A look at 2 short readings by "Celebrity Psychic Medium" Harry T

I had never heard of Harry T and I am guessing the vast majority of people reading this will not have heard of Harry T either. Well he is a self proclaimed "Award Winning" Celebrity Psychic. So pretty much exactly the same as every other psychic out there.

I was made aware of him by one of the members of the BadPsychics Forum as he is making a name for himself in Australia and they asked what I thought of him.

So what has he accomplished? Well he has gotten into some twitter arguments with members of the Real Housewives of Melbourne which is an Australian TV show for brain dead people to watch. And he made TV history as one half of the first gay couple on First Dates Australia. So his claim to fame is that he is gay, and has been on a dating show. I am sure all of the homosexual community out there must feel very proud of him.

Anyway his day job is as a psychic and he works on radio show Smallzy's Surgery nationwide Nova FM. And has done the usual guest spots on day time TV talk shows.

I was given a video of him appearing on one of those shows, something called Studio 10.

And in this video there is a load of waffle for a few minutes and then he gives two readings to people in the audience, and it is these readings I want to look at, as they are not edited, and should be of complete strangers he has not met before or had chance to research, so what better way to see if a medium is real, than in a setting like this, even if these people are likely to be believers.

So I asked a forum member to transcribe the video for me, and I will work from that transcription. Thank you to "girlseeksghosts" for transcribing the video.

Also it is worth noting that this video has been uploaded by Harry T to his own youtube channel, so this video he uses to promote himself and is not one I have picked out or edited to make him look bad.

First you can watch the video below, the readings start after 3 minutes 30 seconds, so feel free to skip to that point. And after you have watched it, scroll down to read my analysis.

Key:

Harry T - Bold Lettering

Audience member - Normal Lettering

My analysis - Red Lettering

This lady over here, at the front, yeah ok, what was your name?

Pam.

and your star sign?

Scorpio.

So to start off, the man who claims psychic powers, to hear the dead, and to see the future has to ask someone 2 questions, their name and their star sign, two simple things that any real psychic should know surely. Anyway let's keep a count on how many questions he asks, remember anyone who could really do what they claim as a psychic would not need to ask any questions. 

Scorpio ok. As soon as I was around the audience before during the commercial, what I was doing was I was getting a sense of the audience and you were standing out very very strongly. In terms of psychic work I would understand that you would have a very good connection with this so its almost like you actually have a bit of this gift yourself, does that make sense?

It does.

So a bit of waffle, and then telling the woman he is reading that she has psychic powers too.

Now anyone who has ever been to a psychic might notice that they were also told they had some psychic abilities. In fact I myself, the UK's most notorious skeptic have been told by 5 different psychics that I have some psychic powers.

The reason they say this is because it is an easy way to find out if the person they are talking to is a believer or a skeptic.

Pretty much all believers will answer in the positive when it is put to them that they have "a bit of a gift". By telling the client this, it is creating something in common with them, it is making them feel special, for you are literally telling someone "you have magic powers just like me, lets be special together"

Now lets say the person answers in the negative, and says "no I do not have psychic powers" something I have answered many times. The psychic will ALWAYS respond with, "oh trust me you do, you just haven't realised them yet".

So regardless of how the client answers, the psychic is able to glean a lot of information out of just one question that is worded to sound like a statement.

Notice the vague words he uses too.

"almost like you actually have a bit"

He doesn't sound so sure does he? That is because again he has no idea, this is how cold reading works.

I know I rambled a bit on this, but it is said by pretty much every psychic everywhere, so I want you to be aware of it. If you have been told you have psychic powers by a psychic, let me know in the comments.

Ok. You will be receiving a lot of prophetic dreams recently and actually fortelling things that are actually coming up, does that make sense to you?

It does.

Firstly "does that make sense to you?" that is a question, to ask a question means you do not know the answer. (3 questions asked not counting the cleverly worded question about if she was psychic, I will let him off that one)

So how could he possibly know this?
Well think back, he already knows this woman is a believer in psychic powers, and she has already admitted that she believes she has psychic powers, so to say to someone who you have just found out believes they are psychic, that they have dreams that predict the future, well its not so big of a leap is it.

In fact ask anyone who believes they have "a bit of a gift" if they have ever had a prophetic dream, and I bet they say yes.

I'm being told from... you actually have a beautiful angel that stands around you. Have you got an angel ornament in your bedroom or in your home, there's like an angel figurine looking thing?

I was given an angel pendant last year.

He says he is being told from... Then stops, who is talking to you Harry T? Give us a name? Ok, he states she has an angel that stands around her, firstly this is pretty much a part of the belief structure of spiritualists, whether it is angels, or spirit guides or so on, she has already admitted she believes she is psychic, so hardly another big leap to assume she believes in angels/spirit guides.

He then asks a question about an angel ornament in her bedroom or home, and then clarifies that there is an "angel figurine" looking thing.


This is 3 question he asks here, all 3 are wrong. You could argue it is 1 question, but there are 3 different things he could have hit on here, no ornament in bedroom, and no ornament in her home, and no figurine.

So I googled angel figurine and here is the first image that comes up.

He gets this completely wrong, but desperate to believe the woman tells him that she was given an angel pendent. Or Angel on a necklace.

So now you understand why he stated "looking thing" at the end of his question.

I am sure you can imagine that after this reading the woman goes home and tells others that the psychic knew she had an angel pendent, how could he possibly know that and so on, yet when you actually look deeply into what he said and the context in which he said it, you can understand the truth.

Ok last year, this is something very connected to you, its to protect you, it was given to you to protect you.

It was.


A moment ago he thought it was an angel ornament, something you put on a window sill, yet now after the woman told him she had an angel pendent, he is now telling her that it is something very close to her, a necklace is literally touching you, so of course it is "connected" to you, often pendents, necklaces etc are given for these reasons, I have about 6 crosses given to me by religious relatives, which I never wear. 

By the woman telling Harry T that she had the pendent, that allows him to know how to word the next statement. Would he have said that an angel ornament would have been given to someone to protect them, to be very connected to them? I don't think so. The fact it is a pendent totally changes the meaning of the item being talked about.

In my parents house they have various ornaments including a couple of angels, none were given to protect them or any of that. They are just ornaments that have been in the family and have been passed down over the generations. 

Ok thank you. I am being told to actually wear it so its almost like you actually havent worn it.

Thats right, I haven't worn it.

Remember he started off thinking it was an ornament, now clearly the woman is not wearing the pendent, and she has gone to a show whereby she knew a psychic would be a guest, she herself supposedly has "a bit of gift" yet she is not visibly wearing the very thing they are talking about.

So notice how he words this, its "almost" like you "actually" haven't worn it.

She then confirms she has not worn it. He words it in such a way that gives a bit of an out if needed, since clearly she is not wearing it in the video, she does not wear it 24/7. So by saying it in a slightly vague way, if she says that she only wears it on weekends, or special occasions etc, then he can double down and say to her that she needs to wear it more.


Oh gosh I hope the person who gave it to you isn't watching, because I'm being told here that you actually need to wear it because it will protect you. It was given to you with love and I'm being shown that it's actually going to help you be more clear of the direction that you're heading. For some reason, this might sound odd, but I am being told to tell you that in many ways your life is just beginning. I don't know why I'm saying this but I feel like as of now moving forward there is going to be a lot of movement moving... almost like going towards May, it's like these next few months there's a big moving forward period for you. What's significant about May around you?

No significance I can think of.

Total failure here. He waffles a bit here then asks a question "What's significant about May around you?", and he misses as she tells him nothing.

When you go this route as a psychic it is usually quite safe, you choose a month slightly in the future, spring/summer months are easy, as usually a lot going on, from people moving house, weddings, changing jobs, it is a 1 in 12 chance that it is someones birthday, although he seems to have forgotten she is Scorpio. 

So the moving forward question could be anything really, yet it seems her life is pretty stable, so he is 100% completely wrong. And he asked another question, what are we on now? 5? 6? I lost count.

I think in May there's going to be something coming up that will be significant that will actually make sense to you and I'm almost feeling like you are going to say ah, that makes sense and I'm being told to also.... amethyst, what's the purple stone? Why am I seeing amethyst?

I have an amethyst ring.

Classic cold reading trick, you get something wrong, and then say "it will make sense to you in the future" Therefore pushing the blame of the miss on to the client, if you never see them again who cares, and if something happens in May purely through coincidence she will remember the psychic and think he predicted it.

He then asks another question, and asks why he is seeing an Amethyst.
She then confirms she has such a ring. Note she said ring, not him.

Is it hardly surprising that a believer who has "a bit of a gift" owns some new-age jewellery?

Could have been a necklace, ear rings, a rock, an ornament, perfume, nail varnish, basically anything Amethyst and he gets a hit, pretty easy thing to claim.

Ok fantastic (audience clapping) thank you, because Im being told that this actually resonates with your energy very very strongly and also take a walk near the water because I think you need it.

Ok thank you very much.

You're welcome.

So he guessed that someone with "a bit of a gift" a believer in psychics, owns something new-age, and it is fantastic and gets a round of applause. If that is your level of evidence of real psychic powers, then I really feel for you.

This was basic cold reading, and if you really look at things, what did he actually tell her that made any kind of sense? He asked a lot of questions, got a lot wrong, and pretty much all the main points she in fact told him.

Yet I bet you after the event she went away and told people
"How could he have possibly know any of that, I never told him anything, I only answered yes or no"

This is why you should always get a recording of a reading. It really is surprising how much people give away without realising.

(Harry T Im being told if you could talk to someone else now.)

Yeh ok lets have a look at who else we can go to. Who wanted to ask a question? I think the man in the red.

Yeh when my father passed away..

Were you younger?

Yeh, I'm the youngest.

Yeh.

So Harry T now moves on to someone else, straight away the audience member reveals that his father has passed away, and then Harry T asks a QUESTION. Why he needs to ask a question so quickly I will never know.

I said to him when I got back from the hospital, I said to him can you show me a sign that you're alive and my mother came from a great background and she had like a candle and it was broad daylight and um...

The flame, did something happen with the flame?

and I said to him.. the flame automatically just blew out.

As the man is telling his story, Harry T realises that he is missing his chance here, so jumps in to try and get in on the act. The man has revealed that he had a candle, and it was the day time and he wanted a sign, so of course the sign would be connected to the candle, Harry T realises this and quick as a flash he gets his comment in there.

Thank you while he was speaking I saw a flame.

This made me laugh. The man literally just told you there was a candle.

To be fair this is a terrible client, as he is talking way too much and giving way too much information, and not letting Harry T do his job of pretending to be psychic.

and I said thank you and I got angry with him because he was stalking me at one stage and I told him to back off.

Yeh, who is the G name? Is there a G like a George or a?

G?

Its the classic guess the name game. All psychics do this, again Harry T is asking the question, he is not making any statements, he is dangling the bait and allowing the fish to bite.

Yeh, who's George, like a G name?

My uncle on my father's side George.

So the man manages to find someone in his family with one of the all time most common and popular male names in George.
In my family I have at least 5 Georges I can think of straight away.

Sorry is that your brother, his brother?

No, my uh, George...

(sorry to interupt but we are running short of time)

Even after the man tells Harry T who the George was, Harry T still has no idea, and has to ask him.

Ok thats ok that was him as soon as you said, I saw the flame so that was a sign from him to let you know he is at peace. He has actually healed a lot. His physical body had a lot of issues....

Now to be fair they get cut off here, but even so Harry T tries to claim this car wreck as some kind of success, repeating back that he saw a flame, and then makes the hilarious comment about the dead persons physical body had a lot of issues, yes Harry T, it had a lot of issues, so many in fact that he died.

And that is the end of that.
I have analysed thousands of readings, so I say with complete confidence, that based on two readings that Harry T himself uses as an example of his mediumship and psychic abilities, it is my opinion that Harry T does not communicate with the dead, he does not hear the voices of the dead, he cannot predict or see the future, and that in my opinion he is performing an act.

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

By Jon Donnis.

REVIEW: Most Haunted Series 20 Episode 9 (The Judges Lodgings Pt 1) to air 17th November 2017

I am curious, has any of the BadPsychics readers ever been to see Barcelona FC play live? You know, sat in the Nou Camp Stadium, and watched Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi play? I have. I saw them play, and it was amazing. About a month later I was back in the UK and I happened upon a couple of free tickets to see Walsall FC play. For those unaware, Barcelona play in the top tier, top league in Catalan, Spain and are possibly the biggest team in the world, and Walsall play in the 3rd tier of the UK leagues. 

Now imagine watching a ghost hunting show whereby nearly everything is good, the filming is excellent, the subject matter taken serious, very few silly gimmicks, and like-able hosts. That is Ghost Chasers, that is Barcelona.

Well now I am watching Most Haunted, and they could only dream of being as good as Walsall FC reserve team.

Anyway for some reason Karl has left his blart sock stuck against the wall, and once you peel it away you see all that congealed blurbage inside and here it is.

"Spook-searching with Yvette and co! The team head to Presteigne in Wales and the famous Judge's Lodgings where they are put through their paces by an unseen spirit."

This disclaimer has taken a lot of flack over the years, for it is an admittance that what you are about to see is not real, it is scripted reality show, a spoof, a parody, however you like to interpret it. But I do not think Most Haunted should have to display this. Yes it is scripted, it is a spoof, a parody, but to claim it is "entertainment" that I just cant accept.

I think it should be changed to
"This programme is for viewing purposes only"
That would be much more accurate.

Anyway I have taken two Tramadol tablets, I've drank half a bottle of Jack Daniels, and I should just about be capable of getting through this review.

Yvette starts off by introducing us to the location and priming the noobs watching of what to expect, also Arsene Wenger is well pissed off that Yvette has copied his look.

No sign of Watson again which is a huge disappointment.

I think Yvette must've had an accident as she has hung her pants up to dry.

To be fair to the place, the Judges Lodgings does look pretty cool, and definitely spooky, of course not at all haunted, but still a fun looking location.

"As soon as we stopped filming objects seemed to be thrown"

Well that makes a change, that or Fred didn't realise the cameras had been turned off.

Do Most Haunted bring their own gimmicks to throw in these old locations, or do they just use what is present? I can't imagine that the owners of such places being happy with MH throwing their property.

With all the crew moving about, there seems to be a lot of noise, and they all start ruining about, therefore creating more noise.

Looking like another typical episode with knocks, taps and stuff being thrown OFF CAMERA.

They keep hearing a noise, and run back to a room where they claim the noise is, but they cant find anything, of interest.

Yvette thinks the noise might be this, and I tend to agree with her, and it is just Karl throwing it as soon as he is not on camera.

Because everything that happened was OFF CAMERA it is all instantly useless as "evidence".

For a moment I was feeling happy as I realised that there is only 1 more episode left in this series after this one, but then I felt sad as I remembered that I had not reviewed the earlier episodes yet. 

This is a very fair representation of me.

Yvette etc are still setting up when....
A fork has been thrown OFF CAMERA.
Now a knife has been thrown OFF CAMERA.
A Pudding mold has been thrown OFF CAMERA.

Yvette turns her back to the room and says "can we do some more" while clearly waiting for someone, sorry I mean a ghost to throw something else. Bizarrely the cameraman films Yvette and not the room which means the wooden spoon that is then thrown is thrown OFF CAMERA.

Yvette says thank you to the ghosts for throwing things.

Worth noting that there is 3 people in the room, and two of them have cameras, yet in this square room, neither of them caught 4 separate items being thrown. I wonder why that would be? (No need to wonder, Karl is throwing the items)

Now a wicker basket has been thrown OFF CAMERA.
Again this was clearly thrown by Karl since he is at the back and he waits for Yvette and the other Cameraman to walk away from him. 

Karl claims to have "caught that" meaning the item moving, but of course when we see his footage, it is after the item has been thrown (by Karl's left hand).

Ok lets put this into context as many believers of MH will claim this is real.
MH is claiming here that 5 separate items have been thrown by the ghosties, not one of them was caught on camera from the moment it was thrown, despite there being two cameramen. Don't you think that if you really wanted to catch evidence of paranormal activity you would try to film as much of the room as possible at the same time and keeping everyone else in frame as to avoid claims of fakery?

To believers of MH ask yourself this, Either Most Haunted after 20 series are still incredibly incompetent at the most basic of filming techniques, or the ghosts somehow only throw stuff OFF CAMERA because they do not really want to prove that they exist but they want stuff to happen?

Think rationally here, and ask yourself what is more likely, that something that is easily faked, is being easily faked, or that MH are just insanely unlucky 100% of the time?

Now for those of us in the know, none of this is a surprise, if you are making a fake ghost hunting show, you need to fake stuff, but do it in such a way that you cant get caught out. But the problem is a lot of people think this show is real, and it is these people I want to get to, and hope that somewhere in their heads they will start to question things.

17 minutes into the episode and Glen makes his first appearance and surprise surprise he has his hands in his pockets.

Yvette explains the early happenings to Glen and he is doing his best not to look to bored.

As soon as Glen's back is turned some more things are thrown OFF CAMERA, and all from the vicinity of Karl.

I will leave this image here without comment, those in the know will understand.

23 minutes in and they still haven't switched to the night filters yet, don't think we have ever gotten this far into an episode without the fake night vision.

They are back in the kitchen and another knife has been thrown OFF CAMERA.

This really is getting ridiculous now. Just purely by luck if any of this was real one would get caught on camera.

Even Glen is saying how they are not getting anything on camera.

As they leave the kitchen, Karl is last out and surprise surprise another fork is thrown OFF CAMERA.

Surely even the most noobiest of noobs watching can't be believing this is real. It is so obviously Karl every day.

Glen has set up his EVP experiment using different types of technology.
Quick reminder that all of these experiments are instantly evidentially worthless and a complete waste of time.

Hilariously Yvette then talks about not liking the spirit box, and has a little rant about them, which is clearly a shot at the Ghost Adventures show.
God help her if she ever sees the Echovox app that Ghost Chasers use.

"EVP does work, it has been proven" - Yvette Fielding

Yes she really does say that.
A bit like a toddler saying "The tooth fairy is real, it's been proven cause there was a 50p under my pillow and my tooth had gone"

The same level of evidence.

They have now set up the locked off cameras, which really would have been useful earlier in the episode, but of course we know the real reason why they weren't set up then. (Note: This is the ONLY shot from this cameras, about 2 seconds, they are not mentioned again in this episode)

It also occurred to me why they wasted so much time doing the early stuff OFF CAMERA, this is a two part episode, so that is 90 minutes they need to fill, so the first half hour of that has been the pre-investigation fannying about.

The fake night vision filters have now been put on, and funnily enough they give the game away when they show some highlights from earlier that were filmed in colour, but are now mysteriously in "night vision".

Fred is looking suspicious as he moves in front of the camera, and then suddenly a wooden spoon is dropped in front of him. And in the replay if you look really carefully it looks like it comes from within Fred's coat.

You know that look you have when you have just had a quicky and your hair is a bit ruffled but you are trying to pretend nothing happened........?

No Stuart again this week, maybe he has buggered off with Watson.

Back with Karl and Fred, and there is a noise, it is a rolling pin, it has been thrown............. OFF CAMERA.

Lots of shots of Glen and Yvette at Glen's computer.

I am surprised it even works with the sheer amount of porn he has on there, and some pretty weird stuff too. A lot of parody porn. I recall seeing one video labelled "A Very Blue Peter"

Not sure what that could have been about.

You can tell they are trying to stretch things out as we then get a 30 second shot of Glen's computer playing back an audio file of background noise, that shows nothing.

Worth noting that the "night vision" effect they use is added in post production, as opposed to an actual filter used on the cameras at the time.

If you remember the classic Mary Loves Dick scene from MHL many many years ago, you can see that they are using the same fakery techniques from then that they are using now, to convince the viewer that a scene is darker than it really is.

There is a lot of time wasting in this episode with Yvette and Glen at the computer, a lot of filler.

Then there is a big noise, Yvette is panicked, and they cut the shot to leave us on a cliff hanger.

Another truly terrible episode, nothing of note happened, usual knocks and things thrown OFF CAMERA. Zero evidence of the paranormal, a lot of time wasting.

I cant give this episode more than a 0/10
Tedious and boring to watch.

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By Jon Donnis

Could a psychic break the bank at Monte Carlo?

In a word: “no”. And over the next few paranormal paragraphs we’ll be telling you precisely why.

Of course, the evidence is there for all to see from the outset. If these masters and mistresses of supernatural powers really were able to see into the future, and even have an influence over events, they would probably all be living in multi-million pound mansions and featuring prominently in the Paradise Papers as the lid’s blown off their offshore investment strategies.

Just imagine if you or I had the ability to predict the next number to come up on a roulette wheel or the next sequence of cards in a game of blackjack. Wouldn’t it be hard not to exploit this power for considerable personal gain?

Of course, if you were to challenge the average psychic and asked them if they’re quite so good then why aren’t they joining the high rollers in Las Vegas or Monte Carlo they’d probably come up with the stock answer that they can “only use their powers for good”. Some might even claim that these same powers would be lost if they started to use them for personal gain – a clearly unsustainable argument given that very few psychics will offer any of their services for free.

Random results that speak for themselves

Roulette, the ultimate game of chance

But the real truth of the matter is that anyone with a claim to psychic powers knows that any attempt to prove them in a casino environment is futile. All they’ll be able to demonstrate is their complete inability to either predict or influence the outcome of any casino game.

That’s because the action is genuinely random, whether you’re playing in a real casino or online, and no one can possibly have any knowledge of what’s going to happen next. Yes, people have studied odds theory to help them at least have an idea about probabilities and in blackjack there’s something called the basic strategy that can guide a player about whether it’s better to take an extra card in certain situations. And yes, there’s counting cards, and knowing which way a roulette table leans and therefore how likely certain numbers are to come up – but these are still a long way from using psychic powers to win.

Besides, it’s this anticipation of the unknown that gives casino play that essential frisson of excitement that draws in the gamblers time after time. Psychics everywhere struggle to beat online casinos; they are often seen as tougher to read due to the intangible nature of them. Online casinos leave the players unaware of the physical location of the casino and the games use sophisticated computer software. For example, visiting the live casino section of 888casino might be suited to psychics more, they can read the body language of the dealers and attempt to beat the various games through their ‘talent’, the live games are very similar to visiting a land-based casino, leaving psychics with the opportunity to put their skills to use and try to win some money on the impressive live roulette and the other exciting live casino games.

Even when it’s played online rather than in a land-based casino, a great deal of the appeal is seeing that little white ball slowly circling the wheel until it drops into a number and the lucky winners start to celebrate. There’s no way on earth that any psychic could have a vision of just where that ball will land or who will walk away a winner.

Shaken, not stirred

Sean Connery as Bond

That’s not to say that strange phenomena don’t sometimes occur at the roulette table and one such incident features someone who would go on to be forever associated with playing for high stakes in the world’s most famous casinos – the ultimate James Bond, Sean Connery.

In 1963, when Connery was still a young and relatively unknown actor he was playing at the Casino de la Vallée in St. Vincent, Italy. He placed a bet on the number 17 . . . and lost. He held his nerve and made the same bet on the next spin, still nothing. But he persisted and with the next play it did come in – winning him 35 times his stake. But he didn’t cash it in, he kept all of his winnings on 17 and it came up again, and again the next spin too. As a result he found himself over 17 million lire richer (that’s about £160,000 in today’s money) having beaten odds of 1:50653 to do it.

Was there any psychic energy in the room that night guiding his counter-intuitive actions? No one will ever know for sure – but it’s pretty unlikely!.

High profile no-shows

Uri Geller fails to bend spoons on the Johnny Carson Show:

Getting back to the subject of self-proclaimed ‘psychics’, the very fact that none have tried to stage a major event in a casino to prove their powers is also surely evidence enough that they could have no influence over any casino games.

Let’s take the examples of two of the highest profile self-proclaimed psychics of the last few decades, Uri Geller and James Hydrick. Both had reputations forged by making many TV appearances over the 1970s and 80s – and both tasted the bitter disappointments of being proven as frauds.

If ever there was as performer likely to try his skills in a casino it would have been Geller but, perhaps sensing certain failure, he concentrated on bending spoons instead – until presented with cutlery he hadn’t had a chance to weaken first on the Johnny Carson show. It was a disaster as the spoons remained unbent – and his career took a nosedive.

Hydrick’s schtick was being able to supposedly move objects by thought power alone – possibly very handy when it came to directing a roulette ball to the desired number. But the famous skeptic James Randi managed to prove that Hydrick was, in fact, just blowing on objects to give the impression of telekinesis – thus blowing his cover, too.

James Randi exposes James Hydrick:

Just an illusion?

Famous illusionist, Derren Brown

More recently, illusionists Derren Brown and David Blaine have pulled off tricks purporting to predict lottery numbers but, while no one can be 100% sure exactly how they’ve managed it, many theories abound about the level of trickery involved, with no one suggesting that a psychic influence had come into play.

All this has to be good news for the rest of us “mere mortals” who want to go to the casino confident that we have just as much chance of winning as the next person. We can also be sure that there are no dark forces at work as the industry is one of the most closely regulated there is.

So if anyone approaches you with a tale about how their mystical powers can unlock great fortunes for you at blackjack or roulette, poker or craps – just let them down gently and send them on their way!

Summary

Psychics claim to be able to predict events and even influence them, but could this really work in a casino? Probably not, as all of the outcomes of games like roulette and blackjack are completely unpredictable and impossible to influence. Strange things have happened, like when 17 came up three times in a row for Sean Connery when playing roulette. But the fact that even the highest profile psychics have never won or tried to take on a casino is fairly conclusive proof that it’s not possible.

REVIEW: Ghost Chasers Episode 2 (Hastings)

Despite me claiming that I wouldn't review any more episodes of Ghost Chasers I am back with my review for episode 2, and the reasons why I am back will become apparent soon enough. So before we get going, I popped to see some of the girls who work in the BadPsychics offices, and waited for them to leave the room, I then riffled through their draws, as I usually do, and I found a suspiciously looking back massager, that had a crude drawing of Kay Nambier on it, no idea what that is all about, and why would a back massager smell all fishy, anyway I delved deeper and found some sticky blurbage, and here it is...

"Supernatural scares with Kay Nambier. The team investigates paranormal activity in Hastings, where they attempt a midnight seance at a large abandoned seafront hotel."

So this cocky no hat Raggy Doll bloke called Paul Hobday reads my review of episode 1 of his show Ghost Chasers, and he has the nerve to tweet about me!

Did I say those words about the show in my episode 1 review? I can neither confirm or deny that, but one thing I will say is that I hate it when people think I am praising them, so I am back to rip this show to shreds, I will leave the lot of them lying in a pool of their own viscera by the time I have finished with them.

And with that the episode has now begun, and we are reminded that "This programme is for entertainment purposes only", I think I will be the judge of that.

Housewife's favourite Kay Nambier starts off with his creepy sounding voice over. 

He is clearly loving the British weather.

Kay goes off to find Ian, Chris and Paul, and we then witness one of the greatest moments in the history of paranormal TV when Paul and Chris do the handshake/hug with Kay. A very American style move, made to look incredibly awkward. Ian however is smart, he has experience, he knows what he is doing, so he goes for a full on man hug thus saving awkwardness.

Truly is a wonderful moment.

Also nice to notice that everyone has kept in character coming from the previous episode, that being 

Chris = Raggy Doll Hat / AKA. Raggy Hat

Paul = Raggy Doll No Hat / AKA. Raggy No Hat

Ian = 1950's Sherlock Holmes Character
Kay = Annoying attractive all round decent bloke. 

It is chucking it down with rain and Paul refuses to break character and put his hood up.

We are told briefly about Aleister Crowley, an English occultist who died in Hastings, so guessing he might make an appearance later on.

Ian Lawman is still trying to claim he has had these magic powers since he was a child. I literally interviewed him about a decade or so ago, and all he claimed then was he was a "sensitive" yet now he is seeing all sorts. Come on Ian, at least keep your story consistent, that is all we ask.

Quick interview with Joel Griggs from The True Crime Museum, Joel comes across quite well which is rare when these types of shows bring on someone to interview.

He "sells" the Museum quite well, which is his job, and if I went to Hastings I would probably quite like to visit this place.

Ian Lawman is claiming to feel all manner of nonsense, which I will ignore.

Chris then has an EMF meter and seems interested that it goes up when he holds it up to some light thingy, erm, that is what is causing it.

And then that stupid skeptic Paul goes and ruins everything by explaining the science behind how high electromagnetic fields can affect people, make them feel paranoid, uncomfortable etc, and says that to Ian to explain why he has been feeling a tad dodgy. Ian then counters by saying that he believes the ghosties use the EMF as a way to communicate and make themselves felt by the living.

Stupid Paul with his no hat on. Skepticism this, skepticism that, blah blah blah, shut ya face. 

I might have to start cheering on Ian at this rate, at least he talks proper bollocks that we can all get behind, and then moan at because he is talking bollocks.

Stupid Raggy Doll Paul just talks sense, and lets be honest, that is ruining it for everyone!

So far there has been a distinct lack of banter from Chris which is incredibly disappointed. I have heard from my Ghost Chasers Mole that Chris has earned some of the following nicknames over the years.

Chris "The Bantster" Howley

The King of Bants

The Bant Snatcher
The Banteater
The Flying Bantelope
The Archbishop of Banterbury

The investigation proper has now started, and still no dodgy green filters or faked night vision, they are just filming with the ambient light present. Such an amazing idea.

Ian Lawman starts talking about a girl called Lucinda who is with him in spirit but was never found.

Ian starts to call out to Lucinda asking her for a sign, a noise, a visualisation, something. They hear some steps. And go to investigate. I happen to know what caused the noise, so just waiting to see what they claim caused it.

And yes they admit that it is one of the displays in the museum. Now they claim that all displays were turned off before they started. Ian asks Lucinda to now turn the display off, and after a few moments it does stop.

So my explanation for this is simple, the display was never turned off, and I assume it is activated either by a movement sensor or a timer. Either would explain why it came on. A spider for example could have crossed the sensor and that would set it off, or the timer simply activated it.

So although this scene is interesting, there is nothing here that would suggest paranormal activity. And to be fair to the Raggy Dolls, only Ian is really claiming any such thing, the others although interested are not claiming this as definitive proof of anything, so well done guys.

Kay is now feeling a bit heavy, but this could all be psychological.

Kay starts talking to the ghosts while Paul films it using his iPad and a thermal imaging attachment. I will admit that while I hate the use of EMF meters, I don't mind the use of the thermo cam attachment. It's simple, it is a good gimmick for the viewer at home to understand and see.

It might just be me, but I swear I can make out a ghost with some kind of mask on holding a woman's leg with a red shoe on stood right in front of Kay and Ian here.

Ian is "seeing" hooded ghosts now, but no one else can see them, and the thermo cam is not seeing anything either. So either Ian is lying, or we just proved that the Thermo cam is useless at detecting ghosts?

Ian is now claiming he can see Aleister Crowley, which we did expect would appear, just not on camera of course.

They leave the area and head back to this skull. Not at all creepy!

Suddenly Chris' phone starts talking, looking for a wifi connection. But surely everyone's phone was turned off, Chris confirms his phone was turned off.

So either he has accidentally pressed the power button on his phone, or the ghost of a rapist and triple murderer who was executed 100 years ago, has developed the ability and knowledge of how to turn an iPhone on. Hmmmm.

Worth noting that I am just 19 minutes in to a 45 minute episode, and a fair bit has happened, the episode has held by concentration and interest, which is incredibly rare for any kind of show in this genre.

The Raggy Dolls have now moved to the Palace Court Hotel, where Aleister Crowley apparently had stayed.

Joel Griggs starts telling us some stories of people who have died in the hotel. Stories which do seem to match what Ian is telling us. That would suggest that Ian has researched this location and already knows some stories. 

In the world of the smartphone, he could just go to the toilet, use google on his phone to find out about the location, and get enough info that he could blag the rest. Unlike the old days of Most Haunted with Derek Acorah, things today are so much easier to research, which makes the input of psychics almost pointless in investigating such places, as there is no realistic way to control things to make cheating or researching impossible. 

Every time I hear the name Crowley in this episode all I can think of is this Ozzy Osbourne song, and now it is stuck in my head, so why should I suffer alone?

They are now in the cellars of the hotel, and Ian is hearing some kind of ritual kind or chant. 

I genuinely thought Chris was holding a banana here for a moment, which to be fair is as much us as an EMF meter in a paranormal investigation.

They find a door that has been nailed shut, from the other side, and it is the other side of that door that Ian is sensing the most activity.

So Chris decides to kick down the door, which is criminal damage surely?

We now get to see "Kung Fu Chris" (Another nickname he has) do his best to kick the doors down. But he cant get it done, so they have a break, and Kay gets to do some more voice overs. It is now the middle of the night, and they are in an abandoned part of the hotel, and because Kay cant stop coughing he gets to put a mask on.

You would think the housewives would be pissed off that he is covering his face, but I hear they thought it was even more kinky.

They head up to Room 308, and Ian is trying to contact the dead, and help a woman cross to the other side. 

The lack of green filters and fake night vision really does make this show stand out, and if anything makes it more creepy to watch.

They hear some noises and go investigate, and they then found a second Room 308! That is spooky.

They decide to split up with two people in each Room 308.

They do quite well here to build up a sense of tension.

Kay claims to have seen something, but it is most likely just a shadow, but when they try to replicate the movements, he doesn't see anything.

Kay does come across as very honest and I have no reason to not believe him, however his experience could definitely be put down to nerves, fear, and so on.

They head down to a small room which has a walk in safe inside. Kay seems genuinely very scared, and I do wonder if the other 3 see him as a soft touch at times, after all he has not to my knowledge done these types of investigations before, he is a singer and a model.

Chris and Kay are gonna be closed inside the safe with Paul and Ian outside.

Chris loads that random word generator Echo Vox thingy on his phone.
Worth noting here it is not really a random word generator, it records what people present say, and then replays that back in a random order. So if you are talking about ghosts, naming people who have died etc, that is all going into the app.

Love or hate this show, the shot above has to be one of the all time great shots in the history of this type of show. That really is a masterful shot, I am sure unintentional due to the space constraints of being in this safe, but damn that is a good shot, even if the app kinda looks a bit like KITT from Knightrider. A quarter of Kay's disembodied head in the top right is a genius shot, so well done guys.

Kay says to the app. "My name is Kay can you please repeat that" then the app does indeed say "Kay". But like I said previously, the way this app works is by recording you and then playing back what you have said in a random manner. So purely by chance if you play with it long enough and ask enough questions that include the answer in the question you are asking, you are going to get some kind of interesting response, this is not the ghosts though, this is just the way the app has been written to work.

Then the inevitable happens, they cant open the safe door to get them out, so we now get a great little scene of panic, people kicking the door and so on. All very funny and I am sure exaggerated for effect. For the record they are not claiming this was paranormal, so I really don't mind things like this, its all good fun and entertaining to watch, but Paul, dude, you cant smirk when doing those things, it gives the game away.

After they have escaped they head off to a room, draw a giant hexagram on the floor, put down candles, tarot cards and basically made it as spooky looking as hell.

Like seriously dudes, this is some great looking spooky shit here!
Where as I could not imagine anything worse than going on an investigation with the Most Haunted Muppets, I think I would actually quite enjoy going on an investigation with the Ghost Chaser Raggy Dolls. Although clearly if I did, I would have to accept my role as Sad Sack.

Ian is now pretending to be annoyed that the guys have made this Hexagram, as it will draw in the most evil of spirits and energy etc. Ian reiterates that this is very serious and dangerous, and that by having a seance to try and bring forth the spirit of Crowley, that it is really risky. Ian even mentions Lucifer.

The three of them are stood in the Hexagram. Ian is spouting his spiritual nonsense. But nothing happens there, so they head off back to the Hotel's cellars and straight to the locked door that Chris couldn't kick open earlier.

Look at this for camera work, come on, this is another great shot.
However this shot does expose one thing, right in front of us is Ian and Kay, and in the far background you can see Chris and Paul, so who the hell is holding the camera! Holy shit is can only be the spirit of Aleister Crowley.

Ian is claiming he can see a mist between them and the others, Ian then claims that when you see mist it is the early stages of spirit manifestation. So next time you are driving along and there is a low laying mist in the air, know that you are really driving through thousands of ghosties!

Kay thinks that something has touched his hand, and with that we close down the episode, Kay goes over the main happenings of the episode and credits then roll.

This was a good episode, really good, at no point did I feel bored.

The gulf between Most Haunted and Ghost Chasers is huge when it comes down to the level of intelligence of those taking part, the camera work, the build of tension and so on.

Kay is great as the figurehead of the show, someone who is inexperienced, so very much is the person that the casual viewer can relate to, especially me, as I also have thick black hair and am incredibly good looking. Watching Kay is like looking in a mirror.

You have Paul who is the annoying skeptic, who is doing his best to ruin me as a skeptical analyst on such programs, and then you have The King of Kung Fu. The Bant, in Bant & Dec. The Archbishop of Banterbury, The Bantersaurus Rex, in Chris Howley, a man who has never been seen in public without his hat on.

And you have Ian. The resident psychic, and as much as I know he is not psychic, he does not talk to the dead, he has no magic powers, despite all of that, he does have a place in a show like this. He helps create the atmosphere when he starts talking about ghosts, and seeing apparitions and so on. And I would much rather have a psychic fannying about in the dark in an old building, than pretending to talk to your dead mother and then asking for money for the pleasure. So yeah even Ian has his place on this show.

So where does that leave me. Another episode gone, nothing that I really needed to expose, other than the Echo Vox nonsense. There was no camera trickery, no dodgy edits, no throwing of stones, hell I don't believe I even had to capitalise the words "OFF CAMERA" once in the whole show. 

The only mystery that remains is, who is the 5th member of the crew?

Paul, Chris and Kay are good people. Ian is an evil grief vulture of a psychic, but well he already knows that, and I am sure away from the nonsense he is a nice bloke too.

Ghost Chasers is such a welcome change in the world of Paranormal TV investigations. And yes they will set up a couple of funny moments, or exaggerate something here and there, but it is never done in a way to con the viewer, only to entertain them, so I don't mind that.

Where as Most Haunted is such a struggle to review, so much of an effort, a show I only watch because I do the review. Ghost Chasers is a show I would watch regardless of doing a review, I would just watch it because it is a damn good show.

So if you have not seen it yet, give it a watch, I will watch it again, and if they try any funny business, I will rip them to shreds, but two episodes in and I am left like a child without his toy. I hate being nice about these things, it is killing my gimmick.

Episode 2 I will give a strong 9/10

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By Jon Donnis