Fantastic mindgames (performance) | Harry Lucas | TEDxVienna

[@dyn1954]

The entire time I was just waiting for him to say that he isn't actually a mind reader

[@ArtystaWojciechGlanc]

Come on... why should he reveal secrets?

[@derekgold7011]

because people only watch TED to learn

[@Ze-Germanzuk]

Dylan Udell I was waiting for the chick to explode

[@habdochkeineahnung]

me too. i was waiting for "AND THIS IS HOW ITS SCAM:..."

[@ubalaji]

It's all very very clearly scripted and directed and this one show had pull down all my good respect towards TED shows.....after all we are here to learn stuffs and we don't need TED for entertainment.....there is Netflix & KZbin for that......GROW UP TED

[@SpecialHandlingUnit]

This is like when the history channel puts on an ancient aliens documentary.

[@mikefort3039]

Good performance and for the people who say it's a waste of time, just appreciate what you can use if you're ever delivering a talk. It's a trick, just delivered very confidently. If you stand up and talk as confidently about what you believe in, you might have people believing in you and watching your videos until the end; as you did.

[@CacctusChan]

It's pretty obvious what he's doing. He makes very general statements that could apply to pretty much everyone, and slowly narrows down the possibilities by gauging the person's reaction to what he's saying. An example is when he was guessing the first woman's birthday -- he just listed days in order so that she knew when hers would turn up and she reacted in a very small way. These are the kinds of tricks that psychics use to make you think they know more than they actually do. Admittedly, this guy does a good job.

[@MaxioosDose]

what about the one when he drew " Bali " ? how could he get something like this out of a reaction ?

[@yegoallan2117]

He was looking down when guessing the dates.

[@targetabc]

thats possible. much more likely he checked the facebook profile of the people coming to his event, looking for someone posting their birth date, recognize them in the audience and simply tell them with some show

[@rstar3794]

spoiler alert, he picked the "random" people

[@Altearithe]

Yeah it's pretty much "cold reading". There are videos on here where James Randi explains what it is and how it's done.

[@formfromdeform2060]

I would say it`s more or less gathering public information from social networks.

[@GoldenHay1]

probably

[@jolllyroger1]

Form From Deform is nothing more than having your Confederates meeting people as they wait in line and come in the door..... And having an ear piece just makes it easier cuz then you don't have to remember anything..... It's really quite simple just as I know being a hypnotist that I can place thoughts into progress heads as well as extract information from talking to you briefly.... But that is not what this guy did he merely said 4 or 5 things that were collected from those coming in

[@huzkaduzka]

Form From Deform Not really... I've been to one of his shows and he took me up on stage as the first one and he asked me just to hold a paper on which he had previously written if I would take option 1 or 2. I just had to say one or two five times (not in any particular context, just which option I would like to take for this round) and he predicted every single answer I've given him on the sheet of paper he previously gave me. Nothing to do with social networks.

[@ellislyon4804]

jolllyroger1 yea I'm sure your a sham!

[@ElectroMonkE]

Nope, it's just a cold reading technique. Using barnum statement and gauging some details through people reaction to his vague statements. Mentalists exist since waaaaaaaaaaaaay before the social media era...

[@djproductions6717]

This is cold reading and it's far from the best I've seen. "Cold reading: Is a set of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, mediums and illusionists (readers) to imply that the reader knows much more about the person than the reader actually does."

[@BillyBob-vh8sw]

Kieran Knight No its not! Theres no cold reading at all, its just browsing social media.

[@a.b.4052]

@@BillyBob-vh8sw Wrong, there is no social media browsing whatsoever. This is a Q&A act from the turn of the century and computers didnt exist when the methods were created.

[@matthewstacey8344]

THIS DWEEB BLOWS!

[@dyllock105]

I wonder how many of those people checked in at that talk on their facebook and all he had to do was go to their profile and memorise some simple details?

[@lorreba]

dyllock105 or logged into the venues WiFi...or bought their ticket online

[@MrBenFett]

For everyone who wants to know, the most probable answer is facebook say he checked everyone who was tagging this event or doing the fb "i am coming" then hed check everyone who has information that fits into one "frame" and make them predictable in one case someone had their phone number linked and publicly viewable or even added friends on a fake account on likely pretenses once he had picked his targets its a matter of intrinsic preperation, tying all this info into one act is really hard. after that and personally thats the most impressive he remembered all of that. I do not believe he got that info via his headpiece though most charlatans tend to do that for stage performances. if you believe im wrong, hit me up and start a discussion.

[@justanotherguy6345]

Harry Lucas: "...or one question about the futu..." me: "What stocks should I invest in to get the most profit?"

[@jeremywhalen8903]

I couldn't get over him saying "does that make sense?", instead of "is that right?"

[@GameNinja13]

I am not a fan of this. I expect real things on Ted, not fake performances.

[@abythomas4585]

True, he's not a mind reader but it's also not a fake performance. Credit has to be given where it's due. He's very skilled in what he does

[@Strict_Metaphysics]

Even if it is not a tutorial there is still a wonderful opportunity to learn. He may be watching for cues and reading body language, and uses general questions and statements.

[@bbbb-mj7hd]

@@Strict_Metaphysics These types of performances, whether they are being in the form of christian preachers, new age healers, entertainment magicians or psychology mind readers have been proven again and again to use trickery. Almost always, they use an assistant that feeds them information in their ear piece, gathering information from something like social media.

[@mbennett7884]

Don't be a doush

[@tooktookgullible]

oh great. we have a legilimens posing as a no-maj on ted now

[@JunaidKhan-zg4lu]

tooktookgullible

[@Steven_Costanza]

tooktookgullible Don't worry , we had a plenty of wizards specialized in Obliviate charm on the stage .

[@Axileoni]

MUGGLE

[@ThéoNortier]

Tedx Talks are much more worth than that...

[@bagdestein]

Shame on you TED! I was waiting for him to explain about cold reading and other ways to scam the audience but no. When you legitimise this you legitimise Lisa Williams and others who make a living exploiting people in grief. These are not ideas worth spreading, these are ideas worth debunking. Now go sit in a corner.

[@Lizod]

he's either getting info from social media, or reading her reactions. Probably the 2nd one since every time he asks a question he's staring at Sarah without blinking and immediately switches his question when she's unsuprised until she is

[@casablancavic]

wow....what a waste of time

[@ZaiidDarkness]

exactly i wasted my TEDx time on this shit lol

[@NICEFINENEWROBOT]

So did I. Fuuuu!

[@hexid5979]

Fantastic

[@kiMMzy]

This is by far the worst TED episode I've ever seen and I've seen well over 100

[@andreasgunthor3823]

thats what you can find out via socialnetworks-gsm signals-picture surge...and so on....smile

[@ellislyon4804]

explain!! gsm signals ?? and picture surge??

[@themagicman6965]

Explaine!!!! ::D

[@BillyBob-vh8sw]

andreas gunthor If these two dont understand the most basic, dont bother explaining, its a waste

[@tigerex777]

4 minutes into this and I have this feeling it is going to be a waste of time already. Onto to the next TED

[@aresalexanderpeverell3152]

Most mentalist are actually generalist. If you can generalize people based on age, appearance and background along with body language, you can effectively mind-map them,

[@greaser3069]

"Head scarf" lmao

[@huzkaduzka]

I really love how all of you are so smart saying "he jus got the infos of social media". I've been to one of his shows and he took me up on stage to predict my answers which I tried to put as randomly so he wouldn't be able to predict them. He still managed to do it. And I didn't post anything on facebook or give anything away about me beforehand.

[@ubalaji]

ibims420 how much did he pay you to write this comment lol ....not everyone out there are stupids....only 33% of them are

[@youvegot]

"Stupids"

[@yegoallan2117]

Ye of little faith, that's what I'd say to them.. They can't believe this but they'll believe that yoga will enlighten them.

[@salty_norway]

He probably did his research in the hall, having some companions collecting information about people while they were entering the building.

[@fazlee712]

haha leaving out 2 digits in a phone number is almost giving it entirely away anyway; so mean to pressure the lady into giving out her number in any case

[@victante]

leaving out 2 digits means you have 100 options to try... It's definitely not giving it away.

[@ShubhThakkar]

Victor Coutinho Believe me, there are some people for whom 100 is a small number..

[@tonygreen3125]

Does anybody know the name of that song

[@zenzombie72]

I think he does it with his enormous forehead.

[@tomtwo8412]

Why hasn't he claimed the 1 million dollar reward from james randi yet?

[@davidlammas3629]

I knew you were going to ask that 😸

[@ihartcrackers]

My birthday is June 19 I was so hyped then sad

[@gabbylister2989]

Frasier Osland SAME

[@shadiester]

In response to the starting question, I would ask: may you please tell me something negative about my future that the knowledge of which would allow me to change it for the better.

[@JLydecka]

Its obvious. He has an earphone, and someone on the other end is in communication with him and has the peoples seats and details on the other end. Then with social media you can find certain things about her. Easy. If that's not it then you could achieve the same thing that way.

[@ElectroMonkE]

Don't call something obvious when you are far from the real answer... The only reason he has an earpiece is for his microphone. This kind of cold reading is really easy to do with a bit of practice. You're someone that can appear disciplined and controlled on the outside, even though I feel that you tend to be somewhat worrisome. Could it be possible? Does it come from the fact that you sometimes have a doubt whether or not you made the right decision.. yes? But it doesn't matter, because I know that, deep inside, you're truly aware of your self-worth. I feel that, in spite of that, there are still moments when you get caught in a pattern where you overcriticize yourself. Might it be, because of your career choice or the way you reacted to a particular event in your past that still marks you today. Of course, there is more to that than just barnum statements, but using this while asking some questions to get hints, or visual cues about wich way to explore is, usually, the way to go. If one path dries out, use the other. Else, go back to barnum statements. And if all fail, ''Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for..'' Mmmh.. I sense a John somewhere out there. Please John, could you stand up for us?

[@kyeraff]

Jacob Lydecka quite sure you've got it mate.

[@kyeraff]

Benjamin Nguyen you sir, are purely speculating. And I'd have been more hesitant to do so to a skeptic. Even should everything you said have been right, which it wasn't, (dependable as it is) the only thing you would have done was look foolish to me and impress the believer who liked your comment. but I doubt I've said anything to hearing ears, so until the end, farewell.

[@koppadasao]

He's doing warm reading, actually. He has several assistents that were talking to people outside before entering the hall. They've been collecting information beforehand and then he selects his victims based upon their collected data. All he's doing is just another form of magic tricks. Most magicians are rather displeased with these usurpers of our powers, as they bring our art in disrepute

[@weterr123]

Derren Brown shits all over this guy, has this down to a tea. and for the record guys, it's a combination of cold and warm reading. Forking directions with the cold, and pursuing cues and known info for the warm.

[@moonanana]

When he was thinking of the persons name "Alex" was the first one i thought of too

[@grahamoneill3253]

I'd love to think of my questions " how was the universe created " and watch him grumble

[@MatiSoprano]

cold reading for the win

[@bangTguh2.0]

That heckler got burned. 😂

[@mojimojimojimojimoji]

I can see his mind

[@talldave1000]

well done

[@edgar2dnd]

I wonder if the people that are in the audience had to go through any particular procedure to get a ticket for the show... like giving their personal emails to buy the tickets online ...that way, they could have acces to the information shared through social media like facebook etc.

[@huzkaduzka]

Edgar Guerra Been to a show of him, didn't have to do anything of that. Still he predicted my answers.

[@edgar2dnd]

Thank you for replying on my comment. I just want to make it clear that I love magic and I'm just trying to decipher the way he does this thing.;which by the way is the main point of any TED TALK... to make you think. The only solution that you left me with is that (and I do not mean this as an insult or anything like it), I don't have any proof that what you are saying did happen...and if it did happen. ..well, that makes me even more interested in how he is doing this. I still think it has to do with the amount of information we all share through all this new social media. Thanx again for taking the time to reply buddy!

[@EGbeatz]

i mean obv someone is talking into his mic telling him googled info on guests lol

[@luizroque4919]

Performances/ presentations like this just ruin TEDx credibility and reputation What was the point of this?

[@Littleboy3atu]

*as everyone speaks in a trance-like manner while following his directions*

[@Meechy37]

Im not sure why so many people still think this is real... I thought we were past the whole public mind reading thing.

[@deadmanavir]

12:22 That's Derren Brown's patter!!! IMPOSTER!

[@villelepoaho4105]

I actually wish mind reading tricks were real...

[@jolllyroger1]

What he does is simple easy and anyone can do it if they can remember

[@TheWhanfried]

Cold reading

[@CarrotCakeMake]

Cold reading is saying ambiguous things that could apply to anyone. He wasn't doing that. More likely he just researched them in advance, had an employee talk to them while they were waiting in line or so.

[@yegoallan2117]

Steve Jobs said phones will be buttonless, folks didn't believe him

[@learnerdecuriousqueen3320]

I like the Alex person. Lol. He seems cool.

[@daanroelofs119]

the birthday thing is pretty easy

[@ReinOwader]

Similar things are done by different Sect leaders. They have big teams who search for backgrounds of those who have bought tickets to their shows (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc). And those teams either talk to him in real time to the earphone, or he has memorized facts in advance. Although I have met people who have ability to read people. If I think hard about it, it was perhaps visible to outside. I was drinking with strangers, and one of strangers was female taxi driver who started to read me after beer bottle fell on table.. She revealed that I haven't went to university and that my relationship with at the time girlfriend is ending. And that I will find another girlfriend but it's going to be so-so.

[@Blatty26]

I enjoyed this entirely based on ASMR. Who cares if it's fake. Just enjoy it

[@Torchmarrow]

Blatty26 I'm actually rewatching it for the ASMR value alone

[@finalskater]

ASMR?

[@Torchmarrow]

Miixable look it up, buddo

[@Too-Much-Caffeine]

Miixable you know that feeling when you hear Morgan Freeman's voice and it's buttery smoothness feels good? Its basically that

[@huzkaduzka]

It isn't fake, I've been to one of his shows and he did that shit on myself.

[@shibliziadeh8950]

There is a movie by Steve Martin ( Leap of Faith in 1992 ). Watch it. It will tell you how things get done to the T.

[@TheHistory85]

Great job cold reading.....

[@Joenasr]

Thank you social engineering via ear piece

[@thedoctor4115]

Some people are perceptive. You can start with abstract things are make your way to a conclusion. I do some face reading stuff with friends and it's not mind reading, it's just basic catching the vibe because face tells a 1000 stories

[@PhillyBlunt6988]

The terms "Mind reader" and "Mind games" are not interchangeable.

[@emjay23030]

Thanks for comments, i only wasted 7 minutes, cant believe its a ted talk

[@thomasj8523]

I can do that as well if you pass me the names of the audience so I can look them up on facebook. You always going to find some useful information on at least a few of them! Right?

[@MarcoS-il6oi]

Loooool you're right. He just looked on their Facebook, saw they were attending the event then called them out by name. He only spoke of very basic information about then.

[@huzkaduzka]

I've been to one of his shows and told me things which had not even remotely to do something with social media information about me... Also I didn't post anything about the event or attending it.

[@MarkSpiterispitster]

Hey Harry Lucas, Gemini is only a summer star sign in the northern hemisphere.

[@Mister.Psychology]

So he looked up info on them? So fucking what? This trick is something even small kids could do.

[@fabianpda]

The audiencie is so kind with you thats all. Social media and asisstants thats your real powers.

[@sikachuhai]

Looks like he had the data of audience. From something like form the filled. Coz he picks the person. They obviously would have written their Date of Birth, Telephone Num and Interests on that form. And he knew them.

[@BuftyFufties]

11:14 He looks like Krishnan Guru-Murthy

[@funnyscream2976]

He's asking general questions along with flattery, which anyone will accept. The colours he got from the woman in the headscarf is literally just what she's wearing. He listed off of a ton on numbers before he reached her actual birthday. It's just watching people's actions, speech patterns and reactions.

[@famasymas7]

Yes... Very good you know that actual mind reading isn't real, right? Some people are better at it than others, but yeah that the only way he will be able to find out the information from the woman.

[@themagicman6965]

And another Derren Brown imitation.

[@calebhubbard3994]

now what I would like to see is when he picks someone, someone else should stand up and insist on him "reading" his thoughts. this has been done plenty of times over via earpiece and someone giving him information.

[@anisyahya944]

The channel is better of without this video, I usually watch ted to educate myself, I neither learnt something nor was I entertained.

[@richyrich561]

Is there someone named JOHN in the audience? Here is your horoscope.... have you ever been in a school? Yea, look how insightful I am! Your favorite color is brown or orange and blue or white.... WTF?

[@kleptiic1753]

Why was I thinking Natalie when he was

[@bd8033]

Totally freaked me out, especially since he named my birthday. I'm listening to him go through the astrological sign and then the month and in going now there's no way he lands on my birthday and then he says the month and then gets closer to the day and then stops right on my birthday, mind blown, do you think that was on purpose, like one of those "here's a truck for you viewers at home"

[@PanjshirAfg]

The most boring TED video ever

[@ieBrazil]

hot reading.

[@brucebaker810]

Well, this is TEDx. Not TED. Like the difference between Rollx and Rolex. TED has MUCH higher standards. This begins with barnum statements. (Same as horoscopes.) "Are you a warm person?" "Your friends would say 'she's nice' " etc. Duh. Then warm reading. Apparently, according to comments here, it gets "detailed". as in "there's one we found on social media and can 'mysteriously' reveal details from her feed, etc." But I'm not hanging around to find out. Meh. Meh squared.

[@judools12]

very obvious cold reading, also when you look at the phone number he wrote down at the end the handwriting was sufficiently vage enough that one could see a multitude of numbers for instance the '9' also looks like a 3 or a 2 the '1' can look like a 7. I was a bit disapointed to because I was waiting for him to go into cold reading and it didnt deliver. (ps. sorry everone for the spelling and gramma I have dyslexia and well I am a creative speller ;-)

[@ubalaji]

It's all very very clearly scripted and directed and this one show had pull down all my good respect towards TED shows.....after all we are here to learn stuffs and we don't need TED for entertainment.....there is Netflix & KZbin etc for that......GROW UP TED

[@DnBastard]

wasn't scripted it's cold reading. If you use logic you'll see that he says things that will literally apply to anyone. For example, you are a generally happy person but deep inside there is a sadness you can't put out. you express this by trying to help others, in some effort to give yourself some karma to quench this sadness. see i just said something that applies to every human on earth at some point because thats how brains work but because you don't hear it said often you think it's specific to yourself.

[@lu9thix]

amazing what people share on facebook...

[@TheTuneAce]

what was the point of this one? there was no underlying thought or philosophy. Just some guy doing his "mind-reading" stage tricks based on some form of pre-show research.

[@watchrandomstuffs]

I think that half of the audience is in the act.

[@andreasvar6637]

I dont like it... having a career based on drawing information from social networking sites and playing the magician...come onnn

[@georgnakanda4233]

now I may not watch Ted Talk in a very looooooong time

[@lanceflanagan]

Ya know when someones bald but they just dont know it yet.....

[@kostailijev7489]

A total waste of 17:45!

[@yegoallan2117]

Thought manifestation is real fellas

[@patrickmccune6963]

Try me. I dare you.

[@r0d0j0g9]

(performance)!!!!

[@asmahaque8558]

_SEND ME YOUR MONEY_

[@CeluiEtSeul]

i can only think of South Park because of this

[@stormkid4]

Same!!!!!!!

[@crazyfootage2037]

Cringed through this whole video, the parts that I watched at least.

[@GoldenHay1]

there "it" is? wow, rude. btw, i don't even think, that he is cold reading. they must be his assistants, or like other people said, he, or his assistants check/s their social infos.

[@huzkaduzka]

LineoLemon Yeah I've been to one of his events and I didn't put anything on Social Media and obviously I haven't been an assistant of him.

[@martynzackbrown]

Plants, public information, ear pieces.... what is he trying to prove?

[@archeryandrandomness8602]

He was watching her very closely, especially when he was asking vague questions. That was how he figured out her birthday.

[@archeryandrandomness8602]

Still, he knows how to act, and he is a lucky guesser. Also, he keeps everything positive, which makes people want to agree with him.

[@BillyBob-vh8sw]

Isaiah Hansen Haha! Joke of the year funny guy!

[@MikeEmm18]

Cool cold reading bro

[@lorreba]

Michael mug

[@radhikanar]

Aren't Ted talks supposed to be informative and learning something new. How is this helping me

[@hectortovar8479]

This show qualifies as TEDx? I guess adding an x means I can include any theatre show.

[@therealHogmaNtheIntruder]

Always wondered what would happen when Ted ran out of ideas.

[@wight13]

Like many other people have commented, I think this was done mostly through data mining social media accounts. There cold have been some mentalists or cold reading trickery but most of the details he revealed were the sorts of things anyone could have looked up online if they knew who the people were. Someone said that the people may have checked in at the event on Facebook, which I hadn't considered. There are other social media sources that might be able to be mined for info on people in the audience. I was thinking that a good facial recognition system could likely identify many members in the audience and an assistant offstage could select the ones who revealed something specific enough to make for a good show and feed him the information about who and where and he just uses a bit of showmanship to make it seem like he's having a hard time reading these things.

[@josepheapen7690]

the problem with this whole thing is that he picks the names and people.. Lets see how he works if we really randomly picked someone :-D this is actualy very close to the trick that some of the fraud faith healers do :-D . Thats why i was quite unimpressed..

[@aftereightthegiant9999]

Send me your thougts🤔

[@amelialing776]

The Isreali mind reader on TED does a much better job. I forgot his name and I hate myself for that.