The Skeptical Teacher

Musings of a science teacher & skeptic in an age of woo.

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Psychic Charlatan Sylvia Browne Gets a Dose of Skepticism

Posted by mattusmaximus on July 21, 2012

While at TAM2012, I saw some fine folks engage in some skeptical activism. It ended up that at the same time TAM was taking place in Las Vegas, the queen of psychic scammers and charlatans – Ms. Sylvia Browne – was scheduled to do her show. Well, the activist crowd thought it would be altogether appropriate for people to make an informed decision about Browne and her claims before attending her show, and they caught it on video…

**Note: I totally stole everything below this point from my skeptical colleague Kylie Sturgess – Thanks Kylie! 🙂

A group of skeptics organized by mentalist Mark Edward and Wikipediatrician Susan Gerbic gather to protest the presence of Sylvia Browne at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on July 13, 2012. Recording by Susan Gerbic; editing by Ross Blocher.

The group handed out a list of cold reading techniques that psychics use to give the illusion of knowing intimate details about their subjects. Another handout listed some of Sylvia Browne’s worst mistakes as a psychic. We encourage people to look them up: Opal Jo Jennings, Holly Krewson, Shawn Hornbeck, the Sago Miners, Terrence Farrell, Lynda McClelland, and Ryan Katcher.

This entry was posted on July 21, 2012 at 3:54 am and is filed under psychics, skeptical community. Tagged: charlatan, cold reading, fake, hot reading, Las Vegas, Mark Edward, medium, Montel Williams, psychic, sCAM, skeptical activism, Susan Gerbic, Sylvia Browne, talking to the dead, TAM2012, The Amaz!ng Meeting, The Amazing Meeting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Psychic Charlatan Sylvia Browne Gets a Dose of Skepticism”

Woody said

July 23, 2012 at 6:57 am
Thanks for the footage, great to watch, hope I can join such a team sometime. Cold-reading frauds like Sylvia Brown make me sick.
Upon learning more about her activities and the shit she has dribbled to poor grieving people, I see her as an evil monster and the mere sight of her makes me want to puke!

Reply
rebellion2012@mail.com said

August 23, 2012 at 4:17 am
5000 whining atheists vs the Great Prophet

forum.thatfatatheist.com/topic/9684634/1/#new

youtube.com/watch?v=s3lwG4MytSI

one applicant right here…

get the POINT, Randi….

impotent krelnik trying to get mabus arrested for FREE SPEECH…

we laugh

Reply
When Psychics Fail: The Syliva Browne and Amanda Berry Fiasco « The Skeptical Teacher said

May 7, 2013 at 11:27 pm
[…] I make no bones about how I feel about various psychic charlatans who take advantage of the desperate, grieving, and bereaved: they’re pretty close to scraping the bottom of the barrel, in my view. At the top of this list is none other than the queen of psychic charlatans: Sylvia Browne. […]

Reply
When Psychics Fail: The Sylvia Browne and Amanda Berry Fiasco « The Skeptical Teacher said

May 7, 2013 at 11:36 pm
[…] I make no bones about how I feel about various psychic charlatans who take advantage of the desperate, grieving, and bereaved: they’re pretty close to scraping the bottom of the barrel, in my view. At the top of this list is none other than the queen of psychic charlatans: Sylvia Browne. […]

Reply
Psychic Charlatan Sylvia Browne Dies… Good Riddance « The Skeptical Teacher said

November 22, 2013 at 1:17 am
[…] Psychic Charlatan Sylvia Browne Gets a Dose of Skepticism […]

Reply

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