I've now been advised that legal consul in the U.K. is warning performers there
not to imitate -- in gesture, routine, accent, or any other way -- the
supernatural miracles that Geller does. Gee. That's hard. His miracles look
so much like the common tricks that we conjurors do. The hesitation ("I don't
think I can do this....") the delight ("Look! it bent!") and the innocence ("I
really don't know how I did that!") are so much a part of our art, that it would
be difficult for us admitted frauds to look unlike Mr. Geller.
I'm reminded of what a psychologist said in Buffalo years ago when he was asked
by a reporter to comment on the card tricks done by a little girl who fooled
Johnny Carson -- for a while. He said, when asked if she were a fake, "Based
upon our present observations, it is not possible for us to differentiate
between Susy Cottrell and a fraud."
Books are coming in as donations to the Foundation library. I'm still looking
for any videos that we could use. I have some 400 hours of video, but there are
lots of holes in that collection. If you make a copy of a TV program that deals
with the subjects we are interested in, please let me know. I'm prepared to
copy the tape and reimburse you for the postage.
James Randi
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