Hot reading is a technique used when giving a
psychic reading in
stage magic performances, or in other contexts. In hot reading, the reader uses information about the person receiving the reading (for example, from background research or overhearing a conversation) which the receiver is not aware that the reader already knows. Hot reading is commonly used in conjunction with
cold reading (where no previously gathered information is used) and can explain how a
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...
reader can get a specific claimed "hit" of accurate information.
This technique is used by some television psychics in conjunction with
cold reading.
The psychics may have clients schedule their appearance ahead of time, and then collect information using collaborators who pose as religious
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
, magazine sales people, or similar roles. Such visitors can gain a wide understanding of a person from examining their home, where tickets for the show may have been sent in advance. The "psychic" may then be briefed on the information, and told where the person will sit in the audience.
History
There are many methods that involve hot reading. In 1938, the magician
John Mulholland wrote:
Where do the mediums get the information? It is very easy. Look the person up in a telephone book. Talk to the corner grocer. Go to the house and try to sell a magazine subscription. Talk to the neighbours. Talk to the servants if there are any. If it is a small city go to the cemetery and look at the tombstones. It has to be done carefully but it is very easy.
Commenting on mediums from the early 20th century, historian
Ruth Brandon
Ruth Brandon (born 1943) is a British journalist, historian and author.
Biography
Brandon began her career as a trainee producer for the BBC, working in radio and television. She moved to work in freelance journalism and as an author. She is t ...
noted:
There were a number of recognized methods in use. Some were very down-to-earth. When a medium visited a new town, he was advised to visit the local cemetery and make a note of names, dates, and any other information to be obtained from the tombstones. He might also consult the "Blue Book" for the area, a compilation circulated among mediums listing, for an increasing number of places, the names of leading spiritualists likely to attend seances, with descriptions, family histories, and details (deceased spouses, children, parents, etc.) and other information likely to be of use.
Skeptical activist Susan Gerbic lists hot reading as one of a number of methods used by psychics to achieve their effects. She points out it can be done with nothing more than a name, location, and access to
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...
.
Notable mediums from the past who were exposed as utilizing hot reading methods have included
Rosina Thompson and
George Valiantine.
Modern examples of hot reading
Televangelist
Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and " evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-p ...
Peter Popoff
Peter George Popoff (born July 2, 1946) is a German-born American televangelist and debunked clairvoyant and faith healer. He was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who gave him the names, ad ...
's wife, Elizabeth, was seen canvassing the crowd before a show, and it was later noticed that Popoff was wearing a
hearing aid
A hearing aid is a device designed to improve hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. Hearing aids are classified as medical devices in most countries, and regulated by the respective regulations. Small audio amplifiers su ...
, which is odd for a
faith healer
Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healin ...
. In 1986,
James Randi
James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Rodrigues 2010p. ...
and his associate Steve Shaw, an illusionist known professionally as
Banachek
Banachek (born Steven Shaw; 30 November 1960) is an English mentalist, magician, and "thought reader".
He first came to public attention as a teenager for his role in James Randi's Project Alpha experiment, which exposed the lack of objectiv ...
, organized Project Beta with technical assistance from the crime scene analyst and electronics expert Alexander Jason.
Using computerized
radio scanners, Jason was able to demonstrate that Popoff's wife was using a wireless radio transmitter to broadcast information that she and her aides had culled from prayer request cards filled out by audience members. Popoff received the transmissions via an in-ear receiver and repeated the information to astonished audience members. Jason produced video segments interspersing the intercepted radio transmissions with Popoff's "miraculous" pronouncements.
[Daniel, Danica (April 24, 2012)]
"Are You Ready For a Miracle? How ''Leap of Faith'' Jumped From the Movie Screen to Broadway"
Broadway.com.
Independent Investigation Group
IIG director
James Underdown writes that in one of the live shows of ''Beyond'' they witnessed,
James Van Praagh was observed signing books and chatting with a woman he learned was from Italy. During the taping he asked that same section if there was "someone from another country". To the TV audience this would have looked impressive when she raised her hand, however he had used the hot reading technique of gaining foreknowledge.
A 2001 ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' article reported that psychic
John Edward
John Edward McGee Jr. (born October 19, 1969) is an American television personality, author and a self-proclaimed psychic medium.
After writing his first book on the subject in 1998, Edward became a well-known (and controversial) figure in th ...
allegedly used hot reading on his television show, ''Crossing Over'', where an audience member who received a reading was suspicious of prior behaviour from Edward's aides, who had struck up conversations with audience members and asked them to fill out cards detailing their family trees.
In December 2001, Edward was alleged to have used foreknowledge to hot read in an interview on the television show ''
Dateline'', where a reading for a cameraman was based on knowledge gained in conversation some hours previously, yet presented as if he were unaware of the cameraman's background.
In his 2001 book, John Edward denied ever using foreknowledge, cold or hot reading.
In March 2017, alleged psychic
Thomas John Flanagan
{{Paranormal
Thomas John Flanagan, known professionally as Thomas John, claims to be a psychic medium. An American, he starred in the 2018 reality TV show, ''" Seatbelt Psychic"'', and the CBS All Access series ''The Thomas John Experience'' beg ...
was found to have used information posted on social media by people coming to his shows, in order to accurately guess details about their lives while pretending to be communicating with the dead. He unknowingly used backstories from fake Facebook profiles previously prepared by a group of
skeptics
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...
led by
Susan Gerbic and
Mark Edward. When Flanagan used that information while pretending to hear Gerbic's and Edward's dead relatives, the only possible way he could be aware of these details is if he or members of his team read the fake profiles while preparing for their performance, since even Gerbic and Edward themselves were not aware of the specific information placed on the profiles that matched the
aliases they were using when attending the show. In 2021 Flanagan held a 2021 online meeting for children aged 5-12. Two of the supposed children had fake identities and one was much older than claimed (which Flanagan failed to detect). In his readings Flanagan gave information he had previously been given in e-mails. Flanagan also used actors on his television show ''Seatbelt Psychic'', whose lives were well documented and easily discoverable on social media.
John Oliver
John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...
speculated in a February 2019 segment of ''
Last Week Tonight
A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, and ...
'' that
Tyler Henry
Tyler Henry Koelewyn (born 1996) is an American reality show personality who appears in the series ''Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry'' as a clairvoyant medium. The series began its broadcast on the E! Television Network in the United States ...
may use hot reading in addition to
cold reading. As an example, Oliver dissected Henry's reading of
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...
concerning the father-son fishing trip that was part of the reading. Oliver showed examples of publicly available information about Lauer's love of fishing with his father, including Lauer stating this on his own show several times. Oliver summarized "Look, maybe Tyler Henry genuinely accessed the afterlife, an action which would fundamentally change our understanding of everything on Earth. Or maybe he just googled 'Matt Lauer Dad' and hit the fucking jackpot."
See also
*
Barnum effect
The Barnum effect, also called the Forer effect or, less commonly, the Barnum–Forer effect, is a common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored ...
*
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers ha ...
*
Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignorin ...
*
Kinesics
Kinesics is the interpretation of body motion communication such as facial expressions and gestures, nonverbal behavior related to movement of any part of the body or the body as a whole. The equivalent popular culture term is body language, a term ...
*
List of parapsychology topics
*
Mentalism
Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognit ...
*
Subjective validation
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hot Reading
Confidence tricks