Team Locals

 

*Disclaimer, I have changed the names and some of the details of individuals on here to protect their anonymity for such personal grief and for whatever comfort they take - 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night saw Kings theatre regular Psychic Sally Morgan take to the stage at 7:30pm Prompt. She doesn’t hang around!

Attendance was good with approximately 650 paying around the figure of £20 per ticket to witness her psychic demonstrations and passing on messages from loved ones beyond the grave.

Before she took to the stage we were treated to a video presentation showing highlights from the TV show Psychic Sally On The Road.

The anticipation was high, here’s hoping that the spirits wanted to come out and play tonight.

I attended with an open mind as I’m often suspicious of people that make wild claims such as being able to contact the dead but that being said throughout my years I’ve lost loved ones and had numerous strange occurences happen regarding them that I simply cannot explain.

I may be skeptical of communication with the afterlife but boy would I love to see evidence of it.

Attendees of the show are invited to bring along photographs to submit for the show which Sally may pull out of the large black box on stage and provide messages or to fill in the hundreds of Sallys love letters that then go on stage for messages.

Sally entered the stage full of energy sparkling in the ligs, she gave a brief explanation of what was to occur for the benefit of newcomers.

“I am a medium in touch with the spirit world”  Was her claim, at the same time stating “Make your own mind up.”

So I sat there and waited to do just that.

She explained how she works, does a little prayer, reads photos, maps and the love letters.

Then the upbeat tone changed and Sally begain to feel a little unwell, reluctantly travelling to one side of the stage. Saying that she could feel a person and how they passed on.

After a slow and quiet start, an audience member stood and confirmed that they had a relative fitting the description.

A brief message was apparently passed on from the departed.  “I’m sorry”………….

Yes, that is how brief the message was from this person!

As other details were being forwarded by Sally about other audience members I started to feel that we weren’t in for a pleasant show.

Grief is a very personal thing, some people grieve immediately after death whilst others put on a brave face and don’t grieve until later in life.

Tonight I saw people who desperately wanted to hear from loved ones and when they did, they very publically displayed their grief.

Sallys show may or may not be a demonstration of contact with the dead but as she made the claim at the beginning that she is in contact with the spirit world I couldn’t help but feel compassion for the majority of the audience who had paid £20 in the vain hope that a loved one might have a message for them.

The upsetting part for me was that as the messages were being passed on and people were becoming visibly distressed I did not witness a time where Sally Morgan offered sympathy, even a hug would have done wonders to some from her!

Instead, when one poor distraught woman received a barrage of names that she felt applied to her Sally paced the stage and in a very assertive voice said words to the effect of “You don’t believe, well here it is!”

With an audience member in tatters, now wasn’t the time to shout a message that echoed  “I told you I could do this.”

Sadly for me, I was so upset by how poorly some of the audience members were being treated in their public display of grief and emotion around very sensitive topics that I walked out.

That’s right, I walked out of a show. I’ve never done that in my life.

Why did I walk out?

I didn’t feel that 650 people paying £20 a ticket was an appropriate forum to watch someone disclose details about their family and publicly display truly personal emotions.

I truly believe that the messages passed on should be perhaps delivered privately or if they are news of a very distressing nature eg: suicide, horrific incidents or babies that they should be left for another time.

The most amazing part of the show is how Sally Morgan was able to pass on messages from people that weren’t even born!

I went with an open mind, I left feeling terribly sad for those that felt they had to go as their hope of closure.

I give her show 5/10 an apparently impressive demonstration of mediumship containing far too much of her own ego and no empathy.

I left cold.

As mentioned previously, I’m critical of anyone that makes up claims such as these so made sure that I created a transcript of everything I witnessed.

If you would like to read a skeptical review of the Sally Morgan show, then read on…….. If you would like to take comfort and solace from the alledged existance of psychic mediumship then please. I implore you not to read any further. I cannot take away your beliefs. Those are yours to hold and cherish.

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Please, please, please do not read this unless you are prepared to have your beliefs or opinions changed about matters concerning those that claim to be in contact with the afterlife.

I am not in the business of taking away the comfort you get from the messages passed on from mediums. Or hindering those that provide this type of entertainment. At no point during this write up am I suggesting that Sally Morgan is a fake.

I am giving my view (as a magician who can replicate similar stunts myself) how things could be interpreted or misinterpreted, or alternative methods that someone who is fraudulent might achieve similar effect of apparently speaking with the dead.

If you are cynical,skeptical or want to read transcripts and hear my opinions on how there could be the possibility of using other techniques outside of communicating with the dead then feel free to read on.

I documented as much as I could from Psychic Sally on the road at The Kings theatre to ensure that I give a true representation of what occurred.

Fortunately the show was filmed anyway so this can verify if I am giving a true account or not. This part of my article has been written from a skeptical point of view.

I have changed some of the names and some details to keep the anonymity of the bereaved in their most vulnerable time. No one else knows that it is about you apart from you do not take this as any kind of personal attack on you. I cannot write about a show without featuring the contents of it.

If this show or others similar in nature were marketed as entertainment then I wouldn’t be writing this…

First things first, I have some questions.

1. If you claim to be able to contact the dead or are psychic call it what you will. Why charge such high ticket prices?

2. Where are the profits going?

3. Why are audience members encouraged to complete information before going into the auditorium? If you are in contact with the spirit world, this is completely unnecessary.

4. Why encourage the submission of photographs? This is quite literally giving the medium a visual representation of the deceased.  If you are in contact with the spirits, they can surely tell you what they look like. Or if you are clairvoyant, you can see for yourself.

Both of these things, Love letters & Photographs were encouraged and were present on stage and were readily accessed throughout the show.

Sally entered the stage and gave an introduction of herself and what to expect from her demonstrations.

At this point she said, ” I am a medium in touch with the spirit world.”

“Make up your own minds”

“We will be having a conversation.”

“We will be having a conversation.” -  The cynic in me doesn’t like a psychic stating this. A medium or psychic should be able to just tell you things and pass on messages. A conversation is a two way process.

You’ll see later how that two way process can be perceived as a miracle to some.

“I get more info when I see you.” – Another phrase that doesn’t sit well. People in a vulnerable state will show their thoughts and feelings on their faces and in their body language. This might be a way of someone who is not a genuine medium to be able to gain confirmation about statements or make adjustments accordingly.

“I collate messages before I come on stage.” -  Did she actually say that, you bet she did!

For someone who has been subject of articles that question her abilities she might want to think about those words next time.

The context given was that she collates messages ‘from the dead’ before coming on stage. But as audience members have filled in Love Letters, submitted emails etc this could be misconstrued.

If you are genuine and in the public eye concerning your abilities, don’t set yourself up for a fall.

Then the “dem” – short for ‘demonstration’ according to Sally and spiritualist circles began.

Sally claimed to have a young lad *Daniel* with her with an inhalation problem and that there was smoke but not tobacco.

Lets look at what this could be : A fire, someone that smoked herbal cigarettes, cannabis, carbon monoxide poisoning.. the list goes on.

When the audience member claimed that the message was for her she told Sally that is was fumes that killed Daniel.

So not smoke at all!

Twice the medium attempted to connect the name Jackie or Jack but with a feeling of female. No response from any audience members.

“Who was in the forces?” -  Welcome to Portsmouth Sally!  Even if I stand in a room not claiming to be psychic and ask “Who has a family member that was in the forces and has died?” I’m pretty sure that I’ll get a response. We have a history of conscription and going to war. Whether that was a father, grand father, great grand father.

A lady put their hand up.

The lady then said, “It might be my dad.”

Followed by Sally saying, “I’ve got your dad here.”

In case you missed that, the medium asked whether there was anyone who was in the forces. The audience member then submitted the information about who it might be. The medium then repeated back to apparently confirm.

During the conversation (a two way process) the psychic then asked “who was *juan*? another family member.”

There was then a suggestion of a connection with *mexico*.

The audience member then submitted further information.

“Could it be *Juanita* ? She was Spanish”.

(the names have been changed to protect the bereaved, they were much more common English sounding names which could be truncated to a foreign styling)

The medium replies with, “Spanish Mexican that’s her, Shes here”

2+2 = 5

Again, when Sally started giving out some initials that were possibly relevant.  *DH* *DH*  The audience member corrected Sally !

“Could it be *RH* ? That would be my uncle that died”

Please, stop telling the medium the information. I understand that you’re nervous and desperaetly want to hear from someone, but let the medium do their job.

But the show wasn’t full off all apparent successes:

The following were all directed to same person whose only hit was one name match prior to these.

“John?” ( Possibly one of the most common English names, got no audience response !) ” Jonathan?”  Still nothing.

“Bell or Bella”  Again nothing…

“A mouth problem”    Nothing…

“IV antibiotics toward the end.” Nothing….

“Brain Tumour” Nothing….

“All stand up, are you all related?”   Well.. I suppose if all else fails just ask a question!

The greatest set of misses were these.

I’ve kept the original names called out as they are misses that don’t connect to anyones grief.

“Sharon, 48″  Nothing…

“Ann or Andy?” Nothing

“And for some reason?!”

“Wants Sharon OR that’s HER name.”

Well make up your mind!  Is it Sharon that has come through or is it Ann or Andy a man?

Nothing connected with anyone it seemed desperate in my opinion.

Then we got a photograph taken from the box.

I’m not even going to analyse this in so much detail suffice to say that you can tell quite a lot about a person by looking at a picture of them!  There was only one hit of an unrelated name, during this uncomfortable demonstration as Sally kept turning to the screen for what appeared to be confirmation from the sitters, it might have just been that the sitters were at the back. I couldn’t tell from where I was.

Then it all got really sickening. I left shortly afterward.

I have to reveal part of the actual information divulged in the hope that you can see how it got warped throughout this terribly sad demonstration.

My heart was broken for this audience member.

Sally said “My name is Young. I’m not young. My name is Young a woman.”

“Trauma to the head”

” A broken arm “

Some male names were  mentioned and then a young woman stood.

Already distressed the audience  member said “She was young when she died”

This poor distressed woman has just made Sallys statement into something else.

My heart sank as soon as she said the she was young when she died. I’m not psychic but even I could tell where we were going.

“Trauma to the head” Sally repeated.

“Yes, but it was all over her body.” Came the apparent confirmation. (I call it a correction really)

I hate writing these facts down but again, the sitter has made the reading fit the person.

Sally said, “since she died, could she have grown?”

We’ve already established that the person was young not Young like you said Sally. So if they’re young, that implies that they’re able to grow more.

Someone nearby says that their daughter had broken their arm the other day.

The medium took this as verification and spoke in the words of this young departed spirit, “young, young like me!”

Then the poor terribly distraught sitter who was nearly unable to speak disclosed all the details you could possibly need.

A name connection, how old they would be now, how old when they died, a date of birth.

I’m not going to deny that throughout this highly disturbing reading that Sally got some incredible information absolutely spot on. But let’s not forget that patrons are encouraged to submit messages,emails, photos etc.

This was an incredible reading, but how do the rest of the audience not know whether information was provided or whether this person had been to a show before? You don’t as Sally herself said, “there is a lot of trust.”

The reading continued even after the poor woman had the mic taken from her and we were about to go to interval (or home as I call it!)

The young girl was wearing a tutu and dancing around but it didn’t fit.

Facts that can no longer be verified as the apparent parent no longer has the microphone.

“Believe it! Believe it!” barked the medium or words to that effect

Not a single moment of comfort or empathy for the lady standing among hundreds of people tears streaming down her face. Instead Sally strode the stage assertively stating about how this was proof of her ability.

I left feeling genuinely sick in my stomach about what I had witnessed.

I may be skeptical but please, it would be amazing if there was evidence of spirit communication. I tried to attend open minded, I’d love to be proved wrong on these abilities.

I wasn’t convinced.

It was disturbing viewing and not the most enjoyable show I’ve ever been to.

Please follow these tips if you are thinking of going to see any medium.

Clam up. Let them do all the talking if your departed one wants to make contact, they will find you. They wont stutter their name from Sharon to Andy !

An absolute fraud would make their life even easier by using a stooge but there are too many risks associated with that and why bother these days? We have so many tools at our disposal:

1. Tickets booked with credit cards = Name, address, verification that you are over 18.

2. Facebook, Twitter= Photos of you, your family, comments, status updates.

3. Love letters or prayer cards = Direct requests for questions and messages submitted.

4. Photographs = Sex, build, age, pastimes, occupation.

5. YOU = Stop telling them the information.

I leave you with this link to the history of spiritualism. Make up your own minds from that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_sisters

I truly hope that it is possible to communicate with the living once you die but there is only one way to find out. I guess I will wait until my day comes.

In an age of cynicism and science I hope that we can find out and not approach things with so much skepticism. Maybe the photographs, prayer card etc really are the tools that enable connection to the spirit world.

I really cannot answer whether I saw a genuine demonstration of mediumship or not. I just noticed some possible flaws which could be abused by someone wishing to replicate the act of communicating with the spirit world through the reading of submitted information, questioning techniques and cold reading stabs in the dark.