An Analysis of a live Lisa Williams Reading - Is she a genuine psychic medium or just a cold hearted conwoman?

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The following article is the opinion of the author and may not correspond with the opinions of BadPsychics.com

This article is for Entertainment purposes only, and/or for scientific experimentation

I am still getting people doubt me when I state quite clearly that self proclaimed psychic/medium Lisa Williams does not communicate with the dead, they insist she is legit and that it would be impossible for me to debunk her.

So I did a quick search on Youtube and found the following video, I chose this one as it is unedited, and no produced by herself or her company as far as I can tell, and you would hope the producers who had her on as a guest wouldn't have allowed her to research anyone or listen in on conversations with stooges, we know she does both, but it is unlikely in this example, although you should never rule it out unless you are in full control of the situation.

Also the crowd wont necessarily be fans of hers, so less likely to try and help her along out of embarrassment.

Firstly you can watch the video, readings start just before the 4 minute mark, watch first and ask yourself if she seems genuine or if it seems like she is cold reading (in other words faking it)

I will interject my opinions in BOLD type, please leave your own comments and opinions in the comments section.


Transcript Key:
Lisa Williams
Victim
Me


I do have a father figure and a mother figure that's standing right in the centre by this lady and the gentleman in the striped shirt so its in this section here.

So I'm not sure, the lady... I'm almost kind of thinking its the woman at the front actually.

May I ask my love is there a mother figure in spirit for you please? I'm sorry I've just been told there is a grandmother as well for you.

And so the cold reading begins, the audience is not huge, but it is large enough that you can throw something vague out and get a reaction.
Fake psychics will always use the "mother/father figure" routine, in this case the old mother figure. Now ask yourself how many people could that really refer too.

A mother, an older sister, an aunty, a grandmother, great aunty, older friend, old work colleague, and so on.

She also throws out Grandmother too, which is more specific, but we all have 2 Grandmothers, and then there are the Grandmothers of your partner and older relatives that are like a Grandmother, either way Lisa has already cast a pretty large net.


Are you speaking to me?

Yeah!

(What's your name... Amanda)

Hi Amanda

Would I be right is saying that there's a mother figure or your grandmother was like your mother in many respects?

Yeah.

On your mothers side?

Yes.

Ok so after throwing out a rather large and vague amount of possibilities, Lisa gets a hit on a vague Mother figure/Grandmother, now look at the woman, she is probably late 30s, so any Grandmother would potentially be 80+ years old if alive, so a pretty good chance purely by odds that there would be a dead Grandmother.

And she keeps showing me like baking I don't know whether she used to bake a lot of pastries or something because she keeps putting like a crust on a pie actually!

Are you asking if I'm a baker?

No I don't think you are actually because she is saying no no no you don't cook so do you not like cooking?

Ah slightly, its not my favourite thing to do.

So this ladies "mother figure" has managed to break the laws of physics and all she wants to talk about is baking. It is this kind of pap that convinces people you know!

This is pure cold reading, with a bit of body language reading thrown in.

Lisa actually stated that the "Mother figure" was the one who liked to Bake, but when the lady didn't react to that and instead asked if she was asking if she was a baker, Lisa turned the reading in a different direction. She actually ASKS the woman if she does not like cooking, she does NOT tell her, notice that. The woman replies it is not her favourite thing to do, which is pretty common in women that age that run a house, cooking is often not the favourite thing to do, so again we going on odds here.

Ah its not your favourite thing is it, right because she's just showing me no! 

Next trick of the psychic is to repeat back to the victim what the victim has actually just told the medium, now after the reading the victim will remember that the medium told them that they didn't like cooking, when the reality is the victim is the one who gave up that specific piece of information, this is how cold reading works.

Now also, she is actually coming through telling me there is some form of celebration! You wasn't expecting this I'm sorry my love! Umm but she is acknowledging the celebration that's either happening in the family - and your mother would still be with us isn't she!

She is, yes.

Now this is the bit where you have to go back to the beginning of the reading, 
Lisa clearly states "May I ask my love is there a mother figure in spirit for you please? I'm sorry I've just been told there is a grandmother as well for you."

So Lisa has already said that she picked up a mother and father figure, the father figure got dropped, and she added a grandmother, now the mother figure is gone and we are left with just a grandmother.

Do you see what she did there, she started with 3 people in spirit, and through asking questions, and watching facial reactions, body language and so on, she has now dismissed two of the three, because she didn't get the reaction at the beginning she can now ASK if the mother would still be alive, knowing there is a good chance of being right.

Because she is acknowledging your mother here and like there's a celebration around your mum but can you tell your mum she is going to be ok, so there may have been some health concerns around your mum recently is that right?

Now this is confusing, she starts by talking about a celebration, but gets no reaction, so quickly switches to health concerns with the mother, now it is safe to assume this womans mother would be late 50s, 60s etc, so pretty much everyone at that age has health issues, whether it is a poor joints, bad back, or more serious issues.

Umm there have been some family health concerns.

Notice the victim says FAMILY health concerns, and ignores the fact that Lisa was indicating her mother was the one with health concerns.

There's been family health concerns because I'm being told everything is going to be ok and that you need to just share that with the family ok and that's the reason she is coming through 

Quickly Lisa switches to FAMILY health concerns and ignores her own statement about it being the mother with health concerns. You tell me a single family that doesn't have someone with health concerns, I've never met one.

and she is also talking about someone who needs to have their hair dyed, I'm not sure whose been talking about it?

Ah me!

Seriously? Don't all women in their late 30s dye their hair when the grey hairs start coming through? You couldn't get an easier hit if you tried.

Ah right well there you go, she is laughing and saying just get it done, get it done, get it done, because either its been bothering or you keep talking about it but she loves you very much, anyway, I've got another gentleman coming through but we'll will wait!

And that's it for the first reading.

Lets have a quick summary of what Lisa actually said.
She started off with a dead father figure and mother figure, she added a grandmother.
The father was dismissed, and the mother suddenly came back to life.
The mother was ill, but then not ill, but a random unnamed family member was ill, There was a celebration that didn't exist, and a woman needed her hair done.

That was the entirety of the reading.

Would anyone class that as proof of mediumship?


~ ~ ~

Onto the second reading, this starts just after minute 6 on the video. Now go watch it first, and ask yourself if it seemed legit to you, then scroll back down and read my opinion.

I was chatting with Bill and he has got to get his knee sorted so just remember that.

Firstly this is really really dodgy, she has clearly been speaking to Bill off camera, so we have no idea what she has said or he has said to her, she could have picked up anything, but we will give the benefit of the doubt anyway.

Umm yeah, I wanted to throw this out actually because I wasn't sure but I've got a feeling that someone can relate to a younger adult that's in the audience like a younger daughter or someone who lost their daughter or a son. Can anyone relate to what I'm talking about please and it happened very quickly as an accident; it may not have been your child but it may be someone you can relate to. Now this is the time don't be shy.

This is where the whole psychic game starts to take a dark turn.
There is little in life worse than losing a child, and for anyone to use that as part of an act, to make money, well that is just a bit sick in my book.

If we can ignore the vile nature of the way this reading is going, I will try and look at it.
Ok so we have an audience of roughly 20 people near to her, then another 20 or so behind the panel, so a decent size. Now people will have been aware that a medium was appearing on this show, so there is a good chance people may have come along purely to see her, and even if not its a large enough sample size that there is a good chance that throwing out such a death would hit.

Notice how Lisa Williams says "younger adult" first instead of child, this then gets turned into daughter or son. Seeing no reaction she then expands it to any one, even not related.

So now ask yourself, as you read this, if not yourself, do you know of anyone under the age of 20 who has died in a sudden way? I know of quite a few unfortunately.

Ok, alright don't worry, I just kept feeling as though there was someone who passed in an accident. Can either of you relate to it? Someone passed in an accident with very sudden passing and I've got the feeling that they crossed quite quickly it was a very sudden... no? Can you understand this, who would this be for you please?

Really forcing it down peoples throats here, she is struggling and hoping someone can think of someone this would fit.

My brother.

And this would be passing of a sudden accident you understand that

No he died when I was actually born.

Now this poor bloke was so desperate he took the reading even though it was nowhere close to what he had happened, this is the desperation that mediums thrive and survive on.

Erm don't want to make it fit, it just feels like someone passed in a sudden accident it was like a head injury a trauma to the head, can anyone relate to this, its like a friendship, can you understand this?

You don't want to make it fit? That is all you do Lisa!

No. only the bombings

Oh right ok and it happened very very quickly and this would be a friend of yours is that right?

My sisters daughter.


Ok, and it happened quickly this happened, can I come to you please.... because this happened really really quickly, may I come.....

My sister's daughter.

Ok so this happened really quickly and what I am actually being shown is that this was like this massive impact ok and it had a massive impact on the family do you understand this?

Yes

Watching this really makes me feel uncomfortable, the way Lisa Williams keeps saying impact and pumping her fist into her hand, just imagine how difficult that is to listen too if your child had been run over.

Anyway she repeats impact a few times and gets nothing, so cleverly changes it to impact on the family. This is pretty despicable stuff.


And I kept being shown there that something still needs investigating or there was still some form of investigation that's gone on because I don't feel as though you have not had the full facts Do you understand this?

Sort of.

This poor bloke is doing his best here to help Lisa, but she is failing pretty miserably.

Ok. Its as though, I feel as though there are other things that need to come out ok?

She is jumping up and down and she's telling me she looks a lot like her mum or she looked a lot like her mum do you understand this?

Yes.

Remember this reading started off as a young adult, and now is a young girl jumping up and down. And what young girl doesn't look like their mom, that is their first role model in life. The man has answered positively to that, so now Lisa can expand on the appearance thing further, and make it seem like she knew all along.

And she is showing that me that the photos resemble her, she is actually saying can you say hello to the family and there is a connection to a teddy bear that they still have of hers all right, and this is really important she is just showing me socks for some reason, whether she always used to have socks in... there was a particular thing about socks and she is dancing and she's giving me the fact that she is dancing around and she is also showing me that she comes through in rainbows and there's a feeling of music that so you may find that music is very prominent ok has your sister ever mentioned any of this?

Ah no.

This part of the reading is known as shotgunning, whereby you throw out a lot of information very quickly in the hope that some of it sticks, unfortunately Lisa fails on the lot! Which is actually surprising as you would think if your kid died you would probably keep their favourite teddy bear about. No idea why she went on about the socks, that was an attempt to sound specific in the hope it would hit, of course if it doesn't the psychic can use the old "take that home with you" or "ask about it" and by doing that they make it seem like they know more than the person being read! Another classic fake psychic technique.

Ok well speak to your sister about it.

Now would she have a brother as well please

Yes

They say that a good psychic will never ask questions, yet that is all Lisa Williams has done the whole reading, ask a question and then expand on the answer as if you already knew.

Because she acknowledging the brother that she comes through in the brother's dreams as well ok, this was a massive... oh right ...

Again what a terrible thing to say and plant in the minds of people watching, she is forcing her nonsense on people who are not even there, really disgusting in my opinion.

is there a separation in the family now, maybe mum and dad have parted ways?

Ah no mum and dad have both passed.

So Lisa Williams here is 100% wrong, she took a chance at divorced parents and got it wrong, I wonder if she will try and twist this round? I think we both know the answer to that!


Your mum and dad have both passed ?

Yes.

Ok she is showing me that there was a separation n the family with a mother and a father so that would then be them coming through. Right ok, thank you, your father has crossed correct?

Yes.

So now suddenly the dead parents who Lisa thought were alive are now coming through from the spirit world! And remember that old trick of repeating back to the victim what they have already told the medium, she does it again by stating that his father had passed! Yet he was the one who told her that! Yet after the reading it would be quite easy for him to forget he gave that information, and only remember Lisa telling him! Again this is how cold reading works.

Oh right, You are very similar to him you look a lot like him would you understand that?

Ah no, my mum.

She really is having a nightmare with this guy, a pretty easy guess to say a big hefty bloke will look like his dad, yet she is wrong again and he reveals he looks like his mom! I wonder will Lisa repeat this back to him?


Or do you you look like your mum?

My mum!

He just told you that Lisa! lol. That was pretty blatant even by Lisa Williams awful standards!

You look a lot like one of the members of the parents because she just keeps coming through with the face, the face, and its a mirror, she is actually showing me that you're a good guy, you are such a good boy, you were a good boy and she wants to acknowledge that in that case, that are a good boy, and that she has the daughter so if you can just let them know that they have them, they are all together ok? 

This really is poor, she now repeats back to him again that he looks like one of the parents! Yes he looks like the mother and HE told you that after you got it wrong Lisa!

The good guy stuff is just filler and is nonsense, she finishes that off by saying the dead child is with his parents, the parents she thought were alive until he told her that they were dead!

And again she wants to acknowledge the ring, she wants everyone to look after her ring and dad's got something as well, all right but I want you know they are all together ok?

Ok.

She tries a classic line here about a ring, who doesn't keep a ring of a dead parent, he just says ok, probably past caring now and wants to go home.


Something about the shoe size, they're laughing about the shoes , have you got to get new shoes?

I buy shoes on line!

Again you break the laws of physics you come back from the dead, you speak to a medium and all you can do is talk about shoes, and Lisa gets it wrong again!

There you go, they're laughing about the shoes all the time, all right its just something she's doing ok so just watch out for that.

I'm going to leave you with that.

And that is the end of the reading, the first reading clearly came across better on camera as her cold reading techniques worked better the second reading was just painful to watch.

It is pretty clear to me Lisa Williams is a fraud, she is using clear and detectable techniques, there was not a single thing she said that proved any kind of real psychic or mediumistic ability, in parts it was truly painful to watch, she used some classic lines and characters.

So tell me, do you think Lisa Williams is really talking to these dead people? Or is she just earning a living by taking advantage of vunerable, grieving and desperate people.

As ever I will leave it up to you, please leave your comments below.

You can follow me on Twitter @JonDonnis