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Psychic Sally morgan caught cheating?

Bah, I guess I'll mention my blog posts on it

http://jerome23.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/when-psychics-fail-beyond-sally-morgan/
http://jerome23.wordpress.com/2011/...nfamy-psychic-sally-morgan-caught-or-was-she/

which are possibly more boring than you can begin to imagine, and then let's have something controversial from The Daily Grail page --

http://www.dailygrail.com/Skepticism/2011/9/Skeptics-Anecdote-is-Evidence

And if not completely fed up try

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journali...s-accused-of-foul-play.-Are-we-surprised.html - The Telegraph

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/212179/Princess-Diana-psychic-didn-t-see-row-coming/ - The Daily Star

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...trickery-fool-audience.html?ito=feeds-newsxml - The Daily Mail

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/876125-tv-psychic-sally-morgan-aided-by-voice-from-beyond-the-stage - The Metro

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15004103 - BBC News

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/20/psychic-sally-morgan-hears-voices - The Guardian

and the best and original piece on the affair --
http://www.independent.ie/national-...c-sally-sidekick-prompts-outrage-2874250.html - The Irish Independent

You can hear the RTE broadcast here now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiQF-NR6h8M

Wish the excellent Irish Skeptic "The Druid" was still active, he'd love all this :)

Anyhow, just a quick resource for anyone following it all ;)
 
zenbuffy said:
Some people on Twitter are talking about doing just that. She's coming back to Dublin in March 2012, but her shows are sold out, which honestly baffles me.
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Thanks for the notification, I've passed this on to some people.:D
 
CJ... WOW! Thank you for that fabulous list of resources. Excellent.

Could you perhaps post it on the Sally Morgan public page on facebook?? The one with 4,300 followers. Reason being, myself and others had been posting these all week with the intention of opening up discussion with her 'followers', but we have now been blocked for no reason. As we were the main persistent skeptics on her page we caught her attention and she obviously decided to silence the 'negative' viewpoints on her wall - she did not respond to our questions at all. Would be fabulous to have these posted by someone new. Especially in one big 'hit'.

Just a thought :)
 
This mentions the JREF challenge.

Which is why I’d like to see Sally Morgan, instead of issuing denials or taking more money off vulnerable people, attempt the James Randi Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge. First introduced in 1964 by this magician and rationalist campaigner, it offers a cash prize for the first person to offer proof of the paranormal. Despite 40 to 60 applicants being considered at any one time, not one has passed the simple preliminary tests.
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thenigotoffthebus said:
If this happened as described I think it would be highly unlikely that the theatre would be directly involved or aware. The type of scam alleged could surely be done with only Morgan & a few members of her camp in on it.


I'm no expert on this subject by any means, but haven't things moved on since Popoff was busted in this way? I would have thought it fairly easy to encrypt such transmissions these days.
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I have to rebut this.

As a theater guy, i can say it is simply a case of the psychic in question saying " I need X done for my show, do you have the people to do X ?" theater owners view a psychic as just another performer, and just as a comedian may need light ques, a psychic may need things dropped from the ceiling, a spooky noise from the PA ( attributed of course to ghosts or the like.) or a couple of people feeding information.

The better the show, the more chance for a repeat performance, it is really an equal opportunity kind of thing. They wouldn't divulge how a magician does his tricks, nor would they divulge how a psychic does theirs.
 
sadhatter said:
I have to rebut this.

As a theater guy, i can say it is simply a case of the psychic in question saying " I need X done for my show, do you have the people to do X ?" theater owners view a psychic as just another performer, and just as a comedian may need light ques, a psychic may need things dropped from the ceiling, a spooky noise from the PA ( attributed of course to ghosts or the like.) or a couple of people feeding information.

The better the show, the more chance for a repeat performance, it is really an equal opportunity kind of thing. They wouldn't divulge how a magician does his tricks, nor would they divulge how a psychic does theirs.
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Perhaps but I'm still doubtful. This would essentially mean she was risking a very sizable income based on the trust of many people she doesnt know, when theres absolutely no need to take that risk. Bear in mind she is a bit of a celebrity in the UK. A theater worker could make some easy money by tipping off the tabloids and Sally will be well aware of that fact.

The difference between "psychics" and other theater performers is that they are being dishonest whereas the other performers are not.

Ask yourself this: If you were a theater worker on an average wage who had to assist the likes of Sylvia Browne & Sally Morgan get rich by deceiving vulnerable/grieving people, would you keep quiet about it? Wouldn't you consider exposing them, even if anonymously so you didnt lose your job? I'm pretty sure most people on this board would do just that. I know I would.

It may not be the norm in the "biz" but I dont think the norm would apply in this case.
 
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thenigotoffthebus said:
Ask yourself this: If you were a theater worker on an average wage who had to assist the likes of Sylvia Browne & Sally Morgan get rich by deceiving vulnerable/grieving people, would you keep quiet about it? Wouldn't you consider exposing them, even if anonymously so you didnt lose your job? I'm pretty sure most people on this board would do just that. I know I would.

It may not be the norm in the "biz" but I dont think the norm would apply in this case.
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Absolutely. I also think it would only need be sally and one other person who was in on it. Or her immediate crew, who would be made to sign a confidentiality agreement anyway.

I don't believe the theatre were in on it at all. Maybe just by throwing out two names of the lighting techs(if the even really exist)? as a scapegoat they would be saving themselves from losing all the ticket money that might be demanded back by the audience members. Also they have her booked for March next year so they don't want to miss out on that money spinner.
 
Yesterday it was Uri Geller, now its this woman defending Sally's supper powers!! (she's from 'psychic-chat.org'.. says it all!!)

Sally's just proundly posted it on her fan page... and yep, they're lapping it up. Good Grief.

Michelle V Woods
Over the past couple of days I have chimed in and commented on a post that maybe I shouldn't have but I did/do feel that what was being said was untrue and unfair.

The recent controversy over the Dublin show really seems to have rubbed some people up the wrong way and rightfully so, IF you believe the accusations against Sally Morgan. My whole disagreement with the posts that I responded to, was mainly because I felt that the person who was made the original statement about Sally did it quite aggressively to get a reaction... and they did!!

But really when it comes down to the facts are Sally Morgan hasn't always done big shows, she EARNED her name because of how accurate and helpful she was in private readings, she can meet people on the spot and tell them some of the most intimate/private details of their lives. For many years she has worked hard to get the following she has now and it's only in very recent years she has hit the big time... but her amazing talent was well established by then.

After 100's if not 1000's of shows, she does one to Dublin, one of the many cities on a very well received and highly acclaimed tour. Afterwards, 2 woman complained about hearing a man on the other side of an open window "sending message to Sally", one lady said he had an Irish accent and the other said he had an English one, both went on to complain about the seats they had being so far back from the stage that they thought they may have been forgotten about and then they stayed to watch the rest of the show. Oh and they complained about the money too...

I'll leave you to make up your own minds on the matter and have attached a link of "THAT" radio phone-in for you all to hear exactly what was said. I just felt that to rubbish someone's long and respected career calling her a disgrace and greedy

http://www.psychic-chat.org/ezine002-sally-morgan.html

Thank you Michelle, glad to see that someone is looking at the source of the allegations. xSx
 
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thenigotoffthebus said:
Perhaps but I'm still doubtful. This would essentially mean she was risking a very sizable income based on the trust of many people she doesnt know, when theres absolutely no need to take that risk. Bear in mind she is a bit of a celebrity in the UK. A theater worker could make some easy money by tipping off the tabloids and Sally will be well aware of that fact.

The difference between "psychics" and other theater performers is that they are being dishonest whereas the other performers are not.

Ask yourself this: If you were a theater worker on an average wage who had to assist the likes of Sylvia Browne & Sally Morgan get rich by deceiving vulnerable/grieving people, would you keep quiet about it? Wouldn't you consider exposing them, even if anonymously so you didnt lose your job? I'm pretty sure most people on this board would do just that. I know I would.

It may not be the norm in the "biz" but I dont think the norm would apply in this case.
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How could a person expose her (or anyone like her) in such a way as to leave no doubt? Recording what that person says could be one way, but Sally would also need to be recorded, probably on the same tape or it could easily be a fake. Anyone else got better ideas?
 
Sideroxylon said:
This one is interesting. Either she had prior knowledge of the items she was presented or she has super powers.
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No prior knowledge or super powers needed when you have a nose peek blindfold on. Her blindfold is the classic nose peek blindfold. It is quite fun. Put a blindfold on like she has here and you can see heaps of stuff down the gaps on either side of your nose.

So you can see that you are holding a sargent peppers shirt, you can read writing on a plaque that may be on a phonograph or on some curt cobain memorabilia. And you can read a name off a guitar too.
 
snuffkin said:
I don't believe the theatre were in on it at all. Maybe just by throwing out two names of the lighting techs(if the even really exist)? as a scapegoat they would be saving themselves from losing all the ticket money that might be demanded back by the audience members. Also they have her booked for March next year so they don't want to miss out on that money spinner.
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I spoke to the theatre: the techs exist, though the Irish Independent spelt Stewart's name wrong - they had it as Stuart. In fact the theatre are absolutely clear the techs talking were what were heard -- and they shut the window, not the usherette, from inside the Follow Spot Room.

So Sally may well use an earpiece or other trickery, but I don't think the punters caught her doing it. They just misinterpreted normal talking showing the fallibility of witness testimony, or the theatre is lying which I find highly unlikely given two employees have now given their accounts, one in the paper, one in correspondence with me. But who knows? :)

cj x
 
cj.23 said:
I spoke to the theatre: the techs exist, though the Irish Independent spelt Stewart's name wrong - they had it as Stuart. In fact the theatre are absolutely clear the techs talking were what were heard -- and they shut the window, not the usherette, from inside the Follow Spot Room.

So Sally may well use an earpiece or other trickery, but I don't think the punters caught her doing it. They just misinterpreted normal talking showing the fallibility of witness testimony, or the theatre is lying which I find highly unlikely given two employees have now given their accounts, one in the paper, one in correspondence with me. But who knows? :)

cj x
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This was always likliest option,still its given her a few days of being hot under the collar no doubt. ;)
 
ttguy said:
No prior knowledge or super powers needed when you have a nose peek blindfold on. Her blindfold is the classic nose peek blindfold. It is quite fun. Put a blindfold on like she has here and you can see heaps of stuff down the gaps on either side of your nose.

So you can see that you are holding a sargent peppers shirt, you can read writing on a plaque that may be on a phonograph or on some curt cobain memorabilia. And you can read a name off a guitar too.
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I had a quick look and found that the Hard Rock Cafe has an on-line catalogue of around 1,600 items held in Britain. Who knows what other printed brochures and catalogues may be available. All of the items belonged to rock icons and I wonder if they had gone for something obscure how she would have gone. The only thing she was uncertain about was Richie Vallens' name, though she knew the item and a little bit about his history.
 
As a result of this story Hayley Stevens (of the Righteous Indignation podcast) has started Project Barnum, to at least raise awareness of the tricks psychics and mediums use.

Project Barnum was born after news broke in September 2011 that self-proclaimed psychic, Sally Morgan, had been accused by audience members at one of her shows of being fed information. Speculation, accusations and denials were thrown left, right and centre, yet there was one group of people caught in the cross fire – the audience who had parted with their money…

Project Barnum founder, Hayley Stevens, saw this and decided that something had to be done. Hayley had interviewed numerous psychics and mediums as the host for a popular podcast; this experience culminated in Hayley realising that it wasn’t targeting those who believe they are mediums or psychics that would help stop people being misled, but instead targeting the act of preying on those ignorant of the tricks being used that would have the most success
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They are collecting names on a petition.

We are collecting names from people who agree that theatre goers shouldn’t have to chance being tricked out of their money. Add your name today – we will be emailing this petition to all the theatres in the UK who are currently hosting psychic shows in 2011 & 2012 (our team have been hard at work finding them all, help us make this a success!)
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ETA: Just noticed there is a separate thread about it already.
 
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