Derren Brown: Archive
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From: mjm710
Date: Fri Apr 12, 2002 10:08am
Subject: Re: Some 'insights' regarding Derren's coin trick and cold reading
> Also, thanks for keying us into the fact that 'prepared' cold
> reading is 'hot reading'...another useful tidbit...anyway, I'll go
> and WATCH ;) the coin routine again...
Don't forget about warm reading ....
[From http://www.mbdojo.com/~rssl/howtobeapsychic.html]
Cold Reading. This is the first of your major tools. This means simply
throwing out very many statements, very rapidly. If what you say
isn't right, refer to Step Five. Say things that are generally
true of everyone, such as "You have someone in your life who drives a
red car." Red is a
very popular color of car- and who doesn't know someone who has a
car that is some shade of red? Say: "You have a female relative whose
name begins with M, or has an M in it." Obviously, this is an
extremely broad statement. You can even get more specific. Say: "Who
is Charles?" If
your victim doesn?t know someone who is immediately important
named Charles, don?t worry- they will dig through their memory, trying
hard to
find a match? a relative, co-worker, neighbor, someone from their
past, whatever. What they are doing is "retrofitting" what you say to
match what
they remember. (See Step Five). If they absolutely can?t think of
someone named Charles, just tell them that Charles will be important
in their
future.
Warm Reading. This is where you say things that everyone would like to
believe about themselves, or things that are true for nearly
everyone. Here are just a few examples: You feel that you have
unused potential. You knew from an early age that you didn?t want to
be
dominated by your mother. You have an above average sense of
humor. You sometimes wish you could be a little more careful in how
you spend
your money. You and your partner sometimes don?t agree. You have
something to say to a departed relative that you didn?t get to say.
You feel
unappreciated by some people around you. You are a very likeable
person. You don?t like hard physical labor. You have a strong sense of
justice.
You have gone through some disappointments in life. You are very
wise, and you are an "old spirit". This sort of stuff is especially
good with
?astrological readings? and communicators with the dead (mediums).
These are just a few examples.
Hot Reading. This is where you strengthen your performance by actually
finding out information ahead of time about your subject. This
may be as simple as talking to him or her before your performance,
carefully and skillfully probing them for information. You can also
talk to their
friends and family, or if they are a well-known public figure, you
can dig up information from articles and other readily available
public sources. You
can even go so far as to spy on people, or hire a private
detective. You can?t always use Hot Reading, but sometimes you can.
