Skepticblog

Steve Freedman & Grace Divine

I have joked about it for years. In the never ending world of psychic exploitation and the greed that drives it, I have often wondered what if psychics and medium like Sylvia Browne actually went for laughs instead of the serious life and death mediumship game they play in today’s market? She’s never been right, so why not do a Phyllis Diller routine and make hay while the sun is still shining on her painted nails? Well, it looks like a couple of California dreamers have taken their cues from others like Maureen Hancock (who was once supposedly a stand-up comedienne) and decided that rather than risk blunders in their calling-back-the-dead cold readings, they are mixing their metaphors and going for laughs. (continue reading…)

Fellow magician and bizarrist, Erick Fearson sent me a link to a French television news special on psychics and mediums that I worked on back in October. Several days of shooting seems to have produced quite a exposure of fakery. Not speaking French, from what I can “intuit” as they say, it  looks really good. Finally someone is stepping up and graphically showing the lowest depths people like Maureen Hancock, VanPraagh and Sylvia Browne will go. (continue reading…)

Sarah Lassez Author of “Psychic Junkie”

It had to happen. It was just a matter of time.* The phenomena of addiction to psychics finally reached the point in our society where the fabled Twelve Step Program stepped in to fill the need for support groups. The brand of fellowship once previously reserved for wayward drunks and speed freaks is now preaching to a whole new choir. Thanks in part to the twisted badinage of the likes of Dr. Phil and Anderson Cooper, there are now thousands of lost souls who have found their lives taken over by an uncontrollable urge to get a psychic reading. It sounds like a SNL skit, but the sad truth is a new wave of Psychic Junkie support groups are springing up, and it’s no laughing matter. (continue reading…)

Get Ready

Bain Capital is one of the world’s leading private, alternative asset management firms, with approximately $65 billion in assets under management. That’s the first thing you read when you go to their web page. That’s right $65 billion, let’s say approximately and round off at 66 billion. Last night a Bain representative (who will for the time being be referred to as Mr. X) called me up to discuss “platforms” and “marketing options” his investor clients want to take a look at. They are interested in the “psychic market.” Hmmmmmm. Looks like the Big Bucks guys are looking for new ways to make the money grab now that Romney is out. (continue reading…)

Witch doctor Phil is on the defensive against skeptics. For whatever reasons (because he can?) he’s ratcheting up his P.T. Barnum approach to psychology with another side-show of un-proven pseudo-science.

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Todd Robbins and the Very Corporeal Ghost of Margery Crandon

Last night I had the chance to finally see the film “Play Dead” starring Todd Robbins. This really is my kind of production. Teller should be proud of his creation, which boasts the P&T style of direction without the cynical bombast that often overshadows their usual style of show. This was a class act all the way through. Todd is the ultimate storyteller and gives the entire film the kind of creative and compelling energy that sets him far above the standard side-show ballyhoo artist. (continue reading…)

Well, according to a group of hard working  psychics whose banner motto reads ” …to show that there is ample evidence for the paranormal as well as to expose the irrational and religiophobia of professional skeptics and belligerent atheists,” I have now reached that coveted plateau where few can brag to have attained. In their Sept 13, 2012 article “Physicalism is Dead,” (these are their words folks…) I have been called out as that four letter word so treasured as the ultimate insult for so many centuries: “Mark Edward is Scum.”

I must be doing something right. (continue reading…)

Together at Last!

If you didn’t watch the Nov. 8th episode of “Inside Edition,” you missed an expose of “America’s favorite psychic” and star of the popular “Long Island Medium” television “reality” series, Theresa Caputo. (continue reading…)

Two Charlatans: Edward & Probst 2012

The Good News: We may have reached the tipping point with the tv talk show circus and their propensity for spreading woo and rediculous paranormal trash. With the likes of Witch Dr. Phil and Anderson Cooper continuing to give positive accolades to  mediums, psychic detectives and all manner of un-proven nonsense in their never ending quests for tabloid ratings success, a new face has emerged who just might have the balls to stand up and say enough to all the baloney. (continue reading…)

A Child’s First Psychic Reading: Thanks to The Learning Channel

Words cannote describe how this latest child abuse situation affects me. But I will try. Someone has to speak up. For me, this kind of exploitation has gone beyond nauseating and upsetting to outrage. To quote www.scifake.com:

“Public ignorance and stupidity costs the nation billions of dollars, kills untold people in the hundreds of thousands, vastly increases crime and unemployment, and generally makes life far less productive, safe and enjoyable for the minority that are not ignorant and stupid, as well as for those who are.”

Watch the video: http://scifake.com/theresa-caputo-and-tlc-promoting-borderline-child-abuse-and-fraud/

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