Kreskin and Waking Suggestion

Here’s a wonderful blast from the past of one of my favorite mentalists. Recently, this link was posted on another list and it’s just too good not to share . . . Kreskin’s Telepathy in Action.

In the clip, The Amazing Kreskin (George Joseph Kresge, Jr.) is shown on a very old Regis show (both look sooooo young). Kreskin demonstrates the use of waking suggestion (his act used to use a LOT of waking suggestion effects specifically as a means of "debunking" hypnosis . . . albeit, since waking suggestion is hypnosis, the debunk doesn’t hold . . . Kresikin jumped on the "there’s not such thing as hypnosis and I do suggestion effects" bandwagon around the time stage hypnosis became illegal in some jurisdictions so there is some self-interest in his claims but he certainly had and made an excellent point that one does not need formal "trance" to achieve suggestion . . . waking suggestion works beautifully. Ormond McGill has done some wonderful effects with waking hypnosis as well and there are a number of performers who do entire shows based merely on suggestibility tests and waking suggestion effects with no formal induction. Of course, it’s still hypnosis . . . but the illusion that it isn’t is very well done. In any case, despite personal disagreements with his conclusions about the validity of hypnosis and some of his coloring of what he does, I still find him an engaging and entertaining performer well worth learning from (with a grain of salt . . . besides, recent brain imaging studies and other scientific work has shown that hypnosis is very real and that something beyond the no-such-thing hypothesis is indeed going on). Kreskin was going with what he believed at the time. Now, we know differently.

On the flip side, Kreskin will make claims about his "powers" as being based upon extreme concentration which is certainly true of certain of his effects (he is the twentieith century’s master of ideomotor effect and psychophysiological thought reading, true and very real phenomena) but he also plays a bit of the mentalist’s gambit of fudging things, fudging things as a number of the sleazy psychics do (although he should not be placed int the same loathesome order as the cheats and swindlers bleeding people dry for cash based upon tricks, cons, and deceit . . . Kreskin is foremost and first an entertainer and he does it well. Actually, Johnny Carson’s quirky mentalist character Carnac was a satire of Kreskin and his own routine was modeled after The Great Dunninger, one of the authorities and true greats of mentalist magic. Kreskin has said that he was inspired by the comic book character Mandrake the Magician but the Dunninger connection is unmistakeable.

Like Banachek and Derren Brown today, Kreskin has always combined real effect with illusionist trickery with sleight of mouth and askew description playing a hand in creating the context and power of the effect. He may say he’s not tricking you, but he is. However, many of his effects are very real psycholigical sets and uses of suggestion . . . waking hypnosis . . . althouth he repeatedly says it isn’t hypnosis because he doesn’t induce trance . . . guess what, I teach folks how to do hypnosis all the time without a formal induction. Calling a rose a flower doesn’t mean it’s not a rose.

Do note that in the clip, Kreskin says he chose the five volunteers based upon how they concentrate and that they were not prepared for the effects in any way . . . they were evidently tested in some way though so my guess is he selected folks who responded highly to a battery of suggestibility tests (the ones in the group’s archives would work for the purpose) . . . so, don’t get the impression that these are purely any ol’ people off the street. They may be fresh off the street and unknown to Kreskin but they have still been vetted and prepared in some way for the effect.

The first effect with the numbers and the chairs is not a suggestion or telepathy effect . . . it is Kreskin doing a card shift and moving the mark. Notice, he knows exactly which chair the guy’s standing in front of and therefore which card to hand to Regis. The effect can be enhanced a great deal by using suggestion but can be done with simple manipulation and psychological forcing. I’ve done a very very similar effect learned years ago before and was tickled pink to see Kreskin doing it. See the wonderful work done by Derren Brown, Banachek, and Kenton Kneppers for more contemporary elegant solutions to the same performance problem.

I have some old copies of some of Kreskin’s earlier books and it’s still interesting to go through them and see his descriptions of what he did and how he did it . . . in some books, he’s straightforward with great detail . . . even with the anti-hypnosis patter . . . and in others he dresses it all up. Different markets required different explanations (just as Derren Brown’s fans today find his descriptions of how he accomplishes his effects to be radically different when you look at the explanations given to the general public – psychological forces and suggestions – as opposed to the same effects discussed in his books or lectures for professional magicians – this move and that gambit or card switch or device or whatever.

For more on Kreskin . . . good, bad, and not so great . . . see here, here, here, here, and here. For some books which you might find very enjoyable on the subject, see Kreskin’s own Secrets of the Amazing Kreskin (The World’s Foremost Mentalist Reveals How You Can Expand Your Powers) and How to Be a Fake Kreskin.

I love mentalism, mental magic . . . especially the type that does not rely upon gimmicks, gadgets, moves, or props. I love the sort that uses real psychological effects and employs suggestion, real suggestion . . . the kind that waking hypnosis is built upon. Yes, I do include waking suggestion effects in my course as well as a number of the psychophysiological thought reading (contact mind reading, the real deal) effects that Kreskin and others perform . . . albeit, within the context of experiential hypnosis rather than as psychic power or the like.

Good stuff.

If anyone knows of any other good clips like this one . . . especially of Kreskin doing suggestion effects and the like . . . feel free to post the URLs.

All the best,
Brian

Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH
http://www.briandavidphillips.com