Mark Edward
Encyclopedia
Mark Edward is an American psychic
entertainer and mentalist, author of 14 books on mentalism, séance
theory and production. Also a Steering Member of the Center for Inquiry
's Independent Investigations Group
(IIG) West and a noted critic of pseudoscience
. Currently Mark Edward teaches magic to both private students and Adult School classes. Edward is also a member of the team for the network television pilot The Skeptologists.
From the ages of 14 to 18 he was involved in music in various Dada
and performance art bands in and around South Los Angeles, including "ZaSu Pits and the Enema Dog Review - Featuring a Walk in the Closet", "Rat Salad" and "The Techno-Cats" (which later splintered into The Brainiacs, The Suburbs
and Suburban Lawns
). During a punk
concert at LA's "Brave Dog" club where he was performing in the power trio Steak Sinatra, he was hit in the head with a half-full beer bottle at which point he decided to pursue a solo career in magic.
During this time he was also studying Post-Studio, Performance and Conceptual Art with mentor John Baldessari
at CalArts. Baldessari greatly influenced his later work in magic and mentalism. These influences led to performances of juggling, fire-eating and magic in public places such as local laundromats and DMV waiting areas.
Finding he was near starvation as an artist and realizing he could return to his magic roots and make money, in 1974 he formed a street magic group with several other CalArts performance and theater arts majors. After working several years as a street magician at Magic Mountain
and in sales at Hollywood Magic Company, he decided it was time to audition as a performing member of Hollywood's Magic Castle.
In 1975 when he became a performer at the Castle, famed magician of television's "Magic Land of Alakazam" Mark Wilson
was on the Board of Directors. The younger Mark Wilson was advised if he wanted to perform he needed to change his name, which he did, deciding to use his middle name as his last name.
Bored with standard magic, he decided to pursue his interest in psychic and educated animal acts, studying under Ralph Helfer
and later Ray Berwick at Universal Studios
's Animal Actors Stage. This training led to his later performances with "Jim, Emperor of All Dogs" in a levitating dog act. According to the "Los Angeles Parkside Journal" Edward is quoted as saying, "My favorite kind of act is 'mental' magic."
In 1985 he took the job of Associate Resident Medium at the Magic Castle in The Houdini Séance Room. As his séance work progressed he became more involved with the skeptical movement. In 1991 he met Michael Shermer
and began giving lectures on psychic matters to the Skeptics Society. The next year he accepted a position on the Editorial Board of Skeptic
magazine. In 1998 he became a member of the Psychic Entertainers Association. He left the Magic Castle in 1999, after 25 years, 14 of which were spent in The Houdini Séance Room.
, Edward decided to climb as high as he could in the growing psychic / New Age
market. Magician Penn Jillette
referred to Mark Edward a reformed con-artist on the pilot of their Showtime television series Bullshit!
a claim that Edward refutes. "I've always been a skeptic because I'm a magician. When I see something in this hand (points to right hand) I automatically want to know what the other hand is doing."
During this time Edward also worked on radio talk shows in Hollywood and Hawaii, gaining notoriety that eventually led to being chosen out of 160 other psychics to be second in line and backup Master Psychic for the ill-fated Psychic Friends Radio Network. Finally, he did a late night psychic infomercial for The Psychic Revival Network. This caused much controversy which angered magicians and skeptics alike.
In an interview with ABC
's Good Morning America
, Edward recounts his years as a professional psychic working the 900 lines. Reporter Eric Noll quotes Mark "The psychic business is built on lies. There is no supernatural power. You can't see the future," Edward says. "We're in the golden age of the con. There are people coming out of the woodwork that would love to separate you from your money. But people just want someone to talk to. That's the bottom line."
, in 1994 Howard Rosenberg
interviews Michael Shermer
, James Randi
and Mark Edward about his recent interview with James Van Praagh
. His positive review of Van Praagh "connecting" with his dead step-father and mentioning Oregon (which Rosenberg took as a hit because his soon to be son-in-law was working in Oregon at the time) received criticism from his readers, calling him "naive". About the Oregon "hit" Dr. Shermer says "Sometimes you get lucky". At Caltech Mark Edward guessed a woman's birthday which was also my wife's birthday. When asked how he knew that he said, "it was pure luck...you always take credit for lucky guesses".
During the interview, Edward stated "I'm not as skeptical as Michael is. I believe that there are people who are sensitive and there are people who are clever manipulators of information...There is so much information available to computer programs that you have no privacy at all...with your social security number, I can tell you the first car you bought and what color." After telling Edward the Oregon story...are you "implying that phone records..." "I have no idea" Edward interrupts, "All I'm saying is that the information highway has a lot of lanes on it."
Speaking at Skepticamp: Fort Collins on Feb. 26, 2011 Mark Edward lectures about his views on guerilla skepticism. "Phil Plait talks about not being a dick when it comes to skepticism...I would say there is something to that...however there's a whole branch of whats going out in the world and I take exception to that. I'll be the biggest dick I can be to people like Sylvia Browne
, John Edward
and James Van Praagh
, people who are predatory and know what they are doing is wrong...the list grows every day...we are in what I like to call the Golden Age of the Con. We need to fight fire with fire...do you think John Edward and Sylvia Browne care about being tolerant? They don't care, so why should we? What I try to do is get out in the street, get in people's faces and cause a commotion. And if people don't like it that's fine, they can say that's a branch of skepticism I don't agree with...there's room for everything on the spectrum."
Mark Edward writes on Skepticblog the official blog for "The Skeptologists" (renamed "The Edge" in 2010). As a member of this team Edward repetitively calls for action against "the con-artists" and for skeptics to act out against them in what he calls guerrilla skepticism.
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
entertainer and mentalist, author of 14 books on mentalism, séance
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
theory and production. Also a Steering Member of the Center for Inquiry
Center for Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry is a non-profit educational organization with headquarters in the United States whose primary mission is to encourage evidence-based inquiry into paranormal and fringe science claims, alternative medicine and mental health practices, religion, secular ethics, and society...
's Independent Investigations Group
Independent Investigations Group
The Independent Investigations Group is a volunteer-based organization founded by James Underdown in January 2000 at the Center for Inquiry-West in Hollywood, California...
(IIG) West and a noted critic of pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
. Currently Mark Edward teaches magic to both private students and Adult School classes. Edward is also a member of the team for the network television pilot The Skeptologists.
Early life
Mark Edward became interested in magic through his maternal grandfather George Schaeffer, who was a card player and amateur magician. Mark became his test subject for many close-up magic routines. By 11 he was performing magic shows for school, friends and family events.From the ages of 14 to 18 he was involved in music in various Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
and performance art bands in and around South Los Angeles, including "ZaSu Pits and the Enema Dog Review - Featuring a Walk in the Closet", "Rat Salad" and "The Techno-Cats" (which later splintered into The Brainiacs, The Suburbs
The Suburbs
The Suburbs were an alternative punk rock/funk/new wave band from Minneapolis, Minnesota popular in the late 1970s through the 1980s. The band frequently headlined at Minneapolis's most influential music clubs including Jay's Longhorn Bar and First Avenue....
and Suburban Lawns
Suburban Lawns
The brainchild of CalArts students William "Vex Billingsgate" Ranson and Sue "Su Tissue" McLane, Suburban Lawns formed in Long Beach, California in 1978 out of the ashes of previous incarnations Art Attack and The Fabulons, recruiting Huntington Beach natives Richard "Frankie Ennui" Whitney and...
). During a punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
concert at LA's "Brave Dog" club where he was performing in the power trio Steak Sinatra, he was hit in the head with a half-full beer bottle at which point he decided to pursue a solo career in magic.
During this time he was also studying Post-Studio, Performance and Conceptual Art with mentor John Baldessari
John Baldessari
John Anthony Baldessari is an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. He lives and works in Santa Monica and Venice, California...
at CalArts. Baldessari greatly influenced his later work in magic and mentalism. These influences led to performances of juggling, fire-eating and magic in public places such as local laundromats and DMV waiting areas.
Finding he was near starvation as an artist and realizing he could return to his magic roots and make money, in 1974 he formed a street magic group with several other CalArts performance and theater arts majors. After working several years as a street magician at Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain is a theme park located in Valencia, California north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 30, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name Six Flags to the park's title. In...
and in sales at Hollywood Magic Company, he decided it was time to audition as a performing member of Hollywood's Magic Castle.
In 1975 when he became a performer at the Castle, famed magician of television's "Magic Land of Alakazam" Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson (magician)
James "Mark" Wilson is an American magician and author. He is widely credited as becoming the first major "television magician" and in the process establishing the viability of illusion shows as a television format.-Early years:...
was on the Board of Directors. The younger Mark Wilson was advised if he wanted to perform he needed to change his name, which he did, deciding to use his middle name as his last name.
Bored with standard magic, he decided to pursue his interest in psychic and educated animal acts, studying under Ralph Helfer
Ralph Helfer
Ralph Helfer is a notable American animal behaviorist, creator of Marine World/Africa U.S.A., California, and writer of books about animals.He was born in Chicago and had one sister, Sally...
and later Ray Berwick at Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
's Animal Actors Stage. This training led to his later performances with "Jim, Emperor of All Dogs" in a levitating dog act. According to the "Los Angeles Parkside Journal" Edward is quoted as saying, "My favorite kind of act is 'mental' magic."
In 1985 he took the job of Associate Resident Medium at the Magic Castle in The Houdini Séance Room. As his séance work progressed he became more involved with the skeptical movement. In 1991 he met Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer
Michael Brant Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members...
and began giving lectures on psychic matters to the Skeptics Society. The next year he accepted a position on the Editorial Board of Skeptic
Skeptic (U.S. magazine)
Skeptic is a quarterly science education and science advocacy magazine published internationally by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs...
magazine. In 1998 he became a member of the Psychic Entertainers Association. He left the Magic Castle in 1999, after 25 years, 14 of which were spent in The Houdini Séance Room.
Years as a "professional psychic"
In 1990 Mark began working for the Psychic Friends Network. Highly influenced by 1930 movies about mediums and psychic scams and later the 1948 film Nightmare AlleyNightmare Alley
Nightmare Alley is a novel by William Lindsay Gresham. It is a study of the lowest depths of showbiz and its sleazy inhabitants- the dark, shadowy world of a second rate carnival filled with hustlers, scheming grifters, and Machiavellian femme fatales....
, Edward decided to climb as high as he could in the growing psychic / New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
market. Magician Penn Jillette
Penn Jillette
Penn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, comedian, illusionist, juggler, bassist and a best-selling author known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, and scientific skepticism.-Early...
referred to Mark Edward a reformed con-artist on the pilot of their Showtime television series Bullshit!
Bullshit!
Penn & Teller: Bullshit! is an American documentary television series that aired from 2003 to 2010 on the premium cable channel Showtime. In Canada, the series aired on The Movie Network and Movie Central.- Overview :...
a claim that Edward refutes. "I've always been a skeptic because I'm a magician. When I see something in this hand (points to right hand) I automatically want to know what the other hand is doing."
During this time Edward also worked on radio talk shows in Hollywood and Hawaii, gaining notoriety that eventually led to being chosen out of 160 other psychics to be second in line and backup Master Psychic for the ill-fated Psychic Friends Radio Network. Finally, he did a late night psychic infomercial for The Psychic Revival Network. This caused much controversy which angered magicians and skeptics alike.
In an interview with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, Edward recounts his years as a professional psychic working the 900 lines. Reporter Eric Noll quotes Mark "The psychic business is built on lies. There is no supernatural power. You can't see the future," Edward says. "We're in the golden age of the con. There are people coming out of the woodwork that would love to separate you from your money. But people just want someone to talk to. That's the bottom line."
Media as a "professional psychic"
- Foretold, March 1997, "Astrological Forecast for March, By Master Psychic Mark, Ext. 7408" by Mark Edward
- Foretold, October 1993, "This Ghost for Rent" by Mark Edward
- Foretold, September 1993, "A True Ghost Story - In the Heat of Summer" by Mark Edward
- Foretold, June 1993, "Featured Psychic: Mark Edward"
- Foretold, May 1993, "A True Ghost Story: Little Girl Lost" & "Academy Award Winners - Predictions of the Stars" by Mark Edward
- Foretold, March 1993, "Elvis Sightings...Is the King Dead?" by Mark Edward
- Easy Week, November 5, 1992, "Medium Rare" by Geri Robalik-Fitchett
Skepticism
TV critic for the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, in 1994 Howard Rosenberg
Howard Rosenberg
Howard Rosenberg is a retired TV critic for the Los Angeles Times. He worked there for 25 years and won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. In recent years he has written the book No Time to Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-Hour News Cycle with Charles S. Feldman and compiled an anthology of...
interviews Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer
Michael Brant Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members...
, James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
and Mark Edward about his recent interview with James Van Praagh
James Van Praagh
James Van Praagh is a self-proclaimed medium who has written several books on spirituality and spirit communication.-Early life and career:Van Praagh was born in Bayside, New York and is the youngest of four children...
. His positive review of Van Praagh "connecting" with his dead step-father and mentioning Oregon (which Rosenberg took as a hit because his soon to be son-in-law was working in Oregon at the time) received criticism from his readers, calling him "naive". About the Oregon "hit" Dr. Shermer says "Sometimes you get lucky". At Caltech Mark Edward guessed a woman's birthday which was also my wife's birthday. When asked how he knew that he said, "it was pure luck...you always take credit for lucky guesses".
During the interview, Edward stated "I'm not as skeptical as Michael is. I believe that there are people who are sensitive and there are people who are clever manipulators of information...There is so much information available to computer programs that you have no privacy at all...with your social security number, I can tell you the first car you bought and what color." After telling Edward the Oregon story...are you "implying that phone records..." "I have no idea" Edward interrupts, "All I'm saying is that the information highway has a lot of lanes on it."
Speaking at Skepticamp: Fort Collins on Feb. 26, 2011 Mark Edward lectures about his views on guerilla skepticism. "Phil Plait talks about not being a dick when it comes to skepticism...I would say there is something to that...however there's a whole branch of whats going out in the world and I take exception to that. I'll be the biggest dick I can be to people like Sylvia Browne
Sylvia Browne
Sylvia Browne is an American author who describes herself as a psychic and spiritual medium...
, John Edward
John Edward
John Edward McGee, Jr. is an American television personality and professional psychic medium. He is best known for his TV shows Crossing Over with John Edward and John Edward Cross Country....
and James Van Praagh
James Van Praagh
James Van Praagh is a self-proclaimed medium who has written several books on spirituality and spirit communication.-Early life and career:Van Praagh was born in Bayside, New York and is the youngest of four children...
, people who are predatory and know what they are doing is wrong...the list grows every day...we are in what I like to call the Golden Age of the Con. We need to fight fire with fire...do you think John Edward and Sylvia Browne care about being tolerant? They don't care, so why should we? What I try to do is get out in the street, get in people's faces and cause a commotion. And if people don't like it that's fine, they can say that's a branch of skepticism I don't agree with...there's room for everything on the spectrum."
Mark Edward writes on Skepticblog the official blog for "The Skeptologists" (renamed "The Edge" in 2010). As a member of this team Edward repetitively calls for action against "the con-artists" and for skeptics to act out against them in what he calls guerrilla skepticism.
Media as a skeptic
- In Voices to Visions magazine, Edward states that "common sense should tell us what these charlatans (psychics) do is an act and nothing more; otherwise, they would be ruling the planet." Concerning the ghost huntingGhost huntingGhost Hunting is the process of investigating locations that are reported to be haunted by ghosts.Typically, a ghost hunting team will attempt to collect evidence claimed to be supportive of paranormal activity...
shows, Edward thinks that there would be more interest in finding out what is really making noises in these homes but first they need to "turn the f****ing lights on...and (stop) promulgating obvious storytelling."
- The IIG's John Rael interviewed Edward outside Hollywood's Magic Castle asking him about his work with the Independent Investigation Group. Edward states "over the years I've been looking for a real psychic or paranormal event...its been over 30 years and I'm still looking."
- Interviewed on Christopher Brown's "Meet the Skeptics!" podcast, Mark Edward states "When people want answers, there's always someone willing to sell them one."
- Harold Camping's intensely media driven rapture prediction inventively gave atheist and skeptic groups a platform to get their message that end-of-the-world predictions are fodder for ridicule. Groups such as American AtheistsAmerican AtheistsAmerican Atheists is an organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating for the complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs and the news media. It also publishes books and the monthly...
and IIG gathered across the country with counter-protest signs attracting attention away from Camping's followers who were in seclusion. "The issue is the Bible is mythology," said Larry Hicok, state director of the American Atheists, bluntly laying out his case."
- Seth and Jeff from the Leaders in Free Thought Podcast discuss cold-reading and mentalism with Edward.
- Skeptic/mentalist Mark Edward interviews paranormal claims investigators Rocky Mountain Paranormal about how they differ from the television ghost hunters like TAPSThe Atlantic Paranormal SocietyThe Atlantic Paranormal Society is an organization that investigates reported paranormal activity. Based in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, TAPS was founded in 1990 by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. In 2004, the organization itself became the subject of Ghost Hunters, a popular weekly...
. Bryan Bonner, Logan & Matthew Baxter show Edward how they investigate by using the equipment correctly, spending long hours in silence and looking for non-paranormal explanations for "ghostly activity".
- Mark Edward meets in Monterey, CaliforniaMonterey, CaliforniaThe City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
with other skeptics to take the 10:23 Homeopathy Overdose Challenge by taking an entire bottle of Phosphorus.
- At the Gibson Amphitheater, Universal Studios, Los Angeles, on December 29, 2009 Skeptic/Mentalist Mark Edward approached the microphone during the question portion of Sylvia BrowneSylvia BrowneSylvia Browne is an American author who describes herself as a psychic and spiritual medium...
's show and said he had been hearing voices in his head, they were giving him the names...Opal Jo Jennings...Terrence Farrell...Holly Krewson and the Sego Miners. Browne could not tell he was lying and explained the voices were his spirit guides.
- "The Truth About Psychic Hotlines" Mark Edward, a former psychic hotline employee, tells all on an appearance on ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Good Morning AmericaGood Morning AmericaGood Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, 05/08/2010.
- Mark Edward IIG member discusses the $50,000 IIG Challenge on Para Quest Radio Network at SoCalParaCon, October 2, 2010.
- Jim Underdown IIG and Mentalist Mark Edward are featured on this Discovery ChannelDiscovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
episode of Weird or What?Weird or What?Weird or What? is a series on the Discovery Channel and History Television hosted by William Shatner. Each episode contains three separate stories of the bizarre and unexplained. As the show unfolds, it attempts to find logical and scientific answers or reasoning to back up the story...
"Mind Control War".
- Warning: Radio interviews Mark Edward June 15, 2009 about his career and guerilla skepticism.
- During The Amazing Adventure 5 JREF, Jeff Wagg from Rational Alchemy Radio Podcast March led a discussion with panelists Dr. Jennifer Newport, Alvin Phua, Myk Dowling, and Mark Edward.
- At TAM7 June 2009, The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe interviews Mark Edward about his career, during which Mark holds an impromptu séance for Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
.
- Warning: Radio interviews Mark Edward August 17, 2009.
- Mentalist Mark Edward appeared on the "Talking to the Dead" episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! explaining the techniques mediums use to appear to be contacting our dead loved ones. Also featured on this episode was medium Rosemary AlteaRosemary AlteaRosemary Altea is a New York Times best - selling author and psychic medium. She has appeared on various televisions shows, including Larry King Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show "20/20," "Unsolved mysteries", "Prime Time, with Diane Sawyer," "Politically Incorrect," "Leeza," "The View," and Fox and...
.
- A & E's Biography: "Houdini: The Great Escape"
- The Discovery Channel: "Exploring the Unknown"
- The Learning Channel: "Mystery, Magic and Miracles"
- NBC: The Other Side
- NBC: Secrets of the Psychics Revealed
- The Sci-Fi Channel: Mysterious Forces Beyond
- Edward worked with UK artist, magician and hoaxer Doc Shiels to fake believers into accepting a upcoming inter-species communication breakthrough between aliens, cetaceans and mankind for Fate MagazineFate MagazineFate is a U.S. magazine about paranormal phenomena. Fate was co-founded in 1948 by Raymond A. Palmer and Curtis Fuller, suspended print publication in July 2009, and launched a new website in January 2010 featuring news, articles, and blogs written by experts and paranormal researchers.Promoted as...
. - Fortean TimesFortean TimesFortean Times is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing and then I Feel Good Publishing , it is now published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. As of December 2010, its circulation was approximately 18,000...
Magazine 1997-98 "The Case" Mark Edward and Doc Shiels continued to work together "to create the Mother of all Conspiracies". This entailed code names and participation by others throughout the world by mail. - The 1992 Halloween Houdini Séance at CALTECH.
Media from the world of magic
- Paul Romhany & T.C. Tahoe (Ed.) (2008). Lunch is Served. Limelight Press, "It's All in Your Mind" Mark Edward pps. 125-129
- A unique way of using fortune cookies in the séance room is described by Edward in this article.
- Jack Kent Tiller (Ed.) (2007). The Blister Book. Learn-Rite Press, "Blistering" Mark Edward pps. 23-28
- An article written by Edward about a séance routine that appears in his book "Sense and Séance". A full and detailed séance for the novice mentalist.
- In the book "The Dark Waltz" author Michael Fraughton says of Edward, "I was privileged to see some of his closeup material...was utterly amazed at his ability to engage the audience...he was one of the finest bizarre magic performers I had ever seen. I found an entertainer who had earned my respect."
- Review of the book Restless Plots by David Goodsell of M-U-M Magazine. Goodsell writes, "...his work (in a séance) is based on sound experience...Edwards not only writes well, he is well read...I like this one very much".
- An insider description of available séance and in-home "psychic" parties.
- An issue of The Altar Flame devoted to the bizarre magic of Mark Edward.
- A review by David Goodsell about The Altar Flame issue devoted to Mark Edward. Goodsell writes "This is fun stuff...bizarre magic is story magic".
- Magic effect showing proof of alien visitation.
- A psychological audience participation experiment for mentalists.
- Original séance routine using fortune cookies.
- A randomly chosen single word is predicted using dozens of newspaper columns.
- An short story excerpt from "Restless Plots" as an addendum to a book on how to throw knives. Elmer Putts. How to Throw Knifes. The Lulu Hurst Society, Thomas Jogenson Proprietor "The Knife-Throwers Assistant: A Midsummer Memory" Mark Edward
- A Russian roulette style routine using beakers of deadly acid. Mark Edward (1994). The Acid Test. The Lulu Hurst Society, Thomas Jogenson Proprietor.
- A overview of Séance Techniques for Magicians.
- In this Special Bonus insert Edward discusses what he feels would be the ultimate type act for the modern-day psychic entertainer.
- In "Medium Rare: Interviews with Top Séance Entertainers" Edward states that anyone interested in putting on a "convincing performance to read lots of ghost stories...do your homework...stay in character..after a séance, the medium is exhaused and weak, not a socializer. The image of the spirit medium is a persona that demands a certain level of seriousness and discipline."
- A collection of quotes for psychic entertainers.
- Magic routine created by Edward for close-up mentalism.
Books
- Restless Plots 1997
- Mediums, Well Done! 1997
- Psi-Lines 1998
- Sense and Séance 1999
- Confessions of a 900 Psychic 2000
- How to Increase Your Income with ESP 2000
- Silentium 2001
- Loose Ends 2002
- Bundles 2002
- Hand Springs 2003
- Top Ten Mentalism with Cards 2004
- Graphick 2005
- Psychic Blues: Confessions From a Happy Medium 2009
- Tenebrae 2010