“The Next Uri Geller” 2008 – Live (1st show)

This is about a show from the first German season of “The Next Uri Geller” from early 2008. You can also:
» Show all my reports from the first season.
» Show everything about the second season 2009.
» Show really all articles about Uri Geller.

Alright, I decided – after last night’s post about the advertising “documentary” – to watch “The next Uri Geller – Incredible phenomena live”, since I “have” to ad my two cents, and I couldn’t do that “blind” – I’m no real mentalist, y’know, and even less a real supernaturally gifted one (though I could use James Randi‘s million, actually).

And I don’t mind magic tricks, anyway, I just hate it when they claim that these are real “inexplicable” phenomea and the like..

The GWUP (German) wants to accompany this show, too, of course, and also blog live. And I made my attempts at live blogging, too – quite stressful…

Host for this show is Stefan Gödde – known (or not) from BIZZ, taff and Stars on Ice. Geller says about him (my translation): “I already met Stefan once in Munich. He is a very talented, likeably young man. I couldn’t wish for a better host.”

I can understand that. Criss Angel, who hosted the US edition of this show, is an experienced magician himself who also caused some problems for Geller (see Wikipedia, or David’s D-Blog here); Stefan Gödde, on the other hand, is just a simple presenter, from whom you probably cannot expect something like this, unfortunately. Even if he described himself as “a little skeptic” at the beginning who likes to be fascinated.

Read now the result of my live blogging:

The start: Geller don’t mind how the contestants do it (and evades the question’s details), he just wants goosebump-creating entertainment… and besides his jury function, Geller announces a live experiment and guarantees the audience that (in the nine weeks the show will be on) some astonishing things will happen at home.

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20:25: Introduction of the first contestant, a hobby pilot of whom even David Copperfield is said to be enthused, the “creative visionary” Nicolai Friedrich (31).

Almost 9 minutes of performance: Telepathic connection between two people, in this case Sonya Kraus (who called himself skeptic) and Jürgen Vogel (two of the three celebrity guests). Transfer of touches with a feather and of thoughts of a sun drawing. I can hardly write down details, I wouldn’t keep up and couldn’t watch anymore. Anyway, it seemed to work, even Sonya is acting surprised and fascinated. (Lacking own magic experience, I can hardly give useful explanations. Other than Sonya being privy, of course…)

Update: » video explaining the trick (German).

Geller is convinced – by the performance and a “tangible energy” (note: these are all my (re-)translations) which the contestant “can manipulate and transfer”. Incredible. Or rather not, we’re used to stuff like that from him.

Then, a clip of a knife-locating trick gone painfully wrong in Israel. Older than pretended, according to the GWUP live site – see Youtube.

20:39 More on the live experiment that Geller wants to present: one of his famous “interactive television” experiments. Viewers should fetch broken watches, household devices etc. And a spoon! Sehr important!

20:41: Also important: the commercial break.

20:49: Let’s continue. With broken watches and clocks from the studio audience on a table. Grab watches, wind up despite being defective, put spoon on the TV set (“I know that soundss strange – but you got nothing to lose” – except some of your brain, I’m tempted to say), Hebrew lesson 1, 2, 3 (echad, steim, shalosh, something like that) – because he wants to feel the power! – and don’t worry if the spoon jumps off the TV! 1, 2, 3! 1, 2, 3! And a watch in his hand is already running. That’s a very respectable experiment, isn’t it? And if something happened at home, call/MMS/e-mail…

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20:55: Second contestant: swordfighter Hayashi (34), who apparently knows too little science (though he probably meant that in another way when he spoke about his martial arts experience). He wants to use mental powers to find the cylinders under which there is no knife – cf. clip mentioned above.

After he demonstarted how sharp his battle knife is, he hides it under one of five paper tubes, the arrangement of which he first changes himself and then lets the celebrity assistant (“Next Topmodel” finalist) move them some more. He’s blindfolded, of course, the model may guide his hand above the tubes. And he’s making it quite thrilling. And crunches successfully the four empty tubes. Also 9 minutes, the so-called “insider” info quoted on the GWUP live site must have been wrong.

Geller: “Aura of secrecy, of supernaturality. Dangerous, already respected for that.”

Brief guest: Dr. Friedberg Karger Friedbert Karger, who alledgedly had conducted successfull telepathy experiments. Gotta research that strange fellow first… » see summary post. And for whom magic tricks are apparently beyond what can be explained with physics.

The pretty telephonists seem to be quite busy. A caller live: spoon and a vase fell down. Sure, with so many viewers, it’s rather unlikely if nothing happened. That’s already been explained, for instance, by the GWUP (German).

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21:23: Contestant 3, David Goldrake (34), “gift” of “proximity to death” thanks to car accident as child. Wants to make his heart stop – not permanently, of course, just 20 seconds. Something like that, an ex of mine said that about me – just as an aside. Mr Goldrake, too, needs female help, and Sonya is on stage again. A nurse enters – got to be a real nurse, there’s no trace of a sexy outfit.

Sonya may drum the rhythm of his pulse. Just doesn’t exactly match the ECG’s beeps… Flatline for 30 seconds, then he jumps up, the beeps continue, the audience cheers.

Geller: “Victory of mind over body. Very impressive, done great.”

21:33: Watch owners in the audience are happy… and Geller jokes about 2 € fee per watch. Well, when you got no chance to get Randi‘s million.

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21:36: “Two persons with just one soul”, the next contestant couple, the “mystic lovers”: Vivian Sommer (33) and Olaf Kohrs (40); she wants to see objects from the audience with his eyes. Well, standard stuff, I’d say – and a better microphone (or one with “windshield”) for the porn-like moaning readhead wouldn’t have hurt.

Chauvi Geller likes that a woman can do that so good, too.

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21:52: The next contestant, raven man, ghost and spirit hunter Vincent Raven (41) with Corax, the “gatekeeper from beyond.” Edgar Allen Poe would have been overjoyed. We too? We’ll see. I’m anxious. The raven may keep flying during the commercial break. A pity I don’t have any Marion Raven songs on my notebook. *cough* Enough digression.

The celebrities write their first names, a personal “lucky number” and a very special question for the otherworld. Into the envelopes, sealed. Raven caws to the raven and burns the letters. And he (the man, from the bird) knows, of course, what the celebs wrote down. Much ado around that, with the raven and stuff, but that’s what a stage magician with large audience has to do, of course. It’s a show, you know. Just that otherworld crap and the (naturally anything but concrete) “answers” to the questions (“there, names don’t have any meanings anymore”), which also lead to a tearful closeup of the model, could have been done without. 13 minutes (without commercials) total.

Update: video explaining the trick (German).

Geller: “Aura of secrecy, almost dark power.”

Already overrunning the scheduled time…

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Geller chooses the red-and-black couple as those who immediately make it to the next round. For the rest, ProSieben and the telephone companies are happy.

By the way, why do mayors appear as “experts” who should have an eye on everything? Well, if district attorneys reject, they’re hoping for people who themselves probably don’t mind more publicity for more votes.

Before the viewers’ vote, a few more calls/e-mails. They also threatened us with an evaluation of all reactions until next week.

Alright-ee, one must leave. As usual, they make it unneccesarily thrilling. The razor-sharp Hayashi doesn’t have to be afraid of his knives anymore, he’s out. 21 minutes to late.

22:36: Phew, finished.

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You also want a conclusion? Okay: A few nice stage magic minutes, several boring ones, padded with lots of Geller-typical nonsense talk about pretended paranormal and spoon, watch and similar phenomenon trash.

Update: » To the summary

» Detailed explanations (German) at “The Tricks”.