Remembering The Amazing Kreskin! #211

Are we guys? Do we do magic? Are we the magic guys?

Is that our intro, Nick? Are we live? We are live. It didn't play the intro, though. No, I did it for us. We're guys. We do magic. We're the magic guys live on the Internet. There's the there's the intro. Well, welcome to the Magic Guys podcast. Episode two, one, one. I'm your host, magician Nick Kane. And joining me this week is the illustrious Doug Kahn. Say hi, Doug. Bonsoir, mon ami. So bonjour, I guess, if you're in Australia.

It's daylight time still. It's evening in Las Vegas. How y'all doing? Yeah, well, so yes, sunny Melbourne is. It's only 11 a.m. here, but you have now made the big move to Las Vegas. And how is that going, friend? I mean, it's been, you know, it's actually been great. Arriving in Las Vegas with the wife and the cats. The whole transition has gone well. Our furniture is late, so that's kind of weird, but we're getting by. I don't know.

I don't think we've chatted since I drove here from New Orleans, but man, we went through a sandstorm in Arizona. I thought I was going to die, literally. Whoa. What's the client? It's insane. They call them a haboob. It's 60 mile an hour winds. And this lasted for 90 minutes through the desert of Arizona. I'm white knuckling it with, you know, you can see 20 feet in front of you. Tumbleweeds are bashing into the car and breaking. And these tumbleweeds are like not little.

You know tumbleweeds are big kidding me it was harrowing i think is the word so you're you're in the suv you're holding a trailer so it was just that we're driving a corolla cross it's like an suv yeah no trailer we get our stuff's being delivered in a pod storage unit that's how that's going down but it was a full car you know there's no room in the car and man literally you can't see 20 feet in front of you never wanted

to come in here says i thought you said a seance storm could you imagine that just everywhere i was trying to catch a ride and it was just like you want to believe it man the ghost of christmas spirit was all like hi.

Hitchhiking but guys thank you for being here in the chat thomas congo scotty p tim asking thank you all for being here we have a question from scotty he just wants to affirmation he wants to know did the cats the cats made it they're they're starting to adjust yesterday our third piece of furniture we bought was a little cat bed. So they're all happy to have their own sofa now. They have technically more couch than we do at this point.

It's hilarious. It'd be like, oh, the cats have this palace to live in and you like sleep on the floor. Yeah. I mean, it is their universe. I just live in it. So we accommodate them as best we can. Yeah. Do you have cats? Do you have any pets, Nick?

I don't know. I love the idea of having pets, but because I am an animal lover, I don't, I feel it's unfair to have animals cooped up in a one bedroom apartment when I work as much as I do and especially i travel as much as i do and it's purely because of that that i i would not like i i can't say more than anything i'd come home and i think myself like i'd love it if i had a labrador yeah you know like you're right the way you're like a super bachelor heavy worker travel a lot

that's not conducive you might get by with like a gerbil correct yeah or a snake that would be ideal because even like this this very weekend i'm off to brisbane where i'll be teaming up with the good guys at the theater of magic. Yep. And there's also a magic convention called the assembly. There is going to be an abundance of really awesome lecturers and so forth. You know, Christian grace, if you want to look it up, look up the assembly or

through Piper magic, who's putting that together. So we'll be up there for that convention. I'll be flying up on Friday. I get to hang out with Nobito, which is great. He sends us love. He just like you, Doug, for the listeners, he's currently moving house himself.

And that's why he was unable to kind of make it today but yes scotty p is also going to be there at the assembly one of our awesome listeners and in the chat and i'm looking forward to hanging out with him because that guy always blows my mind every time we hang out so no doubt it's gonna be a great weekend yeah and for that reason i don't do pets curious what's a attendance at an event like this or do you know is it a new thing or will it be okay good

good question so last time we had the assembly we that was in 2019 and we've not done one since i wonder why yeah that that kind of happens when we did do it it was amazing we had we had jason ladani and we had dan harlan wow so piper spending a few bucks to get some talent across the seeds that's cool it was amazing it was actually really really well done i had the pleasure of emceeing i i was you know like this workshop that dan harlan did was one of the best things

that i've ever seen the guy's genius is like you don't appreciate it until it's in front of you like and and he's unboxing brilliant ideas and putting it together for you so that was really really wonderful so yeah unfortunately it's been many years and we're doing one again you know we we were begging him to do it for a long time and the lineup this year is going to be pretty great as well with some awesome international acts so yeah by all means scope it out and those

guys will also be performing at the theater of magic on the uh saturday night the night before. So I'm actually informing. Yeah. So for me, I mean, no pressure, but I have to follow Christian grace.

Yeah you know come on that's probably a good spot for you you know i love christian grace but i might think of him more of a creator you know and a genius level thinker but you know it's time to rock the house you want a guy who's done a thousand shows i don't know what his professional life's like is he a pro performer i don't know that's a good question man i know you are you know i'll take a pro performer and a close spot over a great magician you know theoretically any day of the week.

I love Christian Grace's material. Well, the cool thing is that after this weekend, we can talk about it a whole bunch in next week's episode. So for those of you who are listening today, do not miss next week because this week we are actually paying some respects to someone who had only passed away last year in December.

I had wrote this report some while ago with the intention of paying our respects to the greats as we do in all of our history podcasts. So i think without any further ado we should begin the story of the amazing creskin are we ready to begin let's do it here's that's the intro for the yeah we need some beatboxing or something no norbeeto no beatboxes no no audio clips we're struggling today put your hat on backwards perhaps so

we can just fill the gaps maybe let's try that look the samuel jackson Kangol look. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It doesn't work too good for me. No. What about an eye patch? I can get an eye patch from the back. I got some Groucho glasses, something like that. That'd be kind of cool if you had an eye patch and then you did this and then it became two and that was your blindfold and then you did a blindfold routine. Cool. Let me go in the warehouse. I'll be right back.

All right. While you're doing that, let me tell this story. Let's learn about Kreskin instead. Let's do it. George Joseph Kresge, formerly known as the Amazing Kreskin, was born January 12, 1935, in the bustling suburban town of Montclair, New Jersey. From an incredibly young age, Kreskin exhibited a deep fascination with the mysterious and the extraordinary.

His journey into the world of magic and mentalism began when he was only five years old, inspired by the classic comic strip Mandrake the Magician.

Mandrake was a fictional stage character with hypnotic powers with a knack for solving crime. It captured Kreskin's imagination and planted the seed, but would later become his lifelong pursuit. We don't actually have this in Oz, Mandrake. Yeah, he's pretty prominent, you know, kind of a vintage, really classic magic figure in the States.

You know, maybe a little passe these days, but I can see how Kreskin would be inspired by this you know certainly this image of a magician that solves crimes and stuff and you know yeah yeah so this was just like a short three panel strip in in newspapers back in the day i think it might have been a full-fledged comic book and man did someone make a show of mandrake i'm not sure but i think it was more of an actual page turner but also maybe the strip too.

We found a we found a great spot in my my knowledge there okay well yeah i mean i i tried looking it up but yeah i couldn't find the the minor details with that time period so right but what i did find out was this by age seven kreskin had already begun performing for small magic tricks for his family neighbors and school friends these weren't just simple card tricks he was experimenting with such psychological aspects of performance such as

using subtle gestures and influencing what the audience had noticed even at a young age kreskin displayed an uncanny ability to engage and mesmerize people, a skill that would later be the hallmark of his career. As he grew older, Kreskin's obsession with understanding how people think and behave deepened. He began studying psychology independently during his teenage years, devouring books on suggestion, hypnosis, and the mysteries of the mind.

This self-taught Foundation prepared him for his formal studies later on, where he combined his academic rigor with his innate curiosity. In high school, Creskin became known as the kid with the magic tricks, frequently impressing his classmates with slighter hand and the ability to seemingly read minds.

Yet, even at this stage, he was less interested in the flashy aspects of magic and more drawn to the psychological underpinnings, how the human brain processes information and how it can be used to guide and focus and misdirect attention. So this passion led him to Seton Hall University, where he formally studied psychology in the late 1950s.

At Seton Hall, Kreskin delved into subjects such as perception, memory, and the power of suggestion, all which would later become the building blocks for his mentalism performances.

His academic work was driven by a single question. How far could human thought and behavior be understood and influenced by the fact that with subtle cues. He treated his university years not as a means to learn, but as a laboratory where he could experiment with the principles that would later define his career. That's pretty cool. Yep. You know? Like, even during his time at the university, Kreskin continued to perform, honing his skills at small local events and private parties.

What set him apart from other performers was his ability to integrate his academic learning into his acts, creating a performance style that was equal parts entertainment and psychological experiment. The guy's kind of the real deal when you think about it, don't you think? Yeah, he kind of blurred the lines. He didn't really call himself like, I guess he did proclaim to have a little bit of mental powers, but maybe not be psychic per se.

And he would often do also like magic tricks in his show where, you know, it was just a trick, but he wouldn't call it a magic trick either.

You know it was like a gray area but yeah yeah i wonder you know i wonder how much of this bio is like he was in college studying these things and then went on or then he went to college to like pursue like how do you pursue memory work in the 50s that's a good point i'll cover that because we leap into the 1960s and the 70s so yeah so he's earlier it's a great question so his earlier life was a mixture of the curiosity and everything that surrounded the magic.

But by the time he graduated college, he was not just a magician, he was a mentalist who had already laid the groundwork for the career, which now, in his later years, would astonish millions.

After completing his studies at certain whole university, he transitioned from performing at small local events to becoming one of the most sought-after mentalists in the world. His career took off in the 1960s and the 70s, an era where live performances and television appearances played a crucial role in building a performer's reputation.

What made Kreskin stand out was his ability to combine the drama of stage magic with the psychological intrigue of mind reading, earning him the title The Amazing Kreskin. So his first major breakout on television was on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. I was going to guess that. It had to be Johnny Carson. Johnny Carson did so much for Magic. It might even be worth doing a history lesson on him.

If you guys think that would be kind of cool, because when you see so many of these ones that we do in the past, whenever anyone does anything great in the States, especially, I don't know, I guess with the time period and my age and us being in Australia, I don't even know if it was broadcasted here in Oz. But if it is something you guys would like to figure out or learn, if Johnny Carson did play a role, I'll do the research. Just put it in the comments.

Yes. Tell us about Johnny Carson and I'll, uh, I'll look into it for you guys. Now, I would love history of all the magicians that he put on that show. And I also love to see a compilation of all those performances and you can see many of them on YouTube, but have it all under one umbrella. That would be.

Absolutely. Cause he really did. like you said he did so much for magic and you know when i was a young man this is what a rare opportunity to see some amazing artists you know pre-internet pre-dvd johnny would have you know if he had a magician on i was staying up late that night i'm sure yeah and for those that don't know carson was a foreman magician himself which i learned while doing this research on kreskin so.

So he was captivated like captivated by kreskin as a whole so like for a magician it's a beautiful moment like with talent knows talent and then away you go so kreskin's performance on the show was nothing short of spectacular he would ask members of the audience to think of specific objects names or places and then accurately reveal their thoughts these segments quickly became audience favorites and kreskin went on to appear on the show over 80 times what on the tonight show

yeah 80 times yep 80 times and that's just a testament to his popularity that is right that should be a record i would imagine it probably would be it probably would be i should have actually uh that one he must have been a good fill-in for johnny johnny's like hey uh john wayne canceled can you get over here kresky yeah well he became a regular guest on several shows when I did my research.

So his charisma, along with his astonishing feats, made him a regular guest on other talk shows, including the Merv Griffin show. Yeah, I remember that. Yep. There was Late Night with David Letterman. Okay. The Mike Douglas show as well. Yeah. All the old school. Yeah. I mean, yeah, those are talk shows from like the 70s, right? Yeah. So I guess that would be the equivalent of being like he did Fallon. He did Kimmel. Yeah. Did.

Yeah. Yeah. Some of those are like morning shows. Some of those are afternoon shows. He got around. Yeah. So these appearances brought Creskin into the millions of homes and helped solidify his reputation as a world-class performer. His ability to predict outcomes, find objects, and read minds fascinated audiences sparked widespread discussion about whether his abilities were real or just cleverly executed illusion.

In the 1970s, Kreskin's fame reached new heights when he starred in his own syndicate television series, The Amazing World of Kreskin. The show featured his signature mentalism routines, as well as live audience participation. One of the most thrilling parts of the show was Criskin's ability to find his paycheck. I love this idea. I'll mention it a few times as we go along through the stories. So his paycheck, which was hidden by the audience before the performance began, right?

If he failed to locate it, he forfeited his pay. That's a hook. Bro, it's a daring challenge, most definitely, right? And it added to the mystique of what he did. And I believe he almost always found it is what it said. Like, that'd be pretty gnarly. Imagine like you putting out there, like being that caliber of magician, it would be like a $10,000 sort of fee. And you're just going like, I'm going to hide it. And if I can't find it, I'm broke.

Like that is. I find it surprising. There would be times where he didn't find it. Like his method was fallible.

That's like. well this is the thing this is the 1970s my guy like he's not as if he's got some sort of like beacon like me now have the earbud 3000 right yeah yeah so so the show not only entertained viewers but also gave kreskin a platform to showcase his mentalism abilities his act included everything from hypnosis and suggesting to large-scale predictions right it cemented his place as one of the greatest psychological performers.

Kreskin didn't just captivate audiences in the US, though. He became an international phenomenon. His live tours took him across other countries such as Italy, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom, where he continued to astonish crowds with his mentalism.

Some of the most memorable international feats were in Italy, and I'll explain these a little bit further down the track, but Kreskin, would have locals hide objects in the public square and using only the clues like he had to find them using clues like by the audience in japan he didn't speak the language but he was still able to read minds in canada there was a major hockey game naturally and he was able to like predict that with like amazing accuracy so i'll

tell them in a little more in depth a bit later on but it's it's really inspiring it's super inspiring when a magician or any performer decides i'm international now and they hit the road and like i'm gonna go to japan no i don't speak japanese but i'm good enough we'll work this out yeah what i what i love about this is that his influence on pop culture i really dig this bit as i was doing it because as his fame grew his influence on pop culture did

as well now he became so frequent on tv shows and movies that And even in comics, his name became synonymous with mind reading to the point where people would say, you're pulling a Kreskin. Yeah, let me see if, can I share screens? I was looking like, we got a few titles on our website at Trick Supply. I don't have the ability to share right now because I'm technically. Oh, maybe I can do that. Oh, there we go. Like, here's one. Look at this guy. This must have been released in the 70s.

He's wearing like a denim shirt with fat collars. Kreskin's Mindpower book. So I guess this would, yeah, 1977, second book that Kreskin wrote. And there's several titles in our inventory. I think someone recently found a stockpile of old Kreskin tomes that were released back in the day for the general public. Yeah, I tried looking up his entire discography, and I did make mention of it a little later in the storyline, But I'll definitely make mention of those.

And of course, if you guys want to scope it out. You got some more. All right. I'll quit trying to pretend to be technically savvy here and you can unleash.

Just go back to talking, Nick. Okay. So I want to talk about some of his notable predictions. So throughout his career, Chris King became famous for his large scale predictions. Some of the most notable ones are this. He predicted the outcome of political elections, including famous incidents where in the 1970s, he correctly forecasted an Italian election result before the votes were counted.

He was making predictions about global events, sports outcomes, and even the trends in the entertainment industry. These bold statements kept audiences intrigued and ensured that he would remain a topic of conversation. There was also some unconventional challenges. One of Kreskin's trademarks was his willingness to take on these really gnarly challenges.

For example, he often asked members of the audience to hide objects or write down secrets, which would later be uncovered with uncanny precision. This interactively not only engaged audiences, but it also blurred the line between the performer and the participant because there was this notion of like, how could he know that? Is he legit? But I guess he blows that line beautifully by going, I'm highly educated in this realm and I also practice it because I am magical.

So, Kreskin's career is filled with remarkable moments that left audiences stunned and cemented his reputation as one of the greatest mentalists of all time. Here are some of the most memorable performances that he did. So, of course, there was the paycheck challenge. One of Kreskin's, so what he would do is before the show, an audience member would hide the paycheck somewhere in the venue.

The rule was simple. If Kreskin couldn't locate it, at the end of the performance, he wouldn't get paid. It wasn't just a publicity stunts it was literal high stakes and it was just drama being added to every performance i'm thinking if i couldn't find it suddenly my performance is longer right. Well day three doug's on his hands and knees looking under the chair hey buddy how are you going finding that paycheck,

He's like, oh, I've just got four more routines. We've been here for three weeks, Doug Conn. There's six devoted fans left in the theater. Yay! Oh, my. Okay, so he relied on subtle cues from the audience's body language and reactions to track down his hidden paycheck. Astonishingly, he almost always found it, whether it was tucked under a seat, taped to a ceiling, or sometimes hidden inside a piano.

In one notable instance, Creston located his paycheck after it had been buried under a pile of books backstage. This challenge became a fan favorite. It was one of the most amazing elements of his show and it highlighted his ability to engage in the audience in a completely unique way. I challenge anyone else to do that. No way. We got ifuji in the comments says he's fit. The comment was, I failed to find the check nine out of 6,000 times.

Oh my God. I had a haunting experience in New Zealand where the paycheck was $50,000. Oh my Jesus. Wow. That's a check that you'll want to find probably. Yeah. Yeah. You betcha. Do you have any, any thoughts on his methods for doing this?

Are we talking about like any of how he might've accomplished that? Man, you know, like you can, you can take the easy route by going, he would just stooge it in some capacity or, If I'm not mistaken, the guy's was that he was using the spectator's body language to guide him. So he would hold a spectator or they would hold a handkerchief or something like that. And he would supposedly use their influence to guide him. That sounds like poppycock, but maybe.

I'm half wondering if it's some sort of kinesiology-based type thing with like a bit of muscle testing.

You know that thing they do? you know how reliable is that when you're looking under a stack of books man it's like oh yeah dude yeah i would i would have to have a stooge involved like even if it's someone on my team who's watching them hide it or you know sometimes you can you can pre-show things to a degree where you make it like i i lean very heavily into this when i do any sort of routines of this nature where I'll say, the notion is this, be restrictive. Without seeming restricting.

So it's the type of thing where I'll tell somebody of all the colors of the rainbow, choose one. Now, what that sounds like is name any color, but it's not. They're not going to name fuchsia. Yes. Right. Yeah, there's like eight colors in the rainbow. So, well, seven technically, but they can really choose from. So you just sort of say like, you know, of all the colors of the rainbow, choose one. So, you got a one in eight chance of sort of getting things involved at that

point. You know what I mean? So like whatever it is, whatever thoughts he had, it's obviously diabolical, but yeah, this, this, this town square search in Italy was an interesting one actually. So not in a theater, but outside in the public.

Yeah. So he's taken the same principle, but done it further. So here's, here's what I, my research found. So during a performance in Italy, Crescom was asked to locate a hidden object that had been concealed somewhere in a public square. The item was a small key, okay, and had been hidden by a local volunteer in an area surrounded by hundreds of onlookers.

Using only mental cues, subtle body language from the crowd, Kreskin navigated to the square, located the key in a flower pot at the edge of the square, and the audience lost their minds. The performance became one of Kreskin's most celebrated international moments, demonstrating his abilities to transcend language and cultural barriers. That's gnarly like there's a story of david burglas doing the same thing.

Where i can't remember what the object was but i read it in i'm pretty sure i read it in the burglas effect where he was they it was an object that was hidden and it was basically like on an island surrounded by water like there and he had to he was like going around the city doing this type of thing and then ended up going there like you know and finding it like it's just it's so gnarly but you gotta you gotta appreciate the gravity of this as well you know the showmanship alone like

the thought process involved is pretty great like when the stakes are high the stakes are high i mean at the end of the day that's what made kreskin great his showmanship right he was a very strong performer so you could have this effect is killer but if your showmanship sucks it doesn't matter absolutely and but what i love is this next story especially which is him mind reading in japan so on a tour in japan kreskin faced this really unique

challenge performing for an audience that largely spoke no english despite the language barrier he successfully demonstrated his mind reading abilities kreskin asked several volunteers to think of personal details such as their favorite childhood memory or an object that they are imagining and he was able to describe those thoughts with incredible accuracy for one instance he correctly identified a japanese man's childhood pet as a white dog which had never been mentioned aloud.

The man was so astonished he began like bowing repeatedly in disbelief just blown his mind like that's that's crazy so once again it just solidified not only that his magic can transcend languages. As far as him being able to break these barriers of the linguistic entities involved with being a mentalist, when language is so important, suggestion is so important, and the cultural differences, that's enormous.

Yeah, it's terrifying even as a magician where we can rely on visible magic and stuff like that. But to think about taking my act to, say, Japan, where people don't speak English is unfathomable. For what I'm doing with just sleight of hand magic, doing minimalism. I mean, how many times have you tried to do an effect where there is a level of suggestion or even a magic effect where they just need to follow very basic instructions and you ask them, do this or say this, and they still muff it up.

Like, you know, like I can't tell you how many times I've said, like, choose a value between one and 13, you know, like as in like ace through 10, jack, queen or king, choose a value and they go spade and i go that's not what i said yeah what i said was choose a value, dickhead so yeah so there's that alone like phenomenal but there was also one where in in canada so during a live performance in canada kreska made headlines

by predicting the outcome of a major hockey game the prediction was made in front of a live audience and written down on a sealed card, which was then stored in a locked box. After the game, the card was open and it revealed not only the winning team, but also the exact final score. It was a feat that baffled everyone in attendance. The prediction created a media buzz and reinforced Kreskin's reputation as a master of foresight.

And some skeptics attempted to explain that it was a coincidence or guesswork, but for those who saw it live said it was nothing short of a miracle.

A right i'm wondering what his influences were beyond mandrake i'm kind of rewinding a little bit because it had to be more than that you know it was who was going on 60s dunninger he was probably a guy that'd be some dunninger ploy stuff there for sure but you know also you sort of need to appreciate that he probably was heavily influenced by the academics yeah and he just kind of wrote his own story, I guess, because he was a four-figure for mentalism as public performance art.

There was guys doing it. Alexander, the man who knows, right? We could go back to that. I had the pleasure of seeing his turban in the Copperfield Museum. This guy used radio technology before it was popular. He built it into the turban. He had the guy on the stage telling him the information. And yeah, any technology is like magic before we know it's technology, right? Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, Blackstone, oh, actually, Scotty just mentioned that.

Blackstone was also kind of amazing in that realm as well, where he was doing those sliding light bulbs. And I guess at that time in life, like it's pretty...

Pretty rare that's that's magic though you know i'm thinking like how can you say i'm going to perform minimalism as a performance art and get fifty thousand dollar checks that i may or may not find you know like i've like i got luggage tags for example that are like about as thick as maybe a credit card four or five playing cards right and you put it like you can put it in your wallet and that would be like your air attack for where your wallet is and so forth but

man like we're talking about a paycheck in an envelope it's probably probably a ton of transparency in it as well like it's you know yeah and no technology in the 70s could have you know supplied what he needed for that effect yeah yeah yeah no chance no chance like you'd have to be a pretty big operation maybe with a ton of confederates even if it was like done legitimately but everyone was kind of watching it happen and then somehow like speak easing it to him in some

of this what if he really had mind powers and then sometimes he would just do magic tricks on the side to make the smarties not know he really had the goods it's like let me throw a nail bend in here so no one knows i'm really predicting the future have you ever been criticized of that where someone's like you're you're really magic and you're just you're cosplaying as a human you know I've had a couple people not happy to be around me because what I was doing and I,

and I was thinking, wow, you're stupid. Magic trip. I mean, I'm not, I'm not Mr. Mr. Mystery guy when I'm performing. It's not, I don't even pretend it's real for a minute. So I don't know how someone's like, yeah, it's one of those things where like, if, if you were truly magic and magic costs some of your essence to do what you had to do, like genuinely, like it cost some of your essence. Would you use a cutting rope?

No. Would I have a sponge bunny? Probably not. Yeah. You know? So... I call myself a magician, but I've just professed to be somebody with a high set of skills. I don't even say that anymore. I guess I say it in the generality, but when I'm telling people what I do, I'm a sleight-of-hand artist is what I like to think of myself. It's not magic. It's entertaining, skill-based, amazing effects.

It's funny. things of this nature i haven't really seen done before the last time i can remember someone doing a prediction of this caliber as far as the outcome of a game rich ferguson did one on youtube where he predicted the super bowl i think and it really launched him into the sphere after that that's the only thing i could think of as far as anyone else doing that yeah trying to think of any prominent.

Predictions of recent note if there was any they weren't prominent enough for me yeah yeah maybe it's good that they're forgettable so they're repeatable perhaps maybe the performers just aren't good at promotion you know that's probably more likely yeah there's some great hits for doing predictions these days yeah but here's the thing right hockey game for example would typically typically be single digits as far as a you know like a score would be. It might be 6-0 or 6-5 or even 3-0.

We're talking three-minute periods. It's not three minutes, three periods in a hockey game, and away you go. When he predicted the political election, so in the 1970s, he accurately predicted the results of this national election. So before the votes were counted, Kreskin revealed his prediction to a room of journalists when the officials results were announced the prediction was spot on like spot on so we're talking a population now big numbers.

You know it's like what i'm saying is that if i had a thumb writer i could do something of that nature a single digit but if i had to write and in population where there's like a million people here in melbourne alone and i'll have to write that 648 944 like come on man i can't do that like you know yeah yeah he must have some cool methods yeah this wasn't the only time that he actually did that. He also correctly forecasted several US president elections as well during his career.

I bet before he did it, he had a room full of journalists. Yeah. Just like you said, the first story, you know, right. Yeah. And, and again, the, the predictions just kept adding to his mystique, you know, and it kept the audiences wondering about like, you know, what is it? Was it rooted into intuition? Is it psychology? Is it something supernatural? What is it? But this one, this story that I found, and I just kept finding more

and more and more, but this one blew, there's a couple of more. This one blew my mind. During a live performance in New York, Kreskin was approached by a volunteer who claimed to have lost a family heirloom. It was a gold watch and they lost it weeks prior. The man asked Kreskin, could you help me locate it? Now, except in the challenge, Kreskin asked the man to close his eyes and focus on the last time. I remember seeing the watch. And after a few moments of silence, Kreskin directed the man.

He said, check the pocket of an old winter coat stored in the attic. The man later confirmed that the watch was exactly where Kreskin had described it. Come on, man. That's like some Uri Geller stuff there. Come on, man. I mean, Uri Geller, do you remember when, you probably don't remember this, but I'm pretty sure, I think it might've been an Australian company. They paid him a ridiculous amount of money to fly around a helicopter to predict where there's oil to be dug.

You know? I dig. Uri Geller, come on, man. Like, you know, this is why I love the Institute of Magic in Australia.

So the australian institute of magic like one of the things we have is that like we don't believe what we're doing is real we do it for entertainment purposes irigella doing stuff like that was kind of like bro like that's charlatan that's you should i don't know it was totally taboo like yeah now he's all buddy buddy with the magic world but back in the day it was like not that way at all i think johnny carson i don't johnny carson busted him on the tonight show was kreskin involved with

that there was some magician oh they had they had geller on and had him ready to do a stunt and then they tricked him to where he couldn't pull it off yeah i thought it was actually with randy james randy oh yeah randy randy these spoons if memory serves yeah and he was like.

Trying to do a spoon bend you know yeah i love that yeah but what i love about this is the more i started him the more i started seeing these parodies between him and the amazing nature of which darren brown performs so for example on the mike douglas show kreskin performed a mass hypnosis act that became one of his most talked about television appearances he hypnotized a group of audience members simultaneously instructing them to act as though they were driving race cars in

a race all right what followed was a hilarious yet very impressive display as the volunteers mimicked steering wheels and made car noises and were completely unaware of their surroundings right so chriskin's ability to influence a group of people right in that dramatic way showcased his mastery of suggestion and psychological influences like it's it's a testament to again. Almost reinventing magic in a sense the same way that Darren Brown did so when you see the scale this guy works on,

That to me just blows my mind. And also this, he's working like out of his pockets for the most part. That's a huge win. He's just like, what are his props? You know, it's not like he has to wheel around the death saw, like David Copperfield or, you know, 12 cast members and yada, yada. Yeah. Like, you know, 18 wheeler trucks, you know, rocking up and doing whatever they got to do. Like that's. Bring your thumb writer and your book for the book cast.

Take about 20 minutes to find that check. and then it shows over. Now, again, there's probably countless stories, but there's just one more I want to make mention before we move on to his later life and his legacy, and it's this. Kreskin often used his stills for more personal challenges. In one story, a couple approached him during a performance, asking him for help with their troubled relationship.

Kreskin invited them on stage and asked them to write down their biggest concerns on these separate cards, which were then sealed in envelopes.

After a few moments of thought kreskin revealed what each had written and encouraged them to communicate openly about these issues the couple later credited kreskin with helping them understand each other better and saving their marriage a unique and heartwarming example of the ability to connect with people on a personal level come on come on talk about that's so clever and cute i mean i thought i'd do it in a cute way my roving sets where you know it's like i get a guy to say

stop and i go you count that count that amount of cards and i say to the lady i go choose a number one two three or four and she's just four and i throw four cards down and i go how many cards do you have because i have 10 i go this many and i turn over one of the cards and it's 10 and i turn over all four cards and it's the four tens and i'm like wow you two are so in sync that's amazing I thought that was cool That is cool No,

but that's still cool for a card trick Oh, thanks, man No, it is cool It's Hobson, sir So, yeah Is it Hobson's your plot? Yeah It's great I'll talk you through it later. So these stories exemplify Creskin's extraordinary talents and his ability to leave a lasting impression on audiences worldwide Each performance was a blend of psychology intuition and showmanship creating moments of awe and wonder that remain unforgettable to those who witness them.

Amen. So as Kreskin aged, his passion for mentalism and the art of performance never waned. Into his later years, he remained an active and highly respected figure in the entertainment world. His career spanned more than seven decades.

A testament to his dedication at adaptability, which I can't even speak. That's how good he was.

Adaptability, adaptability, that's better adaptability and timeless appeal welling to his 70s and 80s kreskin continued to perform live shows proving that his talents were as sharp as ever his performance remained interactive and dynamic and the audiences of all ages were captivated by his ability to read minds predict outcomes and uncover hidden objects kreskin often quipped that mentalism kept him sharp and it was clear that his love for the craft was as strong as when he first started his

live shows became more intimate over time after taking often taking place in smaller venues where he could engage directly with his audiences these performances offered fans a unique up-close experience of his abilities showcasing the personal and charismatic side of kreskin that endeared him to so many in his later years kreskin authored several books sharing the insights and techniques of the psychological. Uh, the, sorry, the philosophy behind his work.

The books include the amazing world of Kreskin, Kreskin confidential, and the secrets of the amazing Kreskin. There is more, but these are the most like the ones you can actually get. And of course we can get them from well, trick supply.com has them for sure. Yeah. Is it this type in Kreskin in the search bar?

You'll find four or five items that come up. And look, if you're a video learner in the five minutes i had pre-show i grabbed this off our dvd shelf you can be amazing just like kreskin and i'm gonna take this home and i don't have my dvd player yet it'll be here tomorrow.

My furniture is still on route i don't you know i don't the cats have a couch not me absolutely yeah and they'll probably be mad if you try to share it with them so you know they get territorial but these teachings explore topics such as the power of suggestion the psychology of human behavior and how people can improve their focus and intuition in everyday life his books were not only instructional but inspirational offering readers tools to better understand themselves and others you

know he also had he had a board game kreskin's board game psychic things i saw it in the window of a vintage shop in new orleans one day i'm walking by i'm like the kreskin board game like wonder who licensed that right it looked like you know something from Mattel, like the Ouija board people kind of thing. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I bet that's a nice collectible. You get a, get a Kreskin board game.

That would be cool. Yeah. So. Through his writing, Kreskin extended his legacy to aspiring magicians, mentalists, and anyone curious about the mysteries of the mind.

Even as he stepped back from a spotlight in his later years, Kreskin's influence remained deeply embedded in pop culture. His name became synonymous with mind reading and intuition. Often references in movies and TV shows, saying that he was pulling a Kreskin. I guess it's probably an older saying, but Speaking of movies, is the great Buck Howard in your story here? The great Buck Howard? No.

Let me see if I can share screen again here. This is a gem of a film, and it features John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, and even Tom Hanks is this in this movie. And this is essentially a reflection of Kreskin later in life. So, boy, John Malkovich and Colin Hanks. Ricky Jay is in this movie. Are you kidding me? So this is everyone's recommendation to watch later. It is a good film.

And it's not like the most glamorous look at Kreskin as it is looking at him later in life and how someone that's declining in their later years might be struggling. But yeah, the great Buck Howard. Put that on your list if it's not already. Yeah, definitely. That's movie recommendations. There we go. That's a fun time. Yeah, it is. Yeah. So I was trying to see if there was any sort of mentorships and so forth.

Although he didn't formally train students or establish a mentorship program, many mentalists credit him as a massive inspiration for their craft. His innovation of psychology and suggestion pushed the boundaries of what mentalism could achieve, encouraging others to experiment and innovate within that art form. Krescombe was also known for his generosity in sharing his knowledge.

He frequently attended magic conventions where he would interact with younger performers, offering advice and encouragement. His willingness to connect with aspiring magicians and mentalists ensured his impact would continue to be felt for generations.

Kreskin's final performances was celebrated as a milestone of his incredible career. While details of his very last performance remain elusive, it's widely recognized that he continued to perform well into his late 80s. Love it. Unreal, leaving audiences in awe to the very, very end.

His shows were a testament to his enduring skill and the joy he found in creating connections with people in his craft He stopped performing after being injured in a fall in early 2024, He had a period of poor health in the weeks leading up until his death Chriskin died from complications of dementia at an assisted living facility in Wayne, New Jersey on December 10, 2024 At the age of 89 yeah just a few months ago yeah yeah kreskin's life was a celebration of curiosity creativity and

the human mind's potential he transformed mentalism into a niche art from a niche art let me say that again because he deserves this he transformed mentalism from a niche art form into a global phenomenon inspiring countless performers and leaving audiences with memories of the impossible. His ability to connect with people, entertain with a sense of humor, and make them question what they thought they knew about the world's.

Was just thrown out the window, honestly. But Kreskin, the real magic wasn't in the tricks of the illusion. It was about the connection he shared with the audience and the joy of creating these moments of true wonder. Kreskin will be missed and I'm really thankful we have an opportunity to remember him today. It's so cool. I agree completely. And dude, thank you so much for putting together that wonderful presentation.

I mean, I learned a lot today about Kreskin. yeah you yeah yeah man it's staggering it's staggering how influential like.

I guess because he was really on the rise during the rise of media and he knew how to make that work for him you know with all the television shows and you know i would say that has a lot to do with his popularity that plus he's an original and you know people ask me a lot i hear it from the kids and people want to know how do you become good the way you become good is you do something unique you know that no one else is doing and he very much did that he found his own

his own style and was able to deliver something people haven't seen before or if they had seen it not that way you know i guess you see it nowadays you know i guess where he was coming up through the 50s where you know color television and so forth were becoming a thing and talk shows and, and whatever else where, you know, people would, you know, effectively be part of the audience in the lounge rooms. You know, I don't think people nowadays are going to experience that.

Like we used to have a show. It was an awful show. It was called Hey, Hey, It's Saturday.

That was our Johnny Carson's, right? And we were able to sit there in our lounge rooms as kids with the family, watch it on a Saturday night and, and have a giggle. You know what I mean? And we would have like, there's a hilarious, if you watch that, you'll, you'll laugh your ass off.

We had like an ostrich puppet on the show there was this thing called dicky knee and i remember it scared the crap out of sophista stallone in one of the interviews i remember as a kid growing up you know those days are gone now you know now it's like they're using different mediums obviously and they're using social media but what i really dislike is that a lot of people ask me how to like do well in magic and seldom is the advice ever be good be

really good be so good be world-class good it's always get your promo right look good get your but like and then what happens we hire you and you suck you know i know one guy who is all about aesthetics all about aesthetics and. And I guess this is a semi gig story because I was performing and I got, I got to share this story real quick.

Cause it's just like, when you hear someone performing of this caliber versus somebody else, who's all about the aesthetic, I was performing and I approached this group and I say, hello, welcome. I'm Nicholas is now a good time for magic. And she goes, do we have to do magic? So of course not. What do you want to do? She goes, can we just have a chat? I go, sure. What do you want to know? She's like. Why do you do magic? And I go, cause it makes people happy. And she goes,

well, what makes you happy? And I said, making people happy. She goes, cool. What was your favorite band in the nineties? I go this. And then she just asked me a mirada of questions. And I answered every one of them politely. And the guy, and I wasn't like in her face. I was in between these two dudes. She was like on the edge of the table on the far side. And I just sat with the guys and we just had a chat and I made us,

I pulled us together. I'm like, just to make her feel comfortable for whatever reason, she was uncomfortable.

I read the room and we had a chat about it. sometimes that's your job when you're the magician here's where i got great she then turns she then says okay i'm ready to see magic now and and i perform and actually before i do that the guys go she needed to establish trust before we do this and i said i understand that yeah not a problem i start performing my piece and it's blowing her mind and she's loving it she's like this is unbelievable.

And she stopped me halfway through my set to tell me this. Like I wasn't done with my routine yet, but she stopped me and she said, five years ago, there was this magician who was so bad that I hate magic. And I went, where was it? And she told me where it was. And I went, I know exactly who this magician is. It was Josh Norbedo's house, huh? And I'm going to keep all the details out, but I'll fill you in off the air.

And I'll show you a photograph because she took a, she goes, I hated it so much. That's pretty bad, man. You couldn't let it go. You had to burn it into the memory. Yeah. She was like, he was so bad. i took a photograph of him because this guy was not very professional and probably not even sober.

For this but it's just one of those things where aesthetically they're so great and they look so good but when they actually do the work yeah they're not and they forgot to care about the people they forgot to care about the people now you look at kreskin would you say that he is channing pollock movie star gorgeous and and was fighting girls off of the stick or the exact opposite well maybe not i i'm sure he was classically handsome for sure but the work speaks for itself the work do the

work man do the good magic thing care about your audience give them a reason to care about your magic and put on deodorant yeah in nick's case roll it all over your body do i smell that bad no i just know you're a deodorant fan you put on that nose sweat stuff no sweat stuff is important man and yeah and doing shows in brisbane where it's going to be considerably hotter i will be running a bathtub of it for sure in my accommodation so yeah but man like i i gotta i admittedly

i'm so impressed by by these stories i really am like it's it's it's so inspiring yeah like it's just staggering you know. So look, we're wrapping up soon. We got a few minutes left. I want to mention you're going to a convention next week. I'm going to a convention next week. I'm going to work my first dealer's booth with Trix Supply in St. Louis, Missouri. Awesome. It's a close-up convention. So if there's any kindred spirits listening, if you're going to be in St.

Louis, you got about 20 hours. If you have a special request, I'll bring you. Maybe, maybe you want the new Juan Tamari book. Let's go. Flamenco in the house. I got to do a little product promotion from trick supply. You know, this is Juan's newest, really it's a trick book, which is kind of rare for him. You know, sometimes his books lately are all theory. You can't have this one. Cause it's mine now.

It's just remarkable. Cause I, if I were in your position, I would be, I'd be paying to work there because I would just be hemorrhaging all my wages. Don't tell my boss that. Cause I would, but so far this is working out.

No truth be told turns out having doug con in a magic shop's all right for the magic shop you know i think it's a good give and take but yeah i am literally living the dream i mean i was like what are we going to talk these are just the things that came across my desk today like here's a couple of things i grabbed the christian we got the big headline from david kaplan this is great he's actually right in town he's going to be visiting us for the for the

magic festival i believe so yes indeed so i was happy to see that we got this is ariola i can't pronounce the first name paviato which i recall reading his work in some early books from john mendoza he's a fissom award-winning artist i think he did a duo act with tamarie back in the day what is his name. Ariolo paviato let me put that right in the front there and i know he's got some wonderful card and coin handlings. I recall studying them, but I haven't seen a volume dedicated to his work.

Nice book. We all know who Roberto Giobbi is, and I guess this is maybe a Penguin release, right? So Unexpected Agenda from Roberto. This is more of a theory book. You know, that's interesting. Considering his books, Card College, are very much the concrete of card magic to some degree. You know what I mean? They're a very good foundation. That's what I tell people about. How do I learn card magic? Get card college. It's all that. Yeah. And it's remarkable because I've sat up as a guy who's

just been like, everything you do fools me. And they just go, it's all card college, man. And I'm like, shh. Yeah. All the great stuff is in there. Yeah. It's hard to believe like what else could be in that book? Like the hidden, what is it called? A hidden agenda? This is the unexpected agenda. And it's a follow-up to a volume that he released, I think, which was called hidden agenda. And it's a book, I think mainly of magic theory, tips, advice, just on how to be a better magician.

You know, maybe not the ambitious card routine, but you know, how to make someone care about the ambitious card routine. Yeah. So yeah, I get to live the dream. I'm getting, like, that's the day. Yesterday it was, you know, Torah Torah magic. And the day before I'm curating the brass wares in the cabinet. And, you know, the day before that I'm learning some new packet tricks. Yeah. A good one that I'm really enthusiastic about. This thing.

David Haydon's Babel book test. This is one volume of many that he's published. It incorporates the mother of all book tests, the flashback book test, and a couple of unique things that he's integrated into this. It's been a while since I've had a book test, but this one is going to go home with me and looking forward to, if nothing else, performing it at my house, you know, having the book around and it's a very organic piece.

Well, yeah, we actually have these on sale for like 40 bucks right now. It's ridiculously cheap as far as high-end. For a book test. That's crazy. Yeah, especially for something that's related to the mother of all book tests, which is normally hundreds of dollars to get something without publication. Yeah. Yeah. Like normally you're looking, like you got to sort of have 300 bucks in your pocket. Yeah. You even enter the word mother of all book tests.

So what Haydon did with these books is he published several of them in different sizes. So you can use the same techniques for books that appear to be different, right? So it's the same methodology. So you can have eight books on the shelf. You say, go grab one of those. And they all work the same way, but they all look different. Pretty cool. Look, I'm done plugging products. I actually have a customer in my store now. So it's time to wrap up our podcast so I can actually make some money today.

Well, guys, thank you for listening to our podcast. And thank you for helping us pay respects to the amazing Kreskin.

Like, I wish I knew more about him earlier. and it just goes to show you don't know what you got till it's gone but of course, you got to know where you came from to know where you're going history is important if there's anyone else you would like me to sort of scope out let me know i've written three or four in advance so as far as history lessons go if you enjoy them do let us know thanks much for listening i'm letting you know i enjoy

them nick thank you thank you doug you can scope out my links below or scope on instagram at nick kmagic you can see doug at con man go to dougcon.com that's a good dot com. Thanks for listening. We'll see you guys next week. Lots of love. Au revoir. Thanks for listening. It's time for us to disappear now. Disappear now. But we'll see you again on the next episode of The Magic Guys.