How to perform surgery on your friends

It certainly looks gruesome, but remember folks: it’s NOT REAL!

Would you let someone operate on you with their bare hands, even if you were totally relaxed and told you wouldn’t feel a thing? Nor me – but weirdly, some people believe ‘psychic surgery’ is real. It’s one of the few daft practices that is genuinely dangerous; if the patient believed the practitioner really had removed a tumour, for example, they could miss out on life-saving surgery and get very ill indeed.

It can look quite convincing. But as realistic as the blood and guts might seem when the ‘surgeon’ apparently plunges their hand deep into the subject’s abdomen, I can assure you it’s all sleight of hand!

And it can make a powerful impression even if you know it’s faked. Watch the effect I had on some of the onlookers in this video:

Prove you’re psychic, win $1M

Uri Gellar’s powers didn’t stand a chance against James Randi

Have you heard about James Randi’s paranormal challenge? Randi used to be a magician, “The Amazing Randi”, but since the 60s, he has been offering more and more money to anyone who can provide proof of the paranormal under controlled conditions. Right now the prize stands at $1,000,000, and although 1,000 applicants have taken up the challenge so far, none have even passed the first round. If you fancy your chances, you can apply here.

One person who was exposed by Randi back in the 80s was James Hydrick, a self-described psychic who claimed to have telekinetic powers. He admitted he was a fraud after this episode of That’s My Line. It’s long but bear in mind this was an hour and a half of a man staring at a book, edited down! Watch the whole thing if you can, I promise it’s worth it.