Kreskin read my mind at the Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver

By Janet McDonald

Last night at the Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver, Kreskin 73, was in fine form, wearing a royal blue satin shirt and his signature, nerdy, large black-rimmed glasses.

He began by telling us a little bit of his childhood. He grew up in New Jersey about 50 minutes from where Albert Einstein lived. Kreskin said he realized at a very young age that he knew what people were thinking. As a teenager, he performed as a hypnotist.

And too many times than he can count, people have tried to prove he is a fake.

What Kreskin did next was quite amazing. After a few card tricks, he ran through the audience and handed out pieces of paper.

He instructed everyone to write something down in secret and then fold the paper up so that nobody could see through it.

The paper secrets were then collected in envelopes by other audience members. These envelopes were sealed and kept with them in their seats.

Sitting on stage with his little black clipboard he called out, "I see a heart." 

My heart jumped. I had drawn a heart on my paper.

"I see the month August." 

A gentleman and myself stood up.

Kreskin then said, "I see August 12th--yes!" 

The other person sat down, and I was left standing with Kreskin knowing he was reading my mind. "I see 1996," Kreskin declared. 

Yes, I told him, that was my daughter's birthday. I had written Aug. 12,
1996 and drawn a heart underneath.

Next, Kreskin had four people hide his paycheque in the theatre as he was being escorted by two theatre staff and two audience members outside where he could not see or hear anything.

When he came back, he wanted to know who decided on where to hide the cheque, and who was last to touch it. 

Holding a handkerchief, Kreskin and the last guy to touch the cheque walked through the theatre. Pretty quickly Kreskin was at the exact spot, but took a little longer to find the cheque. It was hidden a good eight inches underneath some loose carpeting on the stairs.

After intermission, Kreskin said anyone between 16 and 84 years of age was welcome to come on-stage. There was no way I was going to miss an opportunity, no matter how ridiculous I was going to look.

We started with a magnetic-fingers experiment. A few people were asked to leave the stage. Then he had us close our eyes. Lo and behold, I could not open my eyes!

My head dropped next and we all went limp. I also heard a thump beside me and a lot of laughing.

Then there was a series of commands:

* "Raise you arm."

* "You cannot lower your arm."

* "Now, you are freezing."

* And finally, "You are hot, so hot."  

I got a little lost when I had trouble hearing. And that's when I left the stage.  

Now back in the audience, I could see what control Kreskin had on the final group. When he hypnotized them again, one guy tipped over into the lap of a woman; another guy fell onto the floor. It was remarkable and proof to me, if not to his skeptics, that he is a master mentalist.

Kreskin was funny, energetic, humble, and inspiring. He really doesn't mind the disbelievers, "Some of my friends are skeptics," he said.

Janet McDonald is the Georgia Straight's art department manager.