football and cold reading

[bouch]

Hi folks,

I'm a regular reader of a column on NFL.com called "tuesday morning quaterback", written by Gregg Easterbrook.

One thing I enjoy is that he regularly talks about non-football related things. Today, he skewers a pychic named Char Margolis, who appeared on Larry King in July. He shows four obvious attempts at cold reading, with some commentary, and also includes a link to the complete transcript of the show.

TMQ

and scroll down to "Larry, I See -- Wait -- I See Calls to My 900 Number!"

He summarizes thusly:

"Through the course of an hour-long show and exchanges with 27 callers, on 17 tries Margolis failed to guess any name after repeatedly tossing out common letters, and on 10 tries did guess a name. Eight of the 10 she did guess were James, John, Joseph, Tom or Mary -- the most common names. Try this as a parlor game: Throw out two or three common letters, then see if there's anyone at the party who doesn't know someone with one of the letters in his or her name. Next, declare yourself a psychic."

Very amusing stuff.

BTW - if you like football, consider reading this guy's column regularly.

 

[Ashles]

So this woman:

Char Margolis

goes on Larry King Live and performs abysmally and yet has the gall to claim she has 'amazed' the likes of Larry King?
Maybe he's just amazed she has the guts to be so humiliated on public TV.

The full transcript is certainly worth a read.

I particularly enjoyed this bit:

MARGOLIS: Hi. Is there somebody who's an M.? An M. or A. connected with you?

CALLER: M.?

MARGOLIS: Yes.

CALLER: Not that I can think of. Well, yes, yes, an M.

MARGOLIS: Is it M-A?

CALLER: No.

MARGOLIS: Is it spelled M-A or M-I?

KING: We're almost out of time.

MARGOLIS: Is there a Myrtle or Mildred?

CALLER: Yes.

MARGOLIS: Myrtle?

CALLER: Mercy.

MARGOLIS: Is she deceased?

CALLER: The aunt, yes.

MARGOLIS: Yes. Her spirit is with you watching over you. You take good care, I'm so sorry we've got to go.

Once again we see that many callers will say yes to anything a reader says.
"Is there a Myrtle or a Mildred?"
""Yes, a Mercy"

Geez!

And you've got to love the offhand ""Yeah she's watching over you, yada yada, happy spirit, whatever. Bye now" ending.

 

[LostAngeles]

I do read it regularly. He seems like an intelligent and humourous guy who likes his football, which is the way I like my football columns.

 

[Starrman]

Good stuff - I love this:

Go here to arrange a 45-minute personal phone conversation with Char Margolis for just $500. In 45 minutes, she's sure to guess your name, especially if you tell her. TMQ would be glad talk to you on the phone and guess your name for just $400 for 45 minutes -- a huge discount compared to the professional psychic.