Qui, sur ce forum je crois, avait raconté comment il s'était fait piéger par une voyante qui connaissait personnellement quelqu'un de son entourage proche (son assureur, si je me souviens bien) et était donc à même de lui faire des révélations stupéfiantes ?
Une toute bonne démonstration se trouve (en anglais) sur le site de James Randi:
www.randi.org/swift/mpa.html
Je veux bien traduire si ça intéresse quelqu'un.
En résumé, une actrice, Kari Coleman, a accepté de se faire passer pour voyante lors d'un show TV afin de démontrer comment, avec un peu d'entraînement, on pouvait flouer le gogo en lui faisant croire que l'on devinait des choses sur lui, et elle raconte comment elle s'est sentie horrifiée de voir combien c'était facile, avec un peu de documentation et en utilisant ses talents d'actrice additionnés d'un peu de psychologie.
"Kari Coleman --actress, skeptic & Swift's own West Coast remote reviewer-- recently played the part of a psychic for Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular variety show. If you think being a psychic friend would be a piece of cake, your crystal ball must be smudged. This is Kari's firsthand account.
[...]
I am taping a bit for Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular (the most skeptical show on TV) and I needed to be able to fool people with cards, palmistry and other "psychic" talents. Caesar's Magical Empire, a major Las Vegas magic showcase, allowed me to work in character as a psychic Tarot card reader to get some practice. Oh, man.
[...]
I was so nervous. I walked around for a while with my stupid Tarot cards in my hand going over my memorized lines and trying to remember the stuff I researched about the cards, in case I encountered a client who had read a Tarot book. For my preparation, Jamy Ian Swiss, the magic consultant for Penn & Teller's Sin City, sent me a bunch of material on cold reading prior to my practice run. Psychologist and reformed palm-reader-turned-skeptic Ray Hyman gave me some great expert phone time, and I winced through a tape of James Van Praagh (direct link to heaven and one evil jerk) provided by Skeptic magazine publisher Michael Shermer.
[...]
The Cards Tell A Story
Now it was time to go to work in my makeup and padded bra at the Magical Empire. I sat down, fanned out my cards and tried to look all-knowing. One of the guides brought over my first "client." My heart was ready to leap out of my chest, and I was sweating in my Spurina padding. The woman sat down, and I went into my spiel while I was looking her up and down. I said all the stuff that makes them want to help and gives me an out when I'm wrong, like, "The cards tell me a story. I receive pictures and images that will not mean anything to me, but perhaps are very significant to you. If you remain open, then we can explore together and find insight into your destiny." Then I launched into the usual statements that appeal to everyone.
She was into it. I looked at her and for some reason she looked like a nurse to me. I had a zillion outs if I was wrong, so I took a chance and asked her if she was. I was correct, and she was amazed. Sometimes nurses look like nurses. Lucky guess=major hit. I was golden.
I was rolling the rest of the night. The standard stuff would hook them and then I would start making guesses based on my observations and their feedback. One person wrote up on a comment card that I was a terrific addition and amazing, and two people summoned the manager to tell him how I knew stuff I couldn't possibly have known."
etc, etc.