Mind-bending experience

EXPERIENCE … Uri Geller has a serious message behind his ‘parlour tricks’.

By Mike Hallowell

THERE are those who call Uri Geller a fraud, and there are those who believe he is one of the most amazing people to walk upon God’s good earth.

Me? I count myself among the latter category.
I have been privileged to meet Uri in the flesh, and can assure Bizarre readers the man has some very special psychic talents.
Two weeks ago I went to see Uri, as he was in the area for the opening night of his latest British tour in Newcastle.
The show was billed as The Uri Geller Experience, and it certainly lived up to its name.
In this and next week’s columns, we’ll take a closer look at Uri Geller and what he’s about.
At the theatre, several unexpected hitches which might have taken the edge off many a show only served to heighten Uri’s credibility.
The heating system at the venue had broken down, so Uri nipped off stage and did his stuff. Seconds later it burst into life. How? Don’t ask me, but Uri fixed it.
Members of the audience brought forth a veritable mountain of broken watches, some of them looking as if they’d been hit with a sledgehammer.
“Work!” shouted Uri and the audience in unison, at which command the majority of them started ticking.
We didn’t have to take Uri’s word for this, as live pictures were transmitted to a large screen above the stage.
“Hold your door keys in your hand, but don’t look at them”, Uri told us.
“Bend!” we all chanted. The result? My front door key now looks … well, suffice to say it no longer fits the lock properly, and Mrs H had to get out of bed and let me in after I returned home from the show.
Fortunately, Uri signed a sweatshirt for her, which, let me assure you, saved your favourite paranormal investigator from a fate worse than death.
Although Uri no longer bends spoons en masse, he did bend one in spectacular fashion at the end of his show.
He signed it, auctioned it, and promptly raised a cool £1,000 for a local hospital.
But Uri doesn’t just do ‘parlour tricks’ for the fun of it. There is a point to all this.
It is almost as if the spoon-bendings and mind-readings are simply devices to get your attention – a way of getting you to take Uri Geller seriously, and focus on his real message.
Now most people would be pretty content to see Uri Geller perform in the way people expect. After all, watching someone make metal go soft with his fingers, right before your very eyes, is pretty spectacular. But for Uri this is not enough.
Uri Geller wants to tell the world something which makes spoon-bending seem positively boring in comparison.
Exactly what that message is we’ll find out in next week’s column.