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This is interesting. To start off with, I don't buy his act. My mother, however, does. Around 5 years ago, before his tv show, my mother bought some tickets to see him speaks in Detroit. (Oddly enough, in the basement of a Masonic Temple. It was cool and added an extra layer of creepiness.)
This guy is good. Damn good. We got there and sat for about 30-60 minutes (the exact time period escapes me). People were whispering and whatnot, but not enough to get the level of detail that he gets. That is part of it though. The rest has to be actors.
He has some great stories about past psychic experiences and whatnot, which even if bullshit, were fun to listen to. The lecture part of the book tour lasted about 45 minutes. Then it was on to the readings.
There were a few regular readings, with not too much detail. There were also several very specific readings. One involved a picture of a ghost on a motorcycle, which was a fun little story. There was another reading that lasted almost 20 minutes, because the person in question just didn't get it. It took them forever to make connections with the things Edward said. At the time I chalked it up to his peristence, but later I realized he probably just was unlucky, or that the whole incident was staged.
I defy anyone to walk away from seeing a show like this without some doubt about the possibility of this phenomenon. Its cool. Its flashy. And its convincing.
Upon a little reflection however, it just doesn't hold up very well. Edward claims to have participated in several scientific studies, but I've never heard more about them.
On the whole, I think he's a fake. I'm still willing to hold out on a final judgement though. Even though he's been caught cheating before, I think its possible that he might have some small gift that he's combined with mentalism to make some cash.
But that's highly unlikely, so he gets a douche from me as well.
(That is, I'm calling him a douche; I'm not offering to douche him.)
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