The Mentalist, Gerry McCambridge

Mentalist mystifies audiences

Staff Report

Gerry McCambridge is a mentalist, reading people's minds. Anyone who has seen the show has walked away in disbelief, awed by his seemingly psychic powers.

"You were born on the East Coast," he tells one guest.

"A little higher."

"You're a Connecticut person."

"Yes."

"Hartford?"

"Yes."

He moves on to another guest.

"Who is Kimberly?" he asks the surprised fan.

"My daughter."

"She's 16 or 17?"

"Nineteen."

"Is there a Justin here?" McCambridge says as a volunteer stands up. "Are you married, sir?

"No, I'm not."

"Who is Tammy?"

"She's my girlfriend."

"Who is James?"

"I work with him."

He asks another audience member to announce the name of the first person she had a crush on. With her husband sitting beside her, she seems embarrassed but names a man she has neither seen nor thought about in 30 years: "Jackie."

McCambridge takes an envelope from inside his jacket, opens it and takes out a piece of paper inscribed: "Jackie."

Although each of the mentalist's shows is similar, each is different because of the audience involvement. He opens the show with one volunteer holding a telephone book, another randomly choosing a page, another choosing a column on the page and then McCambridge running his finger down the column until the first volunteer tells him to stop. He reveals the number is the same one he wrote down at the start of the show.

In another bit, he has a volunteer randomly rotate the hands of a watch and to stop when he tells them to. Blindfolded, he rotates his own watch - and both watches stop at the same hour and minute.

He tells fans he has no psychic powers but uses a variety of skills to create that illusion - including the power of persuasion, memory techniques, reading body language and knowledge of the law of averages.

McCambridge, 45, started out as a magician but switched to mentalism 20 years ago.

"Magic is the art of misdirection," McCambridge says. "Mentalism is the art of riding the fine line between intuition and illusion."