Well actually it’s not revealed, but that was the claim over at skeptic magazine. I think it’s fairly obvious to work out from the video, it’s a minor technique here – but I’m not giving anything away for fear of an email from Mr Geller (Uri actually DOES use his mind to bend spoons you know… honestly!). Have a look at the video and then head over to skeptic for some more (although don’t expect to find any answers, they’re keeping this one under wraps.)
Spoon bending with your mind – revealed
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(12 Responses)
Has Uri not ‘come out’ yet then? I recall seeing him on a BBC 2 programme about magic a couple of years ago (which included Mr Brown). He grinned cheekily as he said that he didn’t have a problem with magicians doing a trick & telling their audience it was due to paranormal abilities. I inferred from this that he must have ‘confessed’ soemtime before the show had aired.
Awww me want that cute doll sat on the shelf.
Want more spoon bending? Try http://www.spoonscience.com/
Sam: Uri usually says that he leaves it up to the audience to figure out what it is he does. In my opinion, if he wants to leave it a mystery, that’s his choice. It’s a bit of a scam, but as long as it’s purely for show, I see no harm in that.
I mostly like his work. I love ‘The Next Uri Geller’ (because hey, more mentalism on TV is always a good idea), and was in the audience last year. Got an autograph and a hug afterwards, too.
I don’t like the bits of his act where he pretends he can channel the dead, though. “Think of a deceased loved one, and you will feel them giving their love to you from the next world” — yeah, right. I don’t like acts that play on people’s feelings of loss.
Anyway, spoon bending isn’t that hard to figure out. It’s an old trick, but it has become pretty much iconic, which I think makes it a campy sort of cool. When I took pictures of a friend for her surrealism school project, we used some bent spoons as props. Added a funny touch to the weirdness.
Technically, if you understand physical systems, it could be possible. If only we could control those systems by our mind. By focussing the energy and redirect it to there where necessary it. To a certain point we to, or try to do this, relaxation heats up …
But a spoon … why would the energy not burn our skin, our insides … or does it not come from the inside ..
is it the energy system around that we can learn to (mis) use .. Quite a nice system perhaps for other things than entertainment.
I do believe in this. In the possibility. I can’t but have seen some stuff, and have reasoned in this area, which makes me think it is possible. But it often occurs in our kind of people when something isn’t on on the inside. The body does not cope so well with this, it needs this energy particles to boost itself. I can’t proof .. so .. but still. Maybe I’m wrong, possible. But still. It doesn’t really matter. I have no need for bending spoons myself ..lol. And regarding Uri .. nope, it’s not him I see when seeing the possibility. Although it is people like him who ofcourse trigger people’s interest in this area quite often, and make people think about things. Just for fun.
Too bad .. it can’t work .. maybe once ..
Berbera Anna – I personally feel that there is harm in it. Since posting above, I’ve been having a bit of a Google & while it seems Geller is somewhat more ambiguous about the nature of his ‘skills’ these days (although he hasn’t confessed to them being tricks), it was not always so.
In the past, he has attributed his skill to paranormal abilities, which has undoubtably falsely affirmed the erroneous beliefs of countless people. Perhaps they would have merely latched on to something else but Geller certainly hasn’t helped. He has enabled people to justify ignorance & believing in what they want to be true over coming to terms with that which is proven.
I strongly believe that the truth is unforgiving & can be hard to come to terms with but doing so ultimately sets one free.
And those Randi dolls really are cute. I’m going to order one from his website.
Sam: I think there will always be people who like to believe in fairy tales. I used to be one of them, myself.
Once you start looking beyond that circle of ‘true believers’, you’ll soon see the truth. I still love fairy tales, but I now know that they’re beautiful illusions. And that there’s just as much beauty beyond the illusion, too.
But some people like to believe that the illusion is real, because they fear a world without magic. To me, that’s okay, as long as they’re not harmed by the illusion peddlers. That is to say — no fake medicine, no toying with people’s feelings of loss, and no crap about curses and amulets and so forth.
Bending spoons and reviving watches doesn’t really fall under harmful, in my opinion. Some will watch and wonder how it’s done, some will revel in the illusion that magic may be real. Whichever side you’re on, it’s still just entertainment.
Personally, when I do magic, I like to assure people it is just a trick. I am a horrible liar, and I want to be able to play with those ‘paranormal’ danger areas without feeling guilty about fooling people. But I accept that not everybody feels that way, and I am still of the opinion that Uri Geller is a pretty good showman.
Of course, if you read the stuff he writes about skeptics, he’s also rather arrogant, and eager to hold onto that (fake) aura of mysticism.
Still, for me, that doesn’t change the fact that I like a lot of what he does — especially with the TV show, which provides a nice stepping stone for mentalists, imho.
I’m pretty sure Geller still purports to have paranormal powers. In any case, his daughter has also jumped on the bandwagon. She’s a mentalist of course.
LOL. Uri Geller. Bless him
I believe that Uri Geller has “paranormal” powers. In fact these are just normal powers which many have even if don’t believe in it.
Notice he touched the teeth of the fork quite a bit. He set the teeth already bent. Then what does he do? He shakes it very rapidly but toward the camer, so you cannot see that it is already bent. Then he changes your angled view of the fork as he is supposedly “bending” the teeth. Only THEN, can you see the bent teeth.
TRICK EXPLAINED.