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2 0 - The Oakville Beaver, W e d n e s d a y M a rc h 1, 2006 Oakville Beaver · WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1,2006 Kreskin is still amazing By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF He's been reading minds for more than 50 years; he predicted the outcome of the 2004 Canadian election a month before ballots were cast, right down to the num ber of seats won by the Liberals; he had a popular TV show in the 1970s; he's the author of 12 books - and now, the Amazing Kreskin is coming to Oakville. Tomorrow night, the 71-yearold world-renowned mentalist will perform a two-hour show featur ing mind reading and more at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. "It's not a show where people simply come and watch," said Kreskin in a phone interview from Las Vegas, where he performed last Thursday. "Everybody in that the atre is going to be part of my show. They really make the show, because without the people in the audience, I have no thoughts to read." Not only will the New Jersey native be reading minds and invit ing members of the audience up on stage, but Kreskin will also per form what he calls "a very dramat ic test" that involves giving the audience his cheque from the Oakville Centre. "I will then be escorted from the theatre and taken under guard to where I cannot hear or see any thing," he said. "The audience is then to hide my cheque anywhere within the theatre, and I will be called back. I will not ask any ques tions, and nobody will speak to me. If I don't find my fee, I will forfeit the entire thing;" Stuffed inside a turkey, under people's seats and rolled into the barrel of a gun are just some of the places Kreskin has found the cheque over the years; He has failed just nine times. "My show is like watching a play on a stage except that the solutionJs different every time," he said. "It's the cunningness and the ingenuity of my audience that really makes it." That's part of the first half of the program, which Kreskin calls a "happening act." The second half, he says, is a "riotous happening." He invites a large group of peo ple on stage, and while playing the piano, Kreskin goes to work on their minds. "I demonstrate how, through the power of suggestion, without any trances or altered states, with people being wide awake, I can influence them and get them to do things they would never think they would do." People forget their names and addresses, and when they reach into their pockets to check their wallets to find that information, they find their hands are stuck. That's all the power o'f Kreskin's suggestions. "I could go on with endless sto ries," he said. It's something Kreskin has been doing professionally since he was a teenager. For four years in the 1970s, he had his own TV show, The Amazing World of Kreskin, and he now performs in more than 200 shows worldwide every year. See Kreskin page 21 The Amazing Kreskin : ;- v.; -l * THE CRASH-PROOF POLICY Get som e pre m iu m p ro te ctio n . W ith The Crash-Proof Policy, w e 'v e g o t you covered fo r yo u r firs t a t-fa u lt accident. There's no prem ium increase re s u ltin g fro m th is accid e nt -- and w e p ro te c t y o u r good d riv in g record. J u s t th in k o f it as firs t-a id fo r y o u r car insurance. * 1888280.9111 ! belairdirect.com ` Certain conditions apply. Please be aware that not everyone w ill qualify fo ra phone or online quote belairdirect is a tradem ark of Belair Insurance Company Inc. and is used under license by The Nordic Insurance Company o f Canada. Insurance products may be underw ritten by either Belair Insurance Company Inc. or The Nordic Insurance Company of Canada. SEE FOR YOURSELF: belairdirect car insura nce