The renowned mentalist, The Amazing Kreskin, who captivated audiences with his own TV program, inspired a film featuring John Malkovich, potentially influenced a Johnny Carson character, and amazed crowds with hundreds of live performances each year, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 89. His manager, Ryan Galway, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Kreskin peacefully departed at his home in Caldwell, New Jersey.
What was the essence of Kreskin's extraordinary talent? In his own words from the 1991 publication, Secrets of the Amazing Kreskin, one of the approximately 20 books he authored, he clarified, "I am neither a psychic, an occultist, nor a fortune teller. Nor am I a mind reader, medium, or hypnotist. There's nothing supernatural in my endeavors." Instead, he positioned himself as "a scientist, a researcher delving into the realm of suggestion and 'extrasensory' perceptions, presenting what I uncover through my explorations."
A cornerstone of his mesmerizing stage performances involved locating a paycheck, cleverly concealed by audience members, that was meant to be his remuneration for the show. If he couldn't magically track down the check, he vowed never to accept payment for that night's act – a scenario that unfolded roughly a dozen times throughout his illustrious career. These checks were often discovered in the most unexpected locations, such as nestled within a turkey's stuffing, coiled inside a fire hose, or hidden beneath a bridge-like structure formed by the roof of a man's mouth, adding an element of sheer amazement to each of his acts.
Once a genuine pop culture sensation, the fiery and passionate Kreskin graced the stage of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson an astonishing 88 times, earning the moniker "The Amazing" from the iconic host himself. Kreskin boasted that Carson's turban-adorned clairvoyant character, Carnac the Magnificent, was modeled after him, although detractors attribute the concept to an outdated Steve Allen sketch. Furthermore, Kreskin frequently appeared on The Mike Douglas Show, The Merv Griffin Show, and Regis and Kathie Lee Live, roughly a century's worth of appearances on each, and was a familiar face on programs hosted by David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, and Howard Stern.
Every New Year's Day, Kreskin would materialize on television to forecast the year ahead, earning the moniker "America's flesh-and-blood Magic 8-Ball" from a Newsweek columnist. He claimed to have assisted in numerous criminal cases with his psychic prowess. An adept sleight-of-hand artist with a deck of cards, he even lent his name to a Milton Bradley board game, Kreskin’s ESP, which debuted in 1966 and featured a "Mystery Pendulum" to test players' (aged 10 and up) psychic abilities.
Sean McGinly, who briefly served as Kreskin's road manager, penned and directed the 2008 film The Great Buck Howard, starring John Malkovich as the title character, a mentalist whose trick of uncovering hidden checks plays a pivotal role in the narrative.
"That job stretched over a period of roughly four months, yet the memories from it have lingered in my mind ever since," McGinly reminisced in 2009. "Years rolled by before I was inspired to chronicle my experiences. Hence, the opening segment of around ten minutes in 'The Great Buck Howard' is a direct reflection of my life's journey." Meanwhile, in the 2010 film 'Dinner for Schmucks' directed by Jay Roach, Zach Galifianakis' character holds the real-life Kreskin in high esteem. Prior to legally adopting the moniker The Amazing Kreskin, he was born George Joseph Kresge Jr. on January 12, 1935, in Montclair, New Jersey. A comic book featuring Mandrake the Magician, a crime-fighter, left a profound impression on him, prompting him to harness his mental prowess as early as the third grade.
"One day in class, we played the game 'Hot and Cold'—you know, where you'd give hints like 'You're getting warmer, you're getting colder'—and I became utterly consumed with the challenge of deciphering who the 'it' was without any hints," he recounted to the Chicago Tribune in 1991. "So, I orchestrated hide-and-seek games with my family, where they'd conceal a penny and I'd strive to locate it. Numerous attempts failed until one afternoon when my brother hid a penny. I ascended a chair and reached behind the curtain rod in my grandparents' bedroom, and there, I found it." When he made his debut on television on 'The Steve Allen Show' in 1964, as he approached to shake hands with the host, blinded by the stage lights, he stumbled and fell.
"I publicly embarrassed myself on national television," Kreskin recounted to the New Jersey Herald in 2012. "Coincidentally, Johnny [Carson] was tuning in to the broadcast. Seven weeks hence, he introduced Carnac, the psychic character who famously tumbles over desks. From 1970 to 1975, I presided over The Amazing World of Kreskin, a show that aired on CTV in Canada and was distributed widely across the United States. During my program, 'we delved into humanity's greatest puzzle—the enigma of the human mind,' I declared.
In an interview with the Tribune, Kreskin elaborated, 'While I am unable to fathom the intricacies of the human brain, I can, on numerous occasions, discern a solitary thought or a sequence of straightforward ideas, given that the subject is attuned to me and ready to unleash their imagination. If they decline, I am powerless. Essentially, I harness the might of positive thinking.'
He also boasted about disproving the notion of hypnosis as a legitimate phenomenon. "Such a thing does not exist on this planet," he asserted in 2018. "Nobody has ever truly fallen into a hypnotic trance. Furthermore, due to my research, hypnosis cannot be cited as evidence in any legal proceedings within the United States."
Among his other publications was Conversations With Kreskin, released in 2012, which featured a preface penned by the late Roger Ailes, the founder of Fox News. Ailes had previously booked the mentalist as a guest on the Douglas show during the 1960s.
