Ever host a seance dinner party?

[JPK]

Good afternoon everyone.
I recently moved into an old house. A friend of mine who has some rather interesting beliefs suggested that I hold a seance. Instead of poo-pooing the idea, I decided it might work better to host a party openly stating that I would be using traditional fraudulant methods. Perhaps this way he will see how people can get caught up in the act.
I'm looking for any suggestions from anyone who may have done a seance like this before. I have several DVD's (Darren Brown's, Dixie Doolie's) and many books.
Any idea's?

JPK

[Cain]

Pssssht- after the demonstration you should tell them that it is a hoax. Really play it up. Sure, some people may believe they encountered real ghosts/spirits and will not listen to your assurances that it was fake, but at least you managed to fry their brains.

[JPK]

Good morning Cain.

Quote:

Originally posted by Cain
Pssssht- after the demonstration you should tell them that it is a hoax. Really play it up. Sure, some people may believe they encountered real ghosts/spirits and will not listen to your assurances that it was fake, but at least you managed to fry their brains.

Agreed. Everyone will be told it's trickery. That the evning is for entertainment and educational purposes. In fact after looking into several differant seances it seems the best way is to do it very light hearted and comedic. If you make it spooky, you run the risk of having something out of the blue happen that someone will take for a real encounter with the spirit world. For example, one of my friends just recently lost her pet dog. You can't talk about dogs without her getting weepy-eyed. The last thing I would need is to have a dog bark outside while trying to contact a spirt. I will need to control the whole show and steer very clear of anything even remotely close to a personal encounter with the afterlife.

JPK

[magicflute]

Hi! I have not posted in the forums in months, so most of my old posts are gone. I did do lots of seances in the old days. Let me tell you my opinion and what I've learned. Use your performance as a learning experience for your audience, while at the same time entertaining them. You will get a few convert along the way who were fence-sitting. This is YOUR reward. The 'believers' will ALWAYS believe no matter what you show them, but who knows; you might plant the seed of doubt somewhere.
Being a hispanic and a Cuban in particular, many of my people are victims of witchdoctor cults.
I used to do the seances to show friends and family how the Santeria and Palo Mayombe priests where fooling them. First I would perform in all seriousness, then I asked them what they had seen. People would come up with the most unbelievable retelling of the events. Made you wonder if they were there at all! Then I would proceed to show them how they were fooled, and why they could not trust their own eyes and most of all, why they cannot accept someones retelling of an experience as proof of anything. Now a days if you can tape your performance, you can use the replay to show how what they remember seeing is not what actually happened.
If you want to take this approach I can offer a couple of suggestions that will bring the point home.

[JPK]

Good evening magicflute.

Thanks for all of the advice. This will be my first attempt at a séance. My friends already know that I have been a very amateur conjurer since I was pretty young. Doing a séance however is quite different. In recent years I have had a growing interest in mentalism. I have spent a good deal of time and money investing in books/dvds/ practice, practice, practice. Mimicking psychics and cold readers is one thing but I believe a séance really needs the right mood and setting to pull off. This is a hard thing to do when you really have no intention of taking peoples money. My intention is to make this a learning experience. Simply, to show that through trickery, the same effects can be demonstrated as those preformed by “real” mediums. I have no expectaions that the believers will instantly be converted. But I do hope, as you say, it will plant some seeds of doubt. My real concern is to not help cement beliefs in this flummery. Darren Brown did a very nice séance with some good effects. The problem with that show was that even though DB did state several times that he was using trickery, it was lost on the participants. He hand picked believers to begin with. I will have a mixed audience of skeptics and believers. My ultimate goal is for an entertaining evening.
The suggestion of taping it is great. Not only does it allow people to see what really happened as opposed to what they think they remember happened but it would be good for me to study and improve my shtick.
For this first one I intend to keep it very light hearted. I do not want to run the risk of spooking anyone any more then say going on a roller coaster. Yes it’s scary, but you know it’s safe. That’s the game I’m looking for.
I do intent to use a Ouija board. It’s been my past experience that they just work. Once again DB did a good job using some trickery to set up the use of a ouija board. A very nice effect. I can use that to steer my audience to the type of results I want from the ouija board. Have you used them before? If so what do you think? The one DB used was simply a board with cards with letters on them spread out in a circle. They used an upside down wine glass as a pointer. Any idea if this works as well as a good old, bought from toy-r-us ouija board does? It certainly looks cooler and perhaps this would add to the mood. I do not know. This is something hard to practice unless I start inviting people over to play with it first. I intend to use a spirit cabinet, I can do the escapes necessary, and I am getting pretty good with I T. Once again, practice, practice, practice.

The neighborhood I live in just reeks of history. There is a historical graveyard just a few hundred feet away, my house is over 150 years old, and this town has several houses that have a reputation of being haunted. I posted in another thread that the Learning Channel is going to be doing a reality show about a local psychic that has been investigating haunted houses in the area. Once again, good background story for my séance.
I am prepared to spend a month or two to do the set up for this. I will not be using any assistants. If anyone has any suggestions as to books or dvds I should check out please just let me know.

Thanks.
JPK

[dharlow]

Quote:

Originally posted by JPK
I am prepared to spend a month or two to do the set up for this. I will not be using any assistants. If anyone has any suggestions as to books or dvds I should check out please just let me know.

Thanks.
JPK

You might want to pick up a copy of Eugene Burger's "Spirit Theater", although it's rather rare and desirable, hence expensive. A DVD by Burger (Spirit Magic) is much more affordable, but I haven't seen it...still, that might be worth looking at as well.

[JPK]

Good evening dharlow.

Quote:

Originally posted by dharlow
You might want to pick up a copy of Eugene Burger's "Spirit Theater", although it's rather rare and desirable, hence expensive. A DVD by Burger (Spirit Magic) is much more affordable, but I haven't seen it...still, that might be worth looking at as well.

Thanks for the advice. I will try to locate one right now.
JPK

[JPK]

Good morning dharlow.

Quote:

Originally posted by dharlow
You might want to pick up a copy of Eugene Burger's "Spirit Theater", although it's rather rare and desirable, hence expensive. A DVD by Burger (Spirit Magic) is much more affordable, but I haven't seen it...still, that might be worth looking at as well.

You were not kidding about Spirit Theater being rather rare. I've been searching and so far no luck.
In this weeks commentary, Randi mentions that Todd Robbins will doing a show called "Dark Deceptions: The SĂ©ance Experience" in New York City next week. I already got my tickets and hopefully will pick up some good ideas from the show. On Todd Robbins site he also mentions Spirit Theater. I did order a DVD by Eugene Burger, Spirit Magic. that should be coming soon.
Once again, thanks for the advice.

JPK

[Azrael 5]

Spirit Theater is very good and very rare.I have one I manage to get on ebay.Buit if you want awebsite with spooky effects go Here
I have the DVD also,but haven't watched it yet.Good luck.

[JPK]

Good morning Azrael 5.

Quote:

Originally posted by Azrael 5
Spirit Theater is very good and very rare.I have one I manage to get on ebay.

I managed to pick up a copy on EBay last night. I also ordered that DVD. This Thursday night I will be going to see Dark Deceptions, the show that was plugged in last weeks comentary. Should be fun.
JPK

[richardm]

Quote:

Originally posted by JPK
The one DB used was simply a board with cards with letters on them spread out in a circle. They used an upside down wine glass as a pointer. Any idea if this works as well as a good old, bought from toy-r-us ouija board does?

A glass and cards is the traditional way to do it in my experience. It was news to me that you could actually buy ready-made ones! I don't know what the commercial toy-grade ones look like but I'd be surprised if they look any good, really. You can get a more impressive effect yourself, I'm certain.

Incidentally, given that the USA seems to be full of raving religious fundamentalists, how come you're allowed to buy ouija boards in toy shops? At a time when people are trying to organise Harry Potter boycotts it seems like an odd omission!

[JPK]

Good evening richardm

Quote:

Originally posted by richardm
A glass and cards is the traditional way to do it in my experience. It was news to me that you could actually buy ready-made ones! I don't know what the commercial toy-grade ones look like but I'd be surprised if they look any good, really. You can get a more impressive effect yourself, I'm certain.

Incidentally, given that the USA seems to be full of raving religious fundamentalists, how come you're allowed to buy ouija boards in toy shops? At a time when people are trying to organise Harry Potter boycotts it seems like an odd omission!

I'm leaning towards the cards and glass myself. It seems to me that the best way to get the effect to work is to make sure it is simple and easily seen in a darkened room.
As far as trying to explain what religious fundamentalists are going to decide is kosher or not, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe they just know that the ones sold in toy stores are not really gateways to the afterlife like the "real" ouija boards that are used by "actual mediums".
JPK

[magicflute]

Most of the tricks I performed where the ones used by the 'curanderos' and 'babalawos', readings, fortune telling, comunication with the dead, mind reading, etc, so I never did use a OUIJA board. If you do some research on gypsy scams and tricks, it can be a good source of material and at the same time educational. Like the 'hair in the egg' which can be great when performed well.
Good luck!

... and post some clips of the performance!

[JPK]

Good morning magicflute.

Quote:

Originally posted by magicflute
Most of the tricks I performed where the ones used by the 'curanderos' and 'babalawos', readings, fortune telling, comunication with the dead, mind reading, etc, so I never did use a OUIJA board. If you do some research on gypsy scams and tricks, it can be a good source of material and at the same time educational. Like the 'hair in the egg' which can be great when performed well.
Good luck!

... and post some clips of the performance!

Thanks for the advice. The ouija board will only be a small part of what I am planning. I really liked the way Darren Brown used it in the seance he did.
I was fortunate enough to attend the Dark Deceptions show by Todd Robbins the other night. It was mentioned a few weeks ago in the weekly commentary of www.randi.org. The show was very well done. He did a very good job of getting the audience all into the spirit of the evening. He played the role of a spiritualist minister. He had the audience singing hymns and did plenty of group interaction.
Once again thank you all for tyhe advice you have offered.
On a side note, is it ok to ask for advice on metalism clipboards in this thread? I'm looking for something for pre-show work. It will be used for written info like names and stuff.
JPK