How to be a Successful Medium by Paul Voodini
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Transcript of How to be a Successful Medium by Paul Voodini
How to be a Successful Medium...
… and other bedtime stories for mentalists.
written by Mr.Paul Voodini
How to be a Successful Medium...
… and other bedtime stories for mentalists.
*
Paul Voodini
“I didn't become a mind-reader so I could become Mr. Light
Entertainment. I became a mind-reader so I could FREAK PEOPLE
OUT,” - Paul Voodini, February, 2013.
A TRUE STORY
“When I first turned professional as a magician, I was working, believe it
or not, in a pre-school nursery. The owner of the nursery was a slightly
short tempered business man aged around 60 years. When I handed him
my resignation, he asked what I was going to do when I left the nursery.
Very proudly I told him I was going to be a professional magician. 'Wow!'
he said, looking me up and down. 'I would never have thought it! Tell me,
do you write all your own jokes?'”
FOREWORD
I wanted to call this book 'How to be a Fraudulent Medium'. It is a title that
I've had in mind for a long time and kept on meaning to use. But I always
backed out at the last moment and went for a title that was less
controversial. Likewise with this manuscript. I really, really meant to call it
'How to be a Fraudulent Medium', but at the last minute I chickened out
again.
It's not that I want to be controversial for the sake of it. It was meant to be
a fun, jokey title, but I was worried about upsetting people from both sides
of the fence, both mediums and mentalists. So I watered down the title –
sorry. But if you like, in your mind, you can think of this book as really
being called 'How to be a Fraudulent Medium'. I know I do.
I also wanted to use that title because Derren Brown, in one of his TV
shows, claimed that there were books 'out there' that taught people how to
be fraudulent mediums. Well, you know, really there aren't. Oh sure, there
are books on how to do gimmicked Q&A shows, living and dead tests,
cold reading, and any number of magic flavoured routines. But none of
these routines are what mediums really do. They're sort of what magicians
think mediums do when they have never really seen a medium working
themselves.
So I thought it would be fun to put a manuscript out there that plainly was
how to do fraudulent mediumship, just in case Derren Brown ever said the
same thing again and this time he'd be correct!
Is this manuscript really encouraging people to become fraudulent
mediums? No, of course not. Let me explain...
INTRODUCTION
Before I start this book proper, I feel that I must first of all outline my own
personal feelings about the whole subject of mediumship and also lay to
rest a few misconceptions.
I have no quarrel with mediums in general, and this book is not intended to
be anything along the lines of an exposé. Having worked within the
esoteric community and met, and worked alongside, many mediums, I
know that the vast majority are good hearted people who genuinely believe
in the gift they feel has been bestowed upon them. Yes, of course, there are
one or two bad eggs out there who see mediumship as a fast track ticket to
fame and fortune, but they can generally be spotted a mile off, are usually
ostracised fairly quickly by the rest of the spiritual community, and they
soon discover that the road to success as a professional medium is long,
hard, and full of hurdles.
And of course there are good and bad people in all walks of life. There are
bad plumbers, bad doctors, bad coach drivers and bad policemen. It is the
make-up of mankind in general that there is amongst us the occasional bad
egg. However to believe that being a fake medium is a sure-fire way to
success, fame, and riches would be a huge mistake.
THE ROAD TO SUCCESS AS A MEDIUM
Most people, when they start to believe that they have the ability to
communicate with the spirit realm, start on a very local scale. They will
initially attend development classes run either by a new age group, usually
in an esoteric shop or village hall, or they will attend classes held at a
Spiritualist church. Tentatively they will start to give free 'readings' for
friends and after a year or so, if they feel comfortable with it, will start to
offer paid readings to the general public. This is on a one-to-one basis,
usually in their front room or perhaps in a corner of a new age shop, and is
far removed from any kind of show setting.
If they are drawn to the Spiritualist religion, they may start to give
platform demonstrations of their gift (usually referred to as 'demos') which
is starting to approach a more conventional show setting. However
Spiritualist churches pay visiting mediums very little (if anything at all),
and the medium may have to recoup travel expenses by offering private
one-to-one readings in the church after their demo. However this will
rarely be for a set fee, normally the church will insist that it is on a
voluntary contribution basis where the client pays the medium only what
they feel happy to pay or can afford. So, at the end of the day, the visiting
medium may find themselves out of pocket. The road to the bright lights is
indeed long, hard, and demanding.
The medium may then start to garner a reputation locally and may decide
to put on a public show. Normally this involves hiring a local hall and
selling tickets themselves. It is usually a 'all-hands-on-deck' type affair
with friends helping to promote the event and sell tickets, husbands/wives
manning the tea & coffee stall on the night, and a reliable friend dealing
with tickets and cash on the door.
If this night is successful, the medium may be encouraged to run another
one, and then another. Eventually the venue may become slightly more
salubrious, there may be actual genuine staff working behind the bar and
on the door, and the medium's reputation may begin to spread beyond her
local area.
This is the level that 99% of mediums stay at once (and if) they are lucky
enough to reach it. For an extremely lucky (or not, as the case may be) 1%,
they may be discovered by a talent scout or agency and may be invited to
begin a new journey that involves theatres, TV, and glossy magazines.
However this is very much the exception rather than the rule.
My experience and belief is that it is this 1% of mediums that find
themselves being wooed by the bright lights that ultimately give
mediumship the bad name that it has in some quarters. Consider this: you
have travelled the road to the bright lights via the route explained above.
But suddenly you find yourself surrounded by TV executives, theatre
managers, accountants, and magazine reporters. They don't give a hoot
about your 'gift' or your 'calling'. What they do care about is money. So
what they need is a medium who can deliver powerful messages on
demand. As soon as the director says “roll cameras”, or as soon as the
house-lights dim and the curtain goes up, they need a medium who can
deliver. Because of this pressure and the desire to not screw things up,
some mediums find themselves willing to compromise – compromise in
the same way that an athlete may compromise when he decides to take
performance enhancing drugs. The medium may decide to cheat.
But, despite its intentionally provocative title, this manuscript is not about
cheating per se, as the vast majority of mediums out there working in
village halls and new age shops and Spiritualist churches would never
dream of cheating (in the classic magician-minded sense) and would be
offended by the very notion.
So what, exactly, is this book all about then? Let me explain...
A GOOD MEDIUM
A medium is the only kind of performer that I am aware of that walks out
onto stage with no props at his disposal. A magician has odd-looking boxes
in which to saw people in half, a mind-reader has clipboards and envelopes
in which to place predictions, a juggler has his balls (ahem), a ventriloquist
has his doll . A medium walks out with nothing. And whatever you may
feel about the whole 'talking-to-the-dead' thing, there is something to be
admired in that and something almost poetical in its simplicity. After all, if
you were a real magician or a real mind-reader, if you could really weave
your magic without employing trickery of some kind or other, isn't that
how you would work? Simply walk out in front of the audience and say
“Hello, my name is XXXX and I can read your minds (or whatever).”
I therefore believe that by studying how a good medium works, all
performers can learn a great deal that will help and enhance their own
performance. No, I am not advocating that all magicians and mind-readers
suddenly become mediums, but I am saying that a good medium can teach
you a lot about stage presence and audience management, and also what
the audience expect of you as a 'magical' or 'esoteric' performer – because
like it or not, in the public eye, mediums come from the same stock as
mind-readers (mentalists) and magicians.
You will note that I used the phrase 'good medium' several times in the
previous paragraph. I did this quite intentionally because as I shall now
explain, there are some very bad mediums out there! And I don't mean bad
as in they are cheating or are faking anything, I mean they just aren't very
good at what they do! However they persist because they believe it is their
divine destiny to continue, that they have a calling, and that to not persist
would be to waste the gift given to them by spirit.
The fact that there are a lot of bad mediums out there should reinforce to
us the knowledge that the vast majority of mediums are doing what they
do with a good heart. They have no intention to rip anybody off, to take
advantage of anyone. How could they possibly take advantage of anyone
when they are so bloody awful at what it is that they do?! They do it
because they believe they have a gift to share, and despite all the knock-
backs, all the bad nights, all the sniggers and jeers from the audience, they
continue. There must be easier ways to rip people off.
Sadly the only thing we can learn from a bad medium is how not to do it,
so I suggest we concentrate on good mediums, and on one in particular.
Over the past 2 years I have been to see a particular medium work in
England many times. In fact I have seen him perform so many times that I
started to wear disguises in an attempt to not be recognised by his staff.
But the disguises don't work. The door staff still say, “Oh, you here
again?” every time I walk in. Perhaps they think I am a stalker. Which, in a
weird way, I am.
This particular medium, who I shall not name but who shall be referred to
from this point onwards as The Medium, works 5 nights a week, 50 weeks
a year, to audiences of between 100 – 200.
He mainly works in hotels, and has a deal with most local newspapers
throughout the UK. The deal is this: he hires the hotel room, the newspaper
promotes the event through adverts and perhaps the occasional article, and
they split the net profit 50/50. In the UK, most local newspapers are
owned by a few umbrella companies, so all he really has to do (and has
done) is secure the deal with the umbrella company.
Tickets are priced at, on average, £16. His average audience will be 120.
So on an average night he will gross close to £2000. Let us assume that the
fee for hiring the room in the hotel is around £250 (this fee is based on
research I have done at venues he uses, although I am positive he will be
able to negotiate a cheaper fee for repeat bookings), that leaves £1750.
Because of the amount of travel involved, I am positive that The Medium
and his small entourage stay overnight in the hotel. It is entirely possible
that accommodation is 'thrown-in' free of charge, but even if the required
rooms are charged at £150, this still leaves a net profit at £1600 per night,
split 50/50 with the newspaper. Bear in mind that this guy works hard –
performing 5 nights a week – and this hard work results in an estimated
pay packet (split between himself and his entourage) of approximately
£4000 per week. Yes, there is fuel and vehicle maintenance and the usual
living expenses to deduct from this money, but even so this seems to me to
be a very healthy recompense if you are willing to put in the hard work!
TALKING TO THE DEAD
I am of the opinion that talking to the dead (whether you believe you have
a gift or not) is slightly, well, icky unless handled incredibly sensitively.
But beware of falling into the trap of judging too hastily. Remember that
the vast majority of times this is done with a good heart. And besides, it's
what the paying audience have chosen (free will and all that) to
experience.
I fell foul myself of the 'don't judge too hastily' rule many years ago. I was
working as a host at a mediumship show. My job was to welcome the
audience, introduce the medium (NOT The Medium himself that we are
concentrating on in this manuscript), and then wish everyone a safe
journey home at the close.
After introducing the medium, I took my seat by the side of the stage. The
medium started by explaining how his 'gift' worked, and then he stopped
mid-sentence. He looked down at a woman in the audience. She was
perhaps in her mid-twenties and sat beside her was another woman, this
time in her mid-forties and was clearly the younger woman's mother.
Pointing at the younger woman, the medium said, “There's a child with
you, a spirit child. They're with you now.”
The woman looked at her mother and tears welled in her eyes. “No, no,”
continued the medium. “Not a child, a baby!” The woman now started to
cry and her mother put her arm around her. The medium persisted, “This is
your baby, isn't it? But wait, it's not even really a baby! This was a still-
birth! But the child is safe now. He's not in pain. He wants you, his
mummy, to know that everything is all right.”
The woman was by now crying heavily. She stood up and ran out of the
room, followed by her mother. As the host of the event I felt myself
responsible for the well-being of the guests, and so I hurriedly left the
room, pursuing the two women and silently cursing the medium for what I
considered to be a dirty trick.
The woman and her mother were just outside the doors to the room where
the show was. I approached them and said, “I am so, so sorry. Take it from
me, I will be reporting his actions to the event company first thing in the
morning. I can only apologise.”
The younger woman looked up at me, tears still rolling down her cheeks,
and said, “No, no. Don't you see? It's the most wonderful thing I've ever
heard. The baby's okay now. I can get on with the rest of my life.”
HOW WILL THIS BOOK HELP ME AS A MENTALIST/MIND-
READER?
I believe that I have already covered this subject, but I want to make sure
we're all on the same page. By examining how a medium works we will be
able to take that knowledge into our work as entertainers & mind-readers.
It will help us to add emotional resonance and power to our work. I DO
NOT advocate suddenly doing a centre-tear and claiming the knowledge
came from the volunteer's dead relatives. However what I do think is that
understanding the power of a performance based purely on audience
interaction (no props, no gimmicks) can help us to appreciate the simple
beauty and resonance of one person (you, the performer) talking with
understanding to another person (your volunteer).
A good medium is not screaming “Look at me! Look at me!” (although
I've seen some bad mediums who do exactly that). A good medium is
saying, “I understand you.” That simple phrase, that simple emotion, is
incredibly powerful. Do not say it in so many words, but have that emotion
as the foundation upon which to build a routine. You understand your
volunteer, you appreciate her, you know what makes her tick, and you
approve of her. With those phrases/feelings underpinning each routine,
your volunteer and audience will buy into you readily and easily. They will
see you as an understanding person, and not some idiot who just wants to
hog the limelight and prove to the world how clever he is. And it really
doesn't matter whether your back-story is psychic, NLP, body language, or
simply “weird stuff happens to me”. If your intention is to empower and
improve rather than belittle and out-smart, in my eyes you're a winner.
AUDIENCE MAKE-UP
As we shall see later, The Medium's audience is made up of 50% new
people (who have never seen him before) and 50% regulars (people who,
like me, have seen him previously). This percentage will vary obviously,
but it is an accurate generalisation. The vast majority of the audience
(some 90%) used to be female, but I have noticed a slight change over the
past year or so and more men are starting to attend The Medium's events. I
would estimate now that 75% are female.
The Medium has been working in this fashion, and running events in the
same circuit of cities and towns, for around 8 years now. The hotels he
works in may vary from time to time, but he tends to stick to the same
towns and cities and has built up a loyal following who will attend his
events almost every time he appears in their locale.
It is a general misconception by people who have never been to a
mediumship 'demo' that these events are very sombre affairs, with people
attending after being recently bereaved. This idea could not be further
from the truth. Most mediumship demos that I have been to (and I've been
to many) resemble a girls night out where the primary intention is to have
fun, meet friends, have a glass or two of wine, and enjoy a mysterious
show where there is the possibility that a deceased relative will 'come
through'. Yes, there will be one or two for whom this is primarily about the
hope of getting a message, but for the vast majority the whole point of the
evening is more to do with spending time with friends. It is a social event,
not a pilgrimage.
Spiritualist churches tend to be far more sombre affairs, the high point
being the tea and biscuits served after the service! Although mediumship
demos and Spiritualist churches have much in common – mediumship –
they are very different beasts.
GOOD VENUES/BAD VENUES
The choice of venue can often dictate just how successful an event will be.
The type of venue that always seems to work best is nicely intimate, not
too spacious, where The Medium can quickly and easily interact with the
audience, and where those sitting towards the back do not feel like they are
being ignored or are out of touch.
In a nice, intimate setting it is easy for The Medium to establish rapport
with the audience. He can physically walk out amongst the audience, kneel
besides them, hold their hand, or place a reassuring hand on a shoulder. If
he can work without the aid of a microphone, then all the better as this aids
the feeling of intimacy and friendship. Although, of course, using a
microphone is preferable to an audience not being able to hear what The
Medium is saying!
A nice intimate room is always far preferable to a large modern hall with a
high roof and plastic seating. Of course it is not always possible to use an
intimate setting, particularity if the expected audience numbers dictate the
use of a larger hall. The real trick then of The Medium is to attempt to
make even the most modern, airy, plastic-seated venue feel like it is a cosy,
intimate venue. This is done by the way he speaks, how inclusive and
friendly he is, and by how quickly good rapport is established. All of this
shall be covered shortly.
If unsure of exactly how many audience members can be expected, it is
always better to err on the side of caution. The sight of many empty seats
can have a detrimental affect on the atmosphere. Subconsciously the
audience may feel that the event is somehow a failure due to the fact that it
has not attracted the estimated number of attendees. In the case of
removable seating, it is far preferable to have to put out extra seating due
to queues of people waiting to enter the venue than have a hall half-full
with empty seats.
The Medium usually attracts audiences of between 100 and 200. If the
seating is set up for 200 and only 100 people turn up, the venue can feel
very empty. If however the venue was set up with 100 seats and each seat
is filled, then the event is deemed, subconsciously, a success.
With removable seating, it is essential that a walkway is set up in the
middle of the seats to allow The Medium easy access to all sections of the
audience. This ensures that The Medium is able to approach and stand
close to all sections of the audience, from front to back.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Occasionally The Medium will work alongside a psychic artist. The
psychic artist, allegedly, draws pictures of spirits that she is 'picking up on'
(usually the spirit that The Medium is addressing at that moment in time –
so if The Medium was passing on a message to a lady in the audience from
her deceased father, the psychic artist would attempt to draw a picture of
the father).
Initially this might sound like a good idea; it gives an added dimension to
the evening and the audience seem to be getting more bang for their buck.
However the psychic artist is not particularly good and The Medium seems
to spend half the evening trying to get drawings to fit with audience
members. This then reflects badly on The Medium; he is not spending time
doing what he is best at – namely delivering messages – but is spending
his time as a messenger boy for the artist.
The lesson from this is simple. Do not share the stage with another
performer. If they are better than yourself then they will outshine you, and
if they are not as good as you then this will reflect poorly on you. If you do
wish to present your audience with another performer, have them work as
a warm-up act, setting the scene for your arrival. But be aware that the
world of entertainment abounds with stories of warm-up acts that were far
superior to the 'headline' act!
SHOWTIME!
A facsimile of The Medium's ticket may be of interest. These are either
mailed out to those who purchase in advance, or are handed to everyone
who pays on the door.
EVENING
OF
CLAIRVOYANCE
ADMIT ONE
*
Mobile phones to be switched off
Filming and recording prohibited
Remain seated during performance
Tonight's demonstration is to be considered a form of scientific experiment, and
results cannot be guaranteed. Anyone who is of a nervous disposition, or
consider themselves vulnerable, are free to leave before we begin. Those who
stay do so of their own free will. Any guidance or advice is offered simply for
consideration.
The Medium's show ('demo') usually lasts from 7.30pm until 10pm, with a
half hour interval. The doors open at 7pm, allowing plenty of time for
people without tickets to purchase theirs on the night.
As the audience begin to arrive, The Medium can be seen helping to place
out extra chairs (if required) and chatting amiably with people as they take
their seats. The Medium attracts a high percentage of repeat customers
(people who have seen him before) and he always takes time to say hello
and talk to familiar faces. Before the show has begun he is demonstrating
to his audience what a nice guy he is, and anyone who is attending with a
slightly combative frame of mind finds themselves being gently won over.
With the audience seated, the doors closed, and the clock pointing to
7.30pm, the show can begin. The Medium sits on a stool and gently and
very amiably welcomes the audience.
“Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to tonight's show. Can I just say
how nice it is to be back in XXXX (name of town/city). I've just got back
from working down in XXXX (a town/city far away) and let me tell you,
they're a grumpy bunch down there! God, they were hard work!”
This is usually met with laughter, and the audience members feel good
about themselves. Their egos have been gently stroked, and The Medium
has within a single sentence won them over. Now they're going to be a
good audience because they don't want The Medium to think that they're as
bad as those grumps down in XXXX! It's the oldest trick in the book of
course, but it still works. People are people, and a good ego stroke will
generally win them over. Tell them they're great and they'll love you for it!
“Now before we start, ladies and gentlemen can I just ask who has seen me
before? Who has been to one of my events before?” continues The
Medium. At this point around 50% of the audience will raise their hands.
“I do apologise to those of you who have been here before or who have
seen me working before, but there are a few points I have to highlight
before we start.
“Firstly, there are 3 different kinds of people who make up my audience.
Firstly there's this kind. (The Medium crosses his arms and looks stern).
This is the 'Come on then Mr. So-called Medium! Prove yourself to me,
bring someone through for me!' (At this point the audience will be
laughing). Well, that's fine. It's good to be sceptical and it's good to be
questioning, but I also need you to be open-minded. We need to work as a
team, and if you're putting out negative energy then there's no way that
anyone of yours in the spirit realm is going to come through. Why should
they? They'll probably think, 'I'm not coming through to speak to that
grumpy old sod!' (More laughter)
“The second kind is this. (The Medium bows his head down and attempts
to hide behind an upturned hand) This is 'Oh my God, if he brings
someone through for me I will absolutely die!' Well let me tell you, if
someone comes through for you, you won't die of embarrassment, I
promise you. I'm not here to show you up or make you look silly. I'm here
to help, and if a message comes through for you I will do my utmost to be
considerate and caring. And if you really do not want me to pass on a
message to you, just tell me. Just say 'No thanks', and I'll move on. It's
really not a problem.
“The third kind, well, I really like the third kind. (The Medium looks
bright and attentive). This is 'Come on mother, push yourself forward,
come through and give me a message!' (Laughter)
“But in all seriousness, ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to help and a show
is only as good as an audience. So please, let's all work together and help
the spirits of your loved ones come through.”
This opening spiel serves many important purposes, and I'm sure you've
spotted most of them already. The audience is encouraged to be positive,
friendly, and to work in unison with The Medium. There is no sense here
of The Medium having to impress the audience with his abilities; the
evening is more about The Medium and the audience working together.
Each show is completely dependent on the audience to either make that
show a success or a failure. The nature of mediumship, and the nature of
the messages that are passed on, is such that they tend to always be
somewhat vague and open to interpretation. That means that in most cases
members of the audience could truthfully reply 'yes I understand' or 'no I
don't understand' to every statement thrown their way. The show is all
about individual audience members asserting that they understand (it is
essentially an ungimmicked Q&A session), so how does The Medium
ensure that his audience members 'play along' and assert agreement? By
being friendly, amiable, and by telling the audience, right at the start, that
they need work with The Medium. The Medium strokes their egos, tells
them how great they are, and tells them to not be challenging or
uncooperative. It is easier and nicer to agree with what The Medium is
saying than to be combative, a fly in the ointment, and disagree.
The Medium continues his preamble: “Now if I call out a name or a date
and you think that the message might be for you, put your hand up
quickly! Don't hang around, don't wait quietly at the back assuming that I'll
find you eventually. I won't. There will be a whole queue of spirits trying
to get through tonight to pass on their messages, and if you don't
acknowledge them right away, another spirit will barge in and get their
turn and your spirit, the one who came through to try and talk to you, will
get pushed right to the back of the queue. So please, if you think I might be
talking about you or about a loved one of yours, either in this world or the
spirit world, put your hand up and let me know, okay?”
This paragraph is very clever as it essentially informs the audience that if a
message is not accepted, if The Medium calls out a name or a date, and
nobody in the room accepts it, it isn't The Medium's fault. It is a member
of the audience who was too slow, too shy, or perhaps even too stupid to
accept it. It also ensures that there will be a ready stream of volunteers
ready to accept a message based on only the vaguest of details. “I have a
Dave here, anybody know a Dave?” and of course several hands in the
room will be raised. And The Medium has double the chance of hitting
because he said that names and dates could relate to a spirit or someone
still alive.
This isn't rocket science. It's having the balls to stand up and do it.
There now follows a typical interaction between The Medium and an
audience member. The preamble and the introduction is over. It's time to
talk to dead people!
THE 'TRICK'
The following explanation assumes that The Medium is not really
receiving his information from the spirit realm. This assumption may be
erroneous and I am perfectly willing to accept that. However as most
mentalists and mind-readers will not be receiving any information from the
spirit realm, I will continue on the assumption that a technique needs to be
employed in order to engage the audience and get them to bite.
The main tool of The Medium (and with most mediums) is names and
dates. So he will call out simply, “I have the name Dave. Would the name
Dave mean anything to anyone?” or “I have the month of June. Does the
month of June mean anything, towards the end of the month, probably 23rd
or 24th? Does that mean anything to anyone?”
In a room full of between 100 and 200, the odds are acceptably high that
someone will make a connection and raise their hand. Very often more
than one hand will be raised, and The Medium will make a judgement call
as to who he is going to work with. If no hands are raised, The Medium
may jokingly lambaste the audience for not raising their hands quickly
enough and move on to the next 'spirit' that is trying to come through. He
will, essentially, try another date/name and see if anyone bites this time.
The 'spirits' that come through are usually deceased parents or
grandparents. This can be judged by the age of the guest that The Medium
is engaging with. Someone in their 20's is more likely to be contacted by a
grandparent, someone in their 40's/50's, a parent. And if The Medium
makes a bad judgement call and says “This is your mother, right?” when
actually it is a grandparent, he can quickly save the situation by saying,
“Ah yes, grandmother, that makes sense. I was getting a very strong sense
of motherly love. Your grandmother was very much like a second mother
in a lot of ways, wasn't she?”
In any show the second most popular spirit to come through will be
deceased husbands/wives. As the make-up of the audience is mainly
female, the deceased husband is obviously more common. Again, this can
be judged by the age of the guest.
Following parents/grandparent and husbands/wives, there will also be a
smattering of deceased siblings and friends.
Perhaps the most important part of the trick is to listen, to allow the guest
time and opportunity to speak, to confirm the nature of their relationship
with the spirit, to fill in the gaps and make the connections. The Medium
needs to start quite vaguely, talk about the date or the name, but The
Medium should not (if the guest is shy or not forthcoming) be afraid to ask
outright for clarification. For this reason a date is a good opening gambit.
The Mediums calls out, “I'm getting a date, March, around the middle.
Perhaps the 15th or the 17th. Does this mean anything to anyone?”
The audience member replies, “Yes, I think that's me!”
The Medium: “Okay darling, I'm getting the middle of March, around the
15th. Does that date mean something to you?”
Guest: “The 16th March is my birthday!”
The Medium: “Ah, the 16th! I was getting between the 15th and the 17th, so
of course it's the 16th!”
That's a hit!
The Medium continues, “I'm also getting a name, Jack. Who's Jack?”
Guest: “That's my son!”
The Medium: “And is it your grandparents in spirit?”
Guest: “My grandmother. Not my grandfather.”
The Medium: “She's here now darling, and she's saying what a blessing
little Jack is! She wants you to know that she's always around you, looking
out for you.”
Here's a nice little move that The Medium will employ. At certain points
he will stop mid-sentence as though waiting for an inaudible voice to
speak to him. He will pepper these short periods by saying something like,
“Hmm? What's that? Speak up my darling? Thank you.”
The Medium, continues, “Oh, she's a bit of a character your grandmother!
She's dressed very smartly, she always wanted to look her best, and she's
telling me that she loved to dance! Does that make sense?”
If the guest confirms that it makes sense, perfect! If the guest isn't sure,
The Medium may continue, “Oh, I'm telling you my darling, she loved to
dance! She's dancing for me now and she's dancing to bring her love
through to you and little Jack!”
At this point The Medium has the guest and the audience hooked. This is a
'strong connection', he has had a few good hits and has turned a few misses
into hits by clever footwork. Now it's time to go for a few more solid hits,
safe in the knowledge that he can always turn any miss into an acceptable
hit. Let's examine a few different options:
The Medium: “Do you have any other children, darling? A girl?”
Guest: “Yes!”
The Medium: “Is she older than Jack?”
Guest: “Yes!”
The Medium: “Yes, your grandmother is letting me know about the little
girl as well.”
or
The Medium: “Do you have any other children, darling? A girl?”
Guest: “No, no other children.”
The Medium: “Ooh! Well this is interesting! Because your grandmother is
telling me about a little girl! It's not possible that you're pregnant is it?”
Guest: “Yes! Yes I am!”
or
The Medium: “Do you have any other children, darling? A girl?”
Guest: “No, no other children.”
The Medium: “Ooh! Well this is interesting! Because your grandmother is
telling me about a little girl! It's not possible that you're pregnant is it?”
Guest: “No! I don't think so anyway!”
Much good-natured laughter ensues among the audience.
The Medium (laughing): “Take it from me, darling! I'm not often wrong!
You just wait and see!”
or
The Medium: “Do you have any other children, darling? A girl?”
Guest: “Yes!”
The Medium: “Is she older than Jack?”
Guest: “No, she's younger.”
The Medium: “Younger? Okay then, tell me something. Does the little girl
sometimes act more grown up than Jack? Almost like she's got an old head
on her shoulders? Even though she's only young, sometimes she'll act or
look so grown up?”
Guest: “Yes, yes she does!”
The Medium: “Because your grandmother wants you to know that the little
girl is very special, darling. I don't know if you believe in reincarnation at
all, but I'll just say this: that little girl is very special and your grandmother
is watching over her.”
By being light on his feet and being quick witted, a near-miss can always
be turned into a hit. Lots of flattery, lots of talking about people being
'special', lots of love watching over us, and it is easy to win over an
audience and a guest and get them believing in you and your abilities.
I say 'easy', but it's not really. It's just that the trick isn't some great
unfathomable secret. It is purely down to how quickly and comfortably
The Medium can get the audience on his side. With the audience on his
side he can take them anywhere he wants to. It is something that some
people can do naturally and it is also something that some people will
never be able to do, no matter how many books they read. But we will
look at this again in a short while.
Once a good connection is established, The Medium will keep pushing his
luck until he reaches a cul-de-sac. For example, following our imaginary
exchange above, The Medium may say, “August 21st! What's August 21st!”
If the guest exclaims, “That's Jack's birthday!” or “That's my wedding
anniversary!” the 'connection' is allowed to continue, with the hits only
becoming more impressive. However if the guest looks confused and is
unable to make any connection with the date (or name – a name can be
used just as easily), The Medium will clap his hands and say, “It's not you!
I'm sorry darling, I'm going to leave you with your grandmother's love and
move on! August 21st! Coming through very strongly! Who connects with
August 21st?” And the game starts again.
And this is, essentially, the whole show. Cast the line out, get a bite, keep
pulling until the line snaps, and quickly cast again.
Something that is worth bearing in mind is that The Medium tours with the
same show 5 nights a week, 50 weeks of the year, and has been doing for
close to a decade. He has no need to change the act, no need to put in new
ideas, no use for fancy gimmicks or gizmos. He doesn't have to worry that
his act is getting stale or that people have seen it before. The very fact that
people know what they are going to get when they see him is a plus point!
He doesn't need to invest in new equipment or worry that electronic
gadgets will fail him when he needs them most. All he needs is an
audience. And the fact that every audience is different, made up of a
infinite combination of different people, he knows that each act will be
different. No two shows will be the same because no two interactions will
be the same. Yes, they will be similar (and that's a good thing, the formula
is a winning formula), but they will never be identical. The audience are
the stars, they bring the show with them, all The Medium has to do is ride
that beast for 2 hours with a 30 minute interval!
THE UNSAVOURY BARNUM STATEMENTS
Many in the mentalism community dismiss what mediums do as simple
cold reading. As we have seen thus far, nothing that can be perceived as
cold reading has been uttered by The Medium. However having seen The
Medium perform many times there are some statements that he does seem
to come back to again and again. They are not Barnum Statements (which
I will not repeat here as they are readily available in many other
publications or the internet), but they do seem to be sprinkled through his
show in a way that perhaps one would sprinkle Barnum Statements around
if one felt the need. The statements that The Medium tends to use usually
concentrate on the manner and nature of the spirit's death (their 'passing').
Therefore, because of this, I find them a little bit 'icky' and I call them the
Unsavoury Barnum Statements. I would never use them (mainly because I
don't talk to the dead!), and I am not suggesting that you use them. I
recount them here purely for research purposes (as they say).
• He/she wants you to know that they don't mind that you weren't there
when they passed.
• He/she passed very quickly at the end. They were there one moment
and gone the next.
• He/she lost a lot of weight towards the end. You remember looking at
them and thinking how small they looked.
• He/she says thank you for the flowers.
• He/she says the funeral was funny. It wasn't meant to be, but there
were some laughs and he/she is very pleased that there was fun.
• He/she wants to thank you for doing their hair. (This is referencing
the body in the coffin and the relative stroking or brushing the hair
of the deceased)
• He/she has put the weight back on now, they're looking a lot healthier
now.
• It is pointed out that when a person dies and they go to
heaven/summerland/spirit realm, their appearance changes back to
when they were at their prime. All injuries or illnesses are washed
away.
SOCIAL COMPLIANCE
Perhaps in a similar way to a hypnosis show, there is a lot of social
compliance going on at a mediumship show. Having been selected by a
medium several times at several shows myself, I can tell you that when the
medium is pointing at you and is throwing names/dates/facts at you, there
is an intense amount of pressure to simply say 'yes' and go along with it. It
seems far easier to just agree to things that the medium is saying, even if
they make no sense to you at all, simply to get the spotlight off you. If you
also like the medium, if you have warmed to him, there is also the fact that
you may not want to upset him or make him look silly. You may decide to
play along simply to make life easier for the medium. Obviously if you
dislike the medium, if you think he is an idiot, that pressure does not come
to bear, therefore it is of supreme importance that the audience like the
medium and have no desire to make him look a fool.
However whenever I hear an audience member reply to a statement from a
medium with phrases such as 'sort of', 'a little', 'maybe', 'I think so',
because I know how this works (I think), in my head I'm hearing the
audience member trying to say 'no' but being unable to do so. But that
doesn't matter because the rest of the audience are hearing 'sort of',
'maybe', and 'I think so', all of which sound awfully like 'yes'.
HOW TO MAKE THE AUDIENCE LIKE YOU
This is a skill that some lucky souls seem to be able to demonstrate quite
naturally. For others it comes with a little practice. And for some it will
never happen. There is something about their demeanour, something in
their walk, or something in their tone of voice that means for whatever
reason an audience can't warm to them. Often it is down to the fact that the
performer is nervous and tries to compensate for this nervousness by
behaving in an overly confident manner, or by being sharp tongued.
Sometimes it is just a certain something, a je ne sais pas, that means an
audience will always struggle to like some people.
However, luckily, for most it is a skill that with a little experience and self-
belief can be acquired. Let us examine how to get an audience to like you,
and to like you quickly.
1. Dress in a manner that leads the audience to believe that you do not
see yourself as being better than them. This does not mean that you
cannot dress smartly – of course you can. But overt displays of
wealth, too much jewellery, too stuffy a shirt and tie, may lead an
audience to believe you see yourself as being somehow 'above' them.
A smart suit and shirt is often enough. A medium (and to some extent
a mentalist) can get away with wearing a new age style outfit: kaftan,
open-toed sandals, etc. But be warned that this style of dress must be
entirely congruent with your character. If you're just pretending, the
audience will pick up on it and will know instinctively. A little bit of
individuality in the mode of dress is expected, we are talking about
mediums and mind-readers here. Try not to look like a bank manager.
The most important point of all is to wear what you feel most
comfortable in (within reason). If you absolutely hate wearing a shirt
and tie, do not walk out onto stage wearing them! Your body
language will be all wrong, the fact that you feel uncomfortable will
transmit itself to your audience, and the one thing they will
remember about you afterwards is the fact that you kept tugging
away at the collar of your shirt all night long! Look at how the
mediums on TV dress; smart enough but still able to relate to the
man on the street.
2. Use open armed gestures, be earnest, open yourself up to the
audience. Be self-depreciating, be quick to poke fun at yourself and
to play down your own abilities. You are normal yet blessed with a
gift that you are eternally grateful for, and all you want to do is share
this gift. Be very cautious about poking fun at the audience or
individuals in the audience unless it is done in a warm-hearted
manner.
3. Be interested in audience members. If they want to talk, let them.
This is their show, not yours.
4. Walk out into the audience (so far as possible). Kneel down beside
people as you engage with them, put a reassuring hand on their
shoulder. Address them with terms of endearment such as 'darling',
'my love', 'angel'. Don't be afraid to hug them or shake their hand.
HOW DOES ALL THIS HELP MY MENTALISM?
The Medium starts each interaction by throwing out a name(s) and/or
date(s). The Medium ends the interaction when a further name or date
doesn't hit. This he claims is because the link has been broken and the
name/date belongs to someone else in the audience. He therefore throws
this name/date out to the wider audience, someone bites, and the process
begins again.
Let us take that framework, dismiss the 'talking to the dead' bit, and wrap it
around a standard mentalist routine. For the purpose of our demonstration
we will use a simple billet switch routine. The billet switch routine
comprises simply of a volunteer writing down the Christian name of their
first boyfriend/girlfriend. The performer then switches the billet, gets the
peek, and at the end of the routine hands the original billet back to the
volunteer as a memento.
The first thing that is needed is a volunteer. Rather than simply choosing a
volunteer at random or throwing a giant beach ball out into the audience,
let us take a leaf from The Medium's show. Let's open the doors to chance,
and let it walk in and help us out.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” begins the performer, “I'm picking up on a name.
The name is Mary. I'm feeling the name very strongly, do we have a Mary
in the room tonight?”
Three hands are raised. Mary is a very common name so we should not be
surprised that there is more than one in the room.
“Ah,” says the performer, “we have more than one Mary! No wonder I was
picking up on it so strongly! (This is hit # 1, you correctly divined the fact
that there was at least one Mary in the room. It isn't a big hit, but it is a
hit, the start of your demonstration, the ball is rolling)
The performer continues: “I'm also getting the month of April. That's very
strong too. Does April mean anything to any of our Marys?”
One Mary calls out, “Yes, my birthday is in April!”
“Fantastic!” says the performer. “I was getting a very strong sense of Mary
and April. I think this is very definitely you! Will you step forward and
join us? And many thanks to the other Marys who put their hands up –
thank you.”
Mary steps forward, and the performer conducts the billet routine outlined
above. He correctly 'picks up on' the name of her first boyfriend.
Following this the performer says, “And Mary, can you tell me who Joe
is?”
“Oh my god!” exclaims Mary. “Joe is my current boyfriend!”
“Ah,” says the performer, “that makes perfect sense. Is Joe here tonight?”
“Yes,” says Mary, “he's over there.”
The performer turn to the audience and says hello to Joe. “One last thing,”
says the performer, “June 24th or maybe the 27th? Something like that? Late
June. What does that mean?”
Mary looks puzzled. “No, not sure about that. Can't think of anything.”
“Okay!” says the performer. “It's not you Mary. It's someone else. I'm
picking up on someone else in the audience, so I need to move on. Can we
thank Mary please? Give her a big round of applause as she makes her way
back to her seat!”
The audience applaud and Mary returns to the audience.
“So!” says the performer. “Late June? The 27th, something like that. Who
does that make sense to? There's somebody in the audience who June 27th
or thereabouts belongs to, who is it?”
A hand in the audience is raised. The performer has a second volunteer for
his next routine.
Now, if Mary has accepted the late June date, if for instance it had been
somebody's birthday or an anniversary, then the performer would have
gone along with that. Of course it belonged to Mary! But since Mary
wasn't willing to take the date, the performer does not panic. It's all quite
simple. The date doesn't belong to Mary, of course not! It belongs to
someone else in the audience, and Mary's time in the limelight is over.
Time to move on.
So the performer is safe in the knowledge that he has a good strong
mainstream mentalism routine (doesn't have to be a billet, of course, could
be whatever you favour) at the heart of the presentation. He knows this
routine is strong and will elicit the required sense of wonder. Confident in
this he can wrap this routine in something that is a little more open-ended.
He is going to call out essentially random names and/or dates that he is
'picking up on' in order to select a volunteer. He can be confident because
he knows that the odds are in his favour that a common name or a vague
date will mean something to someone in the audience. But that is not how
it will be perceived by the audience or the volunteer. As far as they are
concerned the performer was picking up all sorts of details about them
right from the beginning. Straight away he knew the name, the birthday,
then he went on to get the name of the first boyfriend and the name of the
latest boyfriend! It is just one hit after another.
To the performer it is simply a random name thrown out to select a random
volunteer. To that volunteer and to the audience though, that was the first
hit, the first demonstration of the performer's uncanny abilities.
Once the mainstream mentalism routine (in our example the billet peek) is
finished, the performer pushes his luck. He randomly picks another name.
In our example it hits. He then pushes his luck a touch further with the
June date. That doesn't hit. No problem. It belongs to someone else.
Original volunteer returns to her seat and the process starts again (perhaps
with a different mentalism routine, a book test for example) at its heart.
If Mary had also accepted the late June date, then great! More hits!
However if the name 'Joe' had meant nothing to Mary, no problem. Of
course Joe doesn't belong to Mary, it's for someone else, thanks Mary, back
to your seat, on with the show, “Who does the name Joe belong to? Why
am I picking up the name Joe?”
So there is no random volunteer selection. It all means something. The hits
start right from the off, and there's no pre-show involved. It's completely
clean, no mess to clean up, it's just the performer calling out names. But
it's all hits.
And if no-one in the audience puts up there hand, if for example there
were no Marys in the audience? Well you covered all this in your
preamble. Obviously Mary was too shy or not quick enough putting up her
hand. She missed her chance. Time to throw out another name. As far as
the audience are concerned the fault is not with the performer but with
Mary who didn't volunteer herself. If this happens, do not panic! Your next
name or date will hit. And you have that amazing billet/book test/whatever
routine just waiting to blow them all away. This is all build-up, it is
ratcheting up the tension, it is drama, it is performance.
ENDING THE SHOW
When the time comes to thank the audience for attending and to say 'good
night', The Medium is as always the perfect host. He is humble and
thankful that people have taken the time to attend tonight's show, he hopes
that people have found some comfort, hope and understanding from the
messages that have been passed on, and he wishes them all a safe and
comfortable onward journey. He may even make a little joke along the
lines of, “Drive carefully because the next time I'm here I don't want it to
be you coming through from the spirit realm saying 'Bloody hell! Wish I'd
driven a bit more carefully!'”
AFTERWORD
I hope you have enjoyed this little foray into the world of the medium, and
have seen how techniques from that world can be incorporated into the
world of mentalism to provide a more powerful and personal performance.
If you get the opportunity to see a medium at work, particularly in what
might be considered an entertainment setting, I strongly advise it. But be
warned, not all mediums are good at what they do! You might find
yourself witnessing a show that has you cringing with embarrassment or
stifling the sniggers! But, you know, that can be entertaining too!
Thanks for being there!
Paul Voodini
March 2013