Keith Zalinger – Interview with Gigsalad.com (August, 2014)
1) How did you get into psychic entertainment? Who were your inspirations?
This was something that built very slowly over the past 25-30 years. I had developed an interest in Astrology and the Tarot, and later hypnosis. At the time, I wasn't aware of the history of psychics, mediums, and carnival and nightclub mind readers. My father had been a fan of many of the old-school mind-readers of the 50s and 60s, and some of those were inspirations. He couldn't remember many of their names, but Kreskin came up quite a bit. Since then I've drawn from so many sources: from a great-grandfather of mine who could do things like identify how many items were in a room or a container with a quick glance or remember the names of everyone he met at a party, to Edgar Cayce, to John Edward, to Napolean Hill, to Richard Bandler.
2) What were your first performances like? Any trouble getting the groove of performance?
I did my first performances in my house. I would invite friends over, put out some food and drink, and use them as guinea pigs. They were thankfully very gracious, and as a result these events were very informal, laid back, and a lot of fun. I still do these from time to time, although my schedule does not allow for it very often. My first public performances were not as laid back. However, my approach has always been to observe what works (or not), learn from experience, and move on. No actual troubles that I can recall, although I'm sure my delivery is a bit smoother, now. I think in the beginning, it was a case of not being as prepared as I should've been. I would be told "it's a small room, you won't need your PA," or "we have a PA," only to show up and find out I was being moved to a much larger room, or the PA was more likely to be suitable for a room one-third the size I was actually in. Now I always bring my PA, to be safe. Besides that, I think I wasn't originally as comfortable walking out in front of a room full of people where many of them would be looking at me like I was going dispense with formalities of any kind, and just start eating their brains. It wasn't long before I became used to this, and now the audience and I have a good laugh about that feeling before we begin.
3) What is your favorite element of what you do? Favorite type of audience? Favorite bit?
There's so much of what I do that I enjoy, it would be difficult for me to pinpoint anything specific. Of course,anything that makes someone's mouth drop in stunned silence, freaks them out a little, or makes them run from the room is a sign that I've done something right. I enjoy reading the minds of a room full of people, trying to predict the future outcomes of certain events, doing readings based on items collected from the audience, and games of subtle influence. Sometimes I'm hired just to give Tarot, Palm, & other readings. Although it can be demanding, I love that as well. Another aspect that I love deals with the paranormal side of things. Because of the sensitive nature of some audience members, I don't do this as often, but it's very popular during the month of October, as you can imagine.
I've performed for many types of audiences: Heavy Metal concert-attendees, College students, an Ivy League School of Business, kids, youth camps, church groups, synagogues, pub/bar crowds. My favorite audience is any that is willing to give me 30-60 minutes of their attention, which I value immensely. Because not everyone will respond the same way, that's something I've learned is part of the the art, the gig, the lifestyle, whichever term you prefer.
4) Can you talk a little bit about audience skepticism? Does it hinder what you do? Or enhance it? Have you ever had an audience remain stubbornly unconvinced no matter what you did?
I've been saying this forever, and my website also states the same: to me, there's nothing wrong with skepticism. In fact, I consider it quite healthy...in moderation. I still have people telling me hypnosis isn't real, even when they see it right in front of them! That said, most self-proclaimed skeptics love my show. The only thing I expect during my shows is courtesy. It's never been my intention to make people into "believers," or try to change their opinions. Where I've sometimes run into problems is with people who call themselves "skeptics," when they are actually (from my perspective) cynics. They demonstrate to me that: a) they're not there to have a good time; b) they don't have an open mind; and c) they have no problem ruining someone else's evening. Over the years, I've noticed that the audience members tend to take one of three viewpoints with me: 1) They think I'm full of it, or just on something, 2) They're freaked out or scared of me (in some cases) or 3) They think it's cool.
5) Do you have any fun/interesting/weird performance stories you'd like to share?
That could be a whole interview in itself! A couple that come to mind are:
I was hired to perform for a group of 200 or so kids at camp (ages 9-14) plus the counselors (15-17). In some cases, people will hire me without finding out anything about me, and some clients for whatever reason don't make an effort to communicate what they're looking for, even when I try to contact them to help them out. I walked out in front of them thinking "dead man walking." The kids LOVED it. For 90-minutes they screamed and yelled over the PA, they knocked themselves over to participate, they jumped up and down to get my attention, they asked questions about things while I talked and got involved, and even admitted to being freaked out (yet loving it) and finally, they crowded around me as I tried to pack up! I thought I wouldn't be able to leave. The camp director however, hated it. She wrote a scathing review and dismissed me as "not very engaging." I would have questioned whether or not she had even been present, had I not seen her off to my left for most of this.
A few years back I was doing an event for a friend in a restaurant/pub. There were 3 cynics who, for whatever reason, had decided they were going to be heroes and 'protect' the innocent public from a shyster such as myself. They accused me of "screwing people" even after I pointed out that everyone (themselves included) in the room got in for free. The more they drank, the more obnoxious they became, even resorting to obscene language in front of people's kids. It got so bad at one point that they had 2 or 3 elderly women (one who walked with a cane) threatening to beat them senseless for trying to ruin their evening. That was an added value I hadn't counted on!
1) How did you get into psychic entertainment? Who were your inspirations?
This was something that built very slowly over the past 25-30 years. I had developed an interest in Astrology and the Tarot, and later hypnosis. At the time, I wasn't aware of the history of psychics, mediums, and carnival and nightclub mind readers. My father had been a fan of many of the old-school mind-readers of the 50s and 60s, and some of those were inspirations. He couldn't remember many of their names, but Kreskin came up quite a bit. Since then I've drawn from so many sources: from a great-grandfather of mine who could do things like identify how many items were in a room or a container with a quick glance or remember the names of everyone he met at a party, to Edgar Cayce, to John Edward, to Napolean Hill, to Richard Bandler.
2) What were your first performances like? Any trouble getting the groove of performance?
I did my first performances in my house. I would invite friends over, put out some food and drink, and use them as guinea pigs. They were thankfully very gracious, and as a result these events were very informal, laid back, and a lot of fun. I still do these from time to time, although my schedule does not allow for it very often. My first public performances were not as laid back. However, my approach has always been to observe what works (or not), learn from experience, and move on. No actual troubles that I can recall, although I'm sure my delivery is a bit smoother, now. I think in the beginning, it was a case of not being as prepared as I should've been. I would be told "it's a small room, you won't need your PA," or "we have a PA," only to show up and find out I was being moved to a much larger room, or the PA was more likely to be suitable for a room one-third the size I was actually in. Now I always bring my PA, to be safe. Besides that, I think I wasn't originally as comfortable walking out in front of a room full of people where many of them would be looking at me like I was going dispense with formalities of any kind, and just start eating their brains. It wasn't long before I became used to this, and now the audience and I have a good laugh about that feeling before we begin.
3) What is your favorite element of what you do? Favorite type of audience? Favorite bit?
There's so much of what I do that I enjoy, it would be difficult for me to pinpoint anything specific. Of course,anything that makes someone's mouth drop in stunned silence, freaks them out a little, or makes them run from the room is a sign that I've done something right. I enjoy reading the minds of a room full of people, trying to predict the future outcomes of certain events, doing readings based on items collected from the audience, and games of subtle influence. Sometimes I'm hired just to give Tarot, Palm, & other readings. Although it can be demanding, I love that as well. Another aspect that I love deals with the paranormal side of things. Because of the sensitive nature of some audience members, I don't do this as often, but it's very popular during the month of October, as you can imagine.
I've performed for many types of audiences: Heavy Metal concert-attendees, College students, an Ivy League School of Business, kids, youth camps, church groups, synagogues, pub/bar crowds. My favorite audience is any that is willing to give me 30-60 minutes of their attention, which I value immensely. Because not everyone will respond the same way, that's something I've learned is part of the the art, the gig, the lifestyle, whichever term you prefer.
4) Can you talk a little bit about audience skepticism? Does it hinder what you do? Or enhance it? Have you ever had an audience remain stubbornly unconvinced no matter what you did?
I've been saying this forever, and my website also states the same: to me, there's nothing wrong with skepticism. In fact, I consider it quite healthy...in moderation. I still have people telling me hypnosis isn't real, even when they see it right in front of them! That said, most self-proclaimed skeptics love my show. The only thing I expect during my shows is courtesy. It's never been my intention to make people into "believers," or try to change their opinions. Where I've sometimes run into problems is with people who call themselves "skeptics," when they are actually (from my perspective) cynics. They demonstrate to me that: a) they're not there to have a good time; b) they don't have an open mind; and c) they have no problem ruining someone else's evening. Over the years, I've noticed that the audience members tend to take one of three viewpoints with me: 1) They think I'm full of it, or just on something, 2) They're freaked out or scared of me (in some cases) or 3) They think it's cool.
5) Do you have any fun/interesting/weird performance stories you'd like to share?
That could be a whole interview in itself! A couple that come to mind are:
I was hired to perform for a group of 200 or so kids at camp (ages 9-14) plus the counselors (15-17). In some cases, people will hire me without finding out anything about me, and some clients for whatever reason don't make an effort to communicate what they're looking for, even when I try to contact them to help them out. I walked out in front of them thinking "dead man walking." The kids LOVED it. For 90-minutes they screamed and yelled over the PA, they knocked themselves over to participate, they jumped up and down to get my attention, they asked questions about things while I talked and got involved, and even admitted to being freaked out (yet loving it) and finally, they crowded around me as I tried to pack up! I thought I wouldn't be able to leave. The camp director however, hated it. She wrote a scathing review and dismissed me as "not very engaging." I would have questioned whether or not she had even been present, had I not seen her off to my left for most of this.
A few years back I was doing an event for a friend in a restaurant/pub. There were 3 cynics who, for whatever reason, had decided they were going to be heroes and 'protect' the innocent public from a shyster such as myself. They accused me of "screwing people" even after I pointed out that everyone (themselves included) in the room got in for free. The more they drank, the more obnoxious they became, even resorting to obscene language in front of people's kids. It got so bad at one point that they had 2 or 3 elderly women (one who walked with a cane) threatening to beat them senseless for trying to ruin their evening. That was an added value I hadn't counted on!