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TV viewers here have been subjected to Uri Geller seeking an heir. I have managed to avoid every programme in the series so far, and the TV critics justify me. The man is worse than third rate.
Someone sent me this link which shows how a really top class trick can be done. It's fairly long but it's worth watching right through to the end.
http://www.glumbert.com/media/cyril
Any ideas how it's done?
J F R
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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Uri Geller is not a magician in the traditional sense because he refuses to concede (like all respectable magicians) that his tricks are tricks and not paranormal (despite not being able to do anything that cannot be achieved by other conjurers).
He's more along the lines of those cold readers ('psychics') whose aim is to con large amounts of money out of suggestive 'believers' by telling them things that can in fact be worked out quite easily from the way they respond, and denying at any stage that it's all a trick (which it is).
Cyril's trick is excellent, however (assuming there is no camera trickery). Thanks for the link, JFR.
David
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David,
IMNSHO, Uri Geller is worse than an amateur con man: he is BOOOOORING! And that is a very great sin in entertainment, as Miss Piggy will aver.
J F R
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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... I was amused to read on Wikipedia:
>During a recent TV Show, "The Successor", broadcasted live in Channel 2, Israel, 9pm, 6 January 2007, the camera apparently took the wrong angle, catching Uri while doing an obvious sleight as he was putting something resembling a Ring Magnet on his finger. This was done just before successfully attempting to make a ship's compass go astray. This "Incident" has made significant waves in Israel. a day later, as this was advertised in Israel's most popular online Newspaper (Ynet). The video was also uploaded on Youtube, however it was removed by Uri's request as it was done without authorization. The video of the incident however still resides in the website of the TV network that airs the show (and thus can't be a fake video). His official reply was "If I did manage to put a magnet on my finger, it's more phenomenal than moving a compass."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Geller
(Well, it's certainly phenomenally bad for his credibility...)
You can see him put what is presumably a magnet onto his finger in this clip (52 seconds in):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WmG4G6sdGoQ
This is a man who claims he does not need such devices, and, indeed, is very likely to sue anyone who says he does. I imagine this clip is rather less booooring than usual, JFR. 
David
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Brian1507a
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Getting started |
Location: USA
Registered: January 2007
Messages: 8
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I was under the impression that the Amazing Randy trashed Uri a long time ago. There are still people stupid enough to beloeve he is real.
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Unfortunately Uri Geller is better-known than Randi, because he has a great gift for self-promotion and, as a magician who professes to perform real magic, he is an anomaly. He attracts attention from scientists and professional magicians (who know he is faking, and are irritated by his lies), believers (who think this makes him 'better' than someone who actually admits his trickery), and of course the media. "Magician uses trickery in his tricks" is not news; "Magician doesn't use trickery for his tricks" (even if it's not actually true) is.
James Randi, for all the good work he does, is far less controversial, because, as a magician, he admits what he is doing is a trick, and as a sceptic, he doesn't make any thrilling-if-true claims about the powers of science or the mind. The work he has done to try to debunk Mr Geller has been much less widely reported, and not just because Mr Geller is very lawsuit-happy.
I do think Randi's web site is well worth reading if you have some time to kill. I should warn you that he doesn't have a lot of patience for the gullible.
http://www.randi.org/
David
[Updated on: Sun, 14 January 2007 15:44] |
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