A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, such as psychokinesis or teleportation. Although many people believe in psychic abilities, the scientific consensus is that there is no proof of the existence of such powers, and describes the practice as pseudoscience.
Cold reading is a set of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, and mediums. Without prior knowledge, a practiced cold-reader can quickly obtain a great deal of information by analyzing the person's body language, age, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech, place of origin, etc. during a line of questioning. Cold readings commonly employ high-probability guesses, quickly picking up on signals as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not. The reader then emphasizes and reinforces any accurate connections while quickly moving on from missed guesses. Psychologists believe that this appears to work because of the Barnum effect and due to confirmation biases within people.
John Edward McGee Jr. is an American television personality, writer and self-proclaimed psychic medium.
Hot reading is a technique used when giving a psychic reading in stage magic performances, or in other contexts. In hot reading, the reader uses information about the person receiving the reading which the receiver is not aware that the reader already knows. Hot reading is commonly used in conjunction with cold reading and can explain how a psychic reader can get a specific claimed "hit" of accurate information.
Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including séance tables, trance, and ouija. The practice is associated with spiritualism and spiritism. A similar New Age practice is known as channeling.
Jenna Lee Dewan is an American actress and dancer. She started her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, and later worked with artists including Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Missy Elliott. She is known for her role as Nora Clark in the 2006 film Step Up. She has also starred on the short-lived NBC series The Playboy Club and had a recurring role on the FX series American Horror Story: Asylum. She portrayed Freya Beauchamp on the Lifetime series Witches of East End, Lucy Lane in The CW series Supergirl and Superman & Lois, and Joanna in Soundtrack on Netflix. Dewan has hosted the reality television shows World of Dance and Flirty Dancing and served as a judge on Come Dance with Me. She currently stars as Bailey Nune on ABC's The Rookie. She also had a recurring role on the FOX medical drama The Resident.
Banachek is an English mentalist, magician, and "thought reader".
Robert Starrett Lancaster was an American computer programmer and skeptical activist who created the websites Stop Kaz and Stop Sylvia Browne.
James Van Praagh is an American writer and television personality who describes himself as a clairvoyant and spiritual medium. He has written numerous books, including The New York Times bestseller Talking to Heaven. Van Praagh was a producer and screenwriter on the 2002 CBS primetime semi-autobiographical miniseries Living with the Dead starring Ted Danson. He also hosted a short-lived paranormal talk show called Beyond with James Van Praagh.
Mark Edward was an American mentalist and author. He wrote books on mentalism and séance theory and production, including Psychic Blues (2009), where he discussed working for the Psychic Friends Network. Wilson made appearances on television as both primary consultant and on-air performer in programming such as ABC's The Con, A & E's Biography: "Houdini, the Great Escape", NBC's The Other Side, and Psychic Secrets Revealed, the Sci-Fi Channel's Mysteries, Magic and Miracles, Disney's Forces Beyond, as well as two episodes of the Learning Channel's Exploring the Unknown. His featured segment as a spirit medium on the pilot episode of Showtime's Penn & Teller's Bullshit! series, titled "Speaking with the Dead", helped secure an Emmy Award nomination for that episode in 2002. He coined the term "grief vampire" as a description of alleged psychic mediums who prey on vulnerable people. Edward was a fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Richard Kevin Harrison is an American businessman, reality television personality, and owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop which is featured on the History series Pawn Stars. Harrison and his father, Richard Benjamin Harrison, opened the shop in 1989, which they co-owned until his father's death in 2018.
Suzane Northrop is an American writer, podcaster, TV show host, and psychic medium. She has written at least four books, and hosted the television show, The Afterlife with Suzane Northrop. She participated in The Afterlife Experiments which was turned into a book by Gary Schwartz. The experiments and their conclusions were widely criticized across the scientific community for not being blinded, and for the lack of inclusion of any other scientifically credible evidence.
Long Island Medium is an American reality television series starring Theresa Caputo, a self-professed medium who claims she can communicate with the dead. Much of the program, which premiered on September 25, 2011, takes place in Hicksville, New York, though it often follows Caputo as she meets with clients in other areas.
Theresa Caputo is an American psychic medium, best known for her TLC reality television series Long Island Medium.
Susan Gerbic is an American studio photographer who became known as a scientific skepticism activist, mostly for exposing people claiming to be mediums. A columnist for Skeptical Inquirer, she is the co-founder of Monterey County Skeptics and a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Tyler Henry Koelewyn is an American reality show personality who appears in the reality show series Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry and Life After Death with Tyler Henry as a clairvoyant medium since 2016. He has published two books.
CSICon or CSIConference is an annual skeptical conference typically held in the United States. CSICon is hosted by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), which is a program of the Center for Inquiry (CFI). CSI publishes the magazine Skeptical Inquirer.
Alain Nu is an American mentalist, illusionist, television personality, author, and speaker. He is known for stage tricks which appear to be demonstrations of ESP, mind reading, telekinesis, metal bending, and illusions. Nu's career as an entertainer has spanned more than three decades, with performances and appearances in many countries. Nu's trademarked brand is "The Man Who Knows."
Matthew L. Fraser, also known as Matt Fraser, is an American psychic medium, published author, and television personality. He is best known for his central role in the reality TV show Meet the Frasers. He has three written books including the We Never Die: Secrets of the Afterlife.
Seatbelt Psychic is a 2018 television series broadcast on the Lifetime TV network, starring psychic medium Thomas John who gives guests spiritual readings during a car ride.
