking of a statue."

"No?" He grabbed a piece of paper and drew the fish-shaped bottle. "That is not a fish statue?"

"No, it's a wine bottle made to look like a fish."

"Green, yes?"

"Yes."

He tossed the pad aside, still annoyed.

Yaniv Deautsch

Geller is real
this is not cold reading
Geler charge 35$ for palm reading


Happy new year

Accounts of Uri describing a series of personal details like this are comparatively rare as far as I can tell. But then it depends on what you class as cold-reading. Does every question or statement Uri makes about what someone is, has been or might later be thinking or doing count as cold-reading? If so then examples abound.

Here's one:

"As Shipi, who always drives the family, was searching for a parking space for their people carrier, Uri asked me, 'Do you have a Labrador dog?' We were all laughing about something, so I felt my pockets and said, 'Not on me, no,' (I always liked testing Uri's humour, which was sometimes razor sharp, and other times drowned out by his intensity) Then I explained that we lived in a fifth floor apartment, so we couldn't but that, anyway, we preferred cats, if we had an animal, a dog would be unlikely. When we arrived a couple of minutes later, my eight year-old daughter, Ellie, answered the door. She was wearing a T-shirt I had never seen before, with a large photo of a Labrador dog on the front of it."

Many people with children own or have owned a dog and Labradors are a popular breed, especially with families - so as a try-on it was a good bet, and it paid off nicely. Is it what you had in mind Yaniv?

What you described was not cold reading in my opinion. Too many straight hits. If the person remembered it correctly...

Mikael

The problem is, is that people rarely remember cold reading accurately. They tend to filter out the misses and concentrate on the hits...

Warm- or hot reading... Answers previously obtained?

See 'The Psychology of the Psychic' by David Marks. There are many chapters on Geller and several examples of his 'ESP' with radio callers - for example:

Geller: Are you a big family?
Caller: Yes.
Geller: How many children do you have?
Caller: Five.
Geller: Five. Are any of those children very unusual, because I've got three children that are very unusual. Are they in some way?
Caller: Well, I've got twin boys.
Geller: I got something very unusual from three children, strangely enough.... Now if two of them are twins and one, what's with one? There is something unusual about him.
Woman: ....ummmmm.
Geller: Well, okay, that's it, but it's a good thing that I felt there was something unusual.

This is pretty typical of the examples quoted. There is a much longer example in which Geller struggles to 'sense' a small white animal that a caller has. He tries a rabbit, then a cat, then a dog, even a statue. Then he tries a white animal with brown spots and so on and so forth. He eventually settles for a cat of unspecified colour. It sounds as though his ESP was struggling that day...

best wishes
Huw

Lol, Huw!

I couldn't decide if his latest outing to the Australian "jungle" (five minutes from a luxury hotel) was hilarious or pitiful.

His attempts at "reading" some of his fellow contestants were met with derision at best and he provided the material for many moments of jovial ribbing from the diminuitive hosts, Ant and Dec.

Uri should stick to dousing for oil; his attempts at psychoanalysis were laughable and, if he'd taken one moment to assess the looks from his "patient", he would have noticed they were unwanted.

Yes, I have to say that I think Uri is best in small doses (very small doses). Considering that he is often said to be 'charismatic', I have to say that his charisma was very well hidden during his time in the jungle! (For those people who don't know what we're talking about, Uri was one of several minor celebs who featured in a UK TV show in which the lot of them were stranded together in the jungle for two weeks).

It's just as well that Uri got booted out at an early stage (voted out by the TV viewers who obviously couldn't stand another minute), as it was almost painful to see his career leaking away with every minute he was on screen! Really cringe-making...

best wishes
Huw

I think its about time he updated his motivational spiel to. "PMA" positive mental attitude is really dated. 'he didn't come across as someone who really knew much about motivational techniques..I don't think hes changed any of his act since the 70s..

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_062.html

Skepticism and testimonial at The Straight Dope.

No comment - other than to say that anybody who watches these programmes and thinks that what they see, as opposed to what actually happened - and can base their opinion of somebody on that - has a bolt loose. Or is a television producer’s dream catch.

Ask yourself this, fella’s. How come anybody who has actually spent time with Uri Geller – and I don’t mean just bumped into him, but actually spent time in his company -will defend him? (That is, if they don’t have a bad dose of professional jealousy or an axe to grind.) Okay, so he’s a scamp (as Arthur C Clark refers to him). But there are a lot worse things to be.

<<It's just as well that Uri got booted out at an early stage (voted out by the TV viewers who obviously couldn't stand another minute)>>

Actually, he wasn't "voted out" he just wasn't voted "in". There's a difference.


Does Geller need a career boost? I don’t think so. Does he need the money? Eh, positively not. So what were his motives? I would suggest that his motives were basically good, for which he was lambasted in order to sell commercial space and newspapers.

If you want to know more about Geller, try finding out what he does all day, every day (other than the exercising.) I'll give you a clue... He doesn't make a penny from it, and he goes hard at it from morning until night, and a lot of people all over the world really appreciate it. Pity the British Prss (and I'm a journalist) doesn't have a field day with that... of course, it wouldn't sell many papers!

If being good at what you do in the field of mentlism, and cutting out a real niche for yourself that will leave people discussing you years after you’re gone, means being the scourge of your peers, then I would rather have no part of it.

Anyway, as I said at the beginning, NO COMMENT!

I just watched Geller on a morning talk show. And the reason he was there was for a charity to help children with aids. He came across very well. And very sincere. He told a few stories of the children the money would help.

There was also some confusion over the voting system and many of his fans thought they were voting for him and weren't.

I thought he was funny on the show I personally can't see a problem with what he did. I'ld like to get my hands on Nell to! Think its to easy to be persuaded by press headlines. I know how it felt and how I was treated when all the negative press started about hypnosis.

I was suprised and disapointed when he got voted off. Im just wondering how some of his critics on here would come over on that program?

Drew makes many valid points and it must also be considered that Geller still manages to frustrates the hell out of mentalists and magicians as much as he did 30 years ago.

I do think he has tried to reboot his career somewhat over the past couple of years, but how successful that has been I can't assess.

PMA ("Positive Mental Attitude") may be old stuff, but it's still true. We don't get what we want nearly as much as we get what we EXPECT.
The basics are still the basics & it's still necessary to do inner work in our own consciousness before we can see lasting outer results.
Geller may need to find another PHRASE to describe PMA (the catchphrases change every few years) but the principles are still there.

Yes I agree...and yes a new updated way of explaining would be a good thing. The world has changed since the 70s and 80s. I don't think there ever will be another Geller to have the same impact he had back then.

Having said that I still think hes very likeable and always like seeing him on TV. Im always amazed at his "brass neck" and really admire what he has achieved. Mabey he does have powers of some kind who knows?

Phew... I can get down off my High Horse now, before I fall.