Last night, I had a discussion with a friend - who was telling me a story involving one of his friends named Michael. I'd never met Michael before, or seen any pictures - I didn't know who he was, but as my friend was going through this story, I built up a mental image of the guy.
I stopped him and asked - "Is Michael a heavy guy, with red hair, and a ginger beard?"
I was deadly accurate.
I've no idea how I did this, and if I hadn't been drinking I probably wouldn't have asked if my mental picture was correct.
Maybe the characteristics my friend told me would fit someone with that description, maybe it was sheer luck, or maybe it's because I have another friend (also called Mick) that fits that description too (they're not the same person) and sub-consciously I merged both these people together?
Either way, I don't know how I did it, I was more effected than my friend - as he's seen my do more impressive things and just assumed that it was another "trick"
I've heard of people being able to "read" people - ie: the clothes they are wearing, the tanline on their wedding finger, the car they drive etc would tell you a great deal about them - but is there anything written on how this could be done remotely?
I don't know why I'm posting this, but I'm fooled.
Beginning to wonder if my friend, inadvertantly hinted at these facts during the story or something...
Oh I dunno.
-James

James; You might find (as others have) that once you start to lose the fear of looking ridiculous and are will to verbalise the image your getting, that your results will more than often be correct. Some people call that doing it for real. It's nice to intermingle that when cold reading. When your right, only you know how much of it was spontaneous.
Kent

James:

You might have psychic ability, and that's how you got it right. I would not be shocked to hear that psychic ability is proven with some people--but so far, I don't think it has been. If it was, that would be really cool.

Or, you might have been incredibly lucky. Or--something else? Is it possible you may have met this guy and forgotten about it? It would be really odd if incredible coincidences didn't sometimes happen.

In any case, if you were curious about whether you have true psychic ability (which of course you might not be), you could test yourself. You could have different people say a little bit about a person you know nothing about, and then try to describe their appearance. If you get a low percentage of hits (I dunno--1 out of 20 or 30) perhaps you don't really have the psychic ability. If you get a high percentage (I still dunno--say 8 or 9 out of twenty), perhaps you really are psychic, and could take Randi's million.

I think it's very common to remember hits like you described, but forget misses.

A few weeks ago, my fiancee and I went to her company picnic. She introduced me to one of her co-workers, and he looked exactly as I had pictured him. All I knew about him beforehand was that he had the same name as me, and that he was African-American. But he was very tall, which I had pictured, and had very distinct dreadlocks, which I had also pictured.

Afterwards, I commented to my fiancee that I had formed a mental image of him before we met and that he fit the image perfectly, and I thought it was sort of spooky. She kind of looked at me funny, especially since she knows how I feel about paranormal stuff. Then she reminded me about the conversation we had had about this particular guy the previous week...the conversation in which she described him to me.

I had completely forgotten the conversation, but had somehow remembered the details of it subconciously.

First off, hello to everyone at the forum.

James, from what you say you've presented a good example here of cold reading & well done for that in itself. It's ALWAYS worth going with your gut instinct & seeing where it can take you. I hope in future you'll go with random gut guesses & make the opportunity for yourself to play with it & build on what you've already created. If you follow me.

Secondly, I don't fully agree with "jimtron"s post, but each to his own! It seems that your unconscious did play a part in the "trick" you've illustrated, no doubt combined with the guts the alcohol had to offer! This is what it's all about though - playing with ideas & taking a shot. I suggest, as everyone will, reading all the major cold reading works. Ian Rowland's work is by far the best starting point. Sorry if I'm underestimating you - maybe you're a pro already!
- But good luck with it & keep going!

Luke:


Hello! Which parts of my post do you disagree with? Also, I don't get how this could be cold reading. You mean, you think James fished for the info and the friend inadvertantly gave it up? Or something else?


-Jim

James ,
I have had the same thing happen alot. I don't really believe in real psychic ability in the true definition of it. However when drinking even a little the fear is gone and you speak with loose lips. Maybe people that do that know more about cold reading and what not than they realize and are just always kinda scared to really try it.. get a few drinks and you are amazing. Jay Marshall said Annemann was that way..With the right mix of gin and panic you would think he was the real deal. Either way ..what ever the reason it is always fun the next day after drinking to remember how amazing you were the night before....wink wink.

Jim,
First off - it's late & I'm off to bed soon so forgive my brevity, we can chat later!

To be sure - it was a cold reading of sorts illustrated above. My only "gripe" with your post was the suggestion that psychic play was a foot. It's just not the way I think, but for all I know it may have been. What do I know!

To be honest, I don't know, but the psychic angle simply isn't useful in my approach to performance & that's the only reason I reject it. James's "trick" was, for me, mostly based on chance, & to me that's terrific! What a cold reader, or "Mind Reader" must then do is play, probe and build on it - see where he can go & it helps all the more if he has some balls as a performer.
Cheers.

Luke:

Thanks for the reply. I'm skeptical about psychic ability, but I think it's important to keep an open mind and not rule it out.




London: what is that mix? I can't find it in my bartender's guide.

James-

To check to see whether you have a talent in this direction,just start asking friends and acquaintances to name people they know but you don't....and you describe the images that come. Try at least 30 times.

You'll soon see if it was accidental or not.

Deja-vu!

Your friend use some psychological force on you.
maybe a suggestion thing. maybe he's a magician too

seriously... maybe its more about how your friend tells the story. like reading a book you really don't see any picture but using your imagination and other facts you've known. you'll create of what a place or person looks like while reading a story in a book. maybe the same way happened instead of reading it your friend was telling it ....

happy magic...

Thanks for the response guys, I didn't know if I should post my experience or not... it's the kind of thing that might be scoffed at within a lesser community.

From it, I learned that I definately should take more risks when I'm doing work like that, or that I should have a couple whiskeys before I go on stage!
Either way I don't think I'm as scared to make a miss than I previously was. Keeping in mind that a miss can be a good thing sometimes.

jimtron: Chances are it could be luck, or coincidence.. but I definately haven't met him before. By the story I knew roughly his age group, and the fact that he was into sound engineering. I'm going to try this out on various people, as many of you have suggested, and count the hits & misses. I could, after all be doing with Randi's Million to get myself some Fabrice Delaure products. Although I might not need those if I find I'm truely "psychic"

JohnLamberti: It's very probable that we've had a conversation about him before, and we both haven't remembered it. Although, if we did - I don't really see a reason for him to explain in detail, how Michael would look. It's not as though he had any distinct conversation-worthy physical attributes (such as dreadlocks) however both of us ARE very forgetful (at least in our conscious minds) so I'd take this as perhaps the most logical explination for the feat.

Luke Jermay: Firstly, welcome! It's great seeing another famous face in here. It's kinda cool that your first two posts were to answer my question. I've never taken the time to learn the art of cold reading - I looked into it a bit, but I just thought it would be around as accurate as a horoscope - "You have a warm and outgoing personality, and you like to spend time with your family" and that the spectator would spot the blatantly general comments. However, you've sparked an interest - so I just ordered Rowland's book. I can see how cold reading could be paired with say a center tear, to form something very powerful indeed. Cheers.

I definately think that I need to be a bit more ballsy in my performance, and add a touch more "masse" as Nyman calls it. Hits like this could create something very personal, and very memorable.
I'll let you all know how I get on!
Cheers,
-James

Oh, and is Lee Earle's cold reading CD thing any good?

James:

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate that you're open-minded enough to not rule out psychic power, yet skeptical enough to know that controlled testing is required to know for sure.

Once you've got "heavy", "hair", and "beard", I always find it useful to throw in "Top Hat?" as well.

It's invariably a miss, but if you say "top hat", smile weirdly, and touch your subject gently on the shoulder, he'll usually slip into light trance. The shoulder touch is then a consistent anchor, for anytime you'd like him to just drift off a little.

In the event that top hat is a hit - then continue "knitted?".

I am finding this happening more often in readings now that I just relax and go with them. At times it is really scary and spooky. I move so fast sometimes I am not aware of where the hits are coming from. I did a full weekend of readings recently at a museum and one of the museum staff was positioned at a booth behind me. Whenever things were slack, she watched, so by the end of the weekend she had watched at least 30 readings. I had no idea she was even there!

So I spent some time with her debriefing on what she had observed. It was rivetting and explained some of the things which worked well. She became aware of tracks I was following and reactions of my sitters which I was not really conscious of. Maybe that is the same as the relaxing effect of alcohol? The more I relax and trust those flashes, the better the readings get. But in doing a reading I am concentrating so hard and flowing with the story which emerges, that I can't stop and refect on a particular hit. She did and could trace the logic which my brain probably followed subconsciously. Well, maybe. I think.

Lynne

Yes, I too wonder occassionally if drinking heavily is becoming essential to a masterly perfomance of mentalism. I have a number of friends who began in mentalism & who since have damaged their career prospects due to diabetis & cirosis of the liver.

Cold Reading can be the cruelest of mistresses.
Pasq.