Melbourne Skeptics

Psychic Sally Morgan Accused Of Employing A “Sidekick”

British psychic Sally Morgan has been accused of employing some not-so-psychic techniques when it comes to giving readings during her live tour. Irish newspaper, The Independent, reported today that several audience members at “Psychic Sally” Morgan’s Dublin show on September 11th claim to have overheard a male voice at the back of the auditorium prompting Sally as she gave her “readings”.

The incident was first raised on Irish radio network RTE, during Joe Duffy’s ‘Liveline’ show. A caller by the name of Sue said she attended the show and, whilst sitting at the rear of the fourth level of the theatre, overheard a mans voice relaying information to Sally onstage.

“The first half of the show went really well but when the second half started we could clearly hear a man’s voice coming from the window behind us,” Sue told ‘Liveline’ yesterday.

“Everything he said, the psychic would say 10 seconds later. It was as if she was having the information relayed to her.”

“PSYCHIC SALLY MORGAN” – LIVELINE PODCAST – SEPTEMBER 11, 2011:

[audio:http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2011/pc/pod-v-12091117m02slivelinepsychic-pid0-1022352.mp3]

This technique has been used frequently by self-proclaimed psychics and faith healers. In 1986, magician James Randi famously exposed the use of this technique by televangelist Peter Popoff, who was receiving information about his audience members from his wife via a wireless radio earpiece.

Sally Morgan’s management have not surprisingly denied the allegations.

“There are absolutely no plants on Sally’s show. This is her gift and she has been sharing it for years with audiences and doesn’t need to do that,” a spokesman from Sally Morgan Enterprises stated.

This statement may in fact be correct. Whilst many may consider it a semantic technicality, a “plant” is generally considered to be a confederate pretending be an audience member. In the case of Sally Morgan, the accusation is that a member of her staff knowingly provided Sally with previously acquired information about audience members, whether by research or eavesdropping.

Read the full story at The Independent.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 at 8:58 pm and is filed under Psychics & Mediums. 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.