Uri Geller was born on December 20, 1946, to parents of Hungarian and Austrian descent. A self-proclaimed psychic, Geller is also an illusionist and magician.
But more than anything else, he is best known for his spoon-bending trick, which has earned him international fame.
As with all mentalists, although a veil of mysticism surrounds Geller and his performances, he typically uses conjuring tricks to simulate psychokinetic and telepathic events.
Currently aged 74, Uri Geller has enjoyed a long career in magic and mentalism — his career spans more than four decades. During this time, he has worked on television and has brought his performances all over the world.
In this article, we’ll be looking into the colorful career of Uri Geller – his mentalism story and tricks.
Uri Geller and the Days of His Youth
Though he was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Geller and his family moved to Cyprus when he was 11. It was here that the tri-lingual Geller learned to speak English (due to his ancestry, he also speaks Hebrew and Hungarian).
Geller joined the Paratroopers Brigade of the Israeli army when he turned eighteen. He was wounded in action three years later while serving in the Six-Day War of 1967.
It was only during his early twenties when he first began performing. While working as a model, Geller also started doing magic acts for small audiences in a nightclub. It became his doorway to magician and mentalist circles as he gained popularity in Israel.
Geller moved his performances from nightclubs to theaters, holding shows in various locations, such as auditoriums, military bases, and universities. His career eventually brought him out of Israel, allowing him to perform for American and European audiences.
In the same decade, at the height of his career, Uri Geller performed for audiences worldwide. Magic and mentalism acts became a full-time endeavor.
Uri Geller Claims Having Paranormal Abilities
Unlike modern mentalists, who blatantly say that they have no supernatural powers, Uri Geller took a contrasting route when asked about his abilities. He claimed that his performances worked because he had supernatural powers.
He came up with his own story.
It began when he was four — when he encountered a mysterious sphere of light in a garden near his house. It was supposedly validated by a retired Israeli air force officer who had witnessed the event.
A year later — when we have five — Geller claims his powers first manifested when a spoon unexpectedly curled up in his hand and broke, despite not applying any pressure on it.
In 1971, when Geller was in his mid-twenties, Andrija Puharich put him under hypnosis. While being under, Geller claimed extraterrestrials sent him to earth from a ship more than 50,000 lightyears away.
When asked about it later, he denies it but quickly follows it with a semi-confirmation, saying his energies may have an extraterrestrial connection.
Puharich endorsed him as a genuine psychic, even sharing how Geller teleported a dog through his house’s walls. A comment from science writer Martin Gardner, however, threw some doubt over it — stating that since no fraud expert could validate the legitimacy of what happened, the claim shouldn’t be taken as bible truth.
Controversies in Uri Geller’s Career
Martin Gardner was not the only person to have doubts about the authenticity of Geller’s supernatural abilities. Yasha Katz, Geller’s manager when he performed in Britain, admitted that performances were simply staged tricks. He gave explanations on how these were done.
In his 1975 autobiography, My Story, Geller admitted that the act wherein he guessed car registration numbers of his audience worked because his manager gathered the information and gave it to him ahead of time.
Responses to Spoon-Bending
Even Geller’s most famous act — the bent spoons — were not excepted from this. Stage magicians from all over the globe put forward several methods that result in an identical illusion. The most common technique cited was misdirection, which is something most mentalists use during their tricks.
Among the various methods mentions were:
- Using short moments of distraction during which a mentalist physically bends a spoon without the audience seeing it
- Pre-bending the spoon, possibly through heat, making it more pliable and needing less pressure to be applied before it bends
Responses to Telepathic Drawing Demonstrations
Another popular act Uri Geller often does is reading the minds of subjects while they draw pictures. Sentiments of how these could be done without paranormal abilities also surfaced during Geller’s career.
During the demonstrations, Geller could not see what subjects were drawing, but he remains in the room with them. Critics were quick to point out that simply being within the same area allowed Geller to make educated guesses regarding sketched shapes based on movements and sounds. Being adept at utilizing the power of suggestion may also help him “read” the audience’s minds.
Geller’s Appearance in The Tonight Show
One of his primary critics was James Randi, a skeptic who repeatedly challenged the validity of Geller’s psychic claims. He went and published a book entitled The Truth About Uri Geller, which was supposedly an expose. He also often duplicated Geller’s tricks through natural techniques.
As a response to all these allegations, Geller says other magicians can replicate his performances using trickery. He firmly stands by his claim that he accomplishes his feats through psychic means.
It came to a head, though, in 1973, when Geller appeared as a guest on the Tonight Show. Randi was once again involved in it. He advised the show to prepare props themselves and ensure Geller and his group did not have access to it.
Geller, who was expecting an interview, expressed his surprise at having to demonstrate his abilities. He was unable to show any paranormal abilities during the episode, saying he felt weak and pressured by the situation.
If Randi thought it was the end of Uri Geller’s career, he was dead wrong. Immediately after that disastrous appearance, the Merv Griffith show booked Geller.
Believers of the great Uri Geller felt his failure made him appear more human — some even said had his performances been set up, then it would have worked every time.
Uri Geller’s Recent Achievements
Geller has been part of The Successor, an Israeli show, which aims to find — exactly what the show title says — his successor, since early 2007. It was launched internationally and was co-hosted by Criss Angel when it aired on NBC. It continued for several seasons.
In 2013, he did a live interview on Coast to Coast AM, hosted by George Knapp. The four-hour interview garnered a huge amount of interest. It caused a surge of traffic, almost causing the station’s website to crash.
Geller was invited by the International Federation of Magical Societies to deliver an inspirational speech in Italy in 2015. There were more than 1,500 magicians and mentalists in the audience.
The Wrap Up
Some people believe Uri Geller truly has supernatural abilities. Others are convinced of the opposite.
With the number of thoughts shared for either side of the argument, it’s up to you to decide whether or not you believe his psychic claims are genuine. What cannot be denied, however, is the success that Uri Geller has experienced throughout his career.
It may not have been smooth sailing all the time — but he found a way to get past it. It is something all aspiring mentalists must keep in mind. In mentalism, you have to have passion, and you have to have patience.
So, continue developing your craft. Remember, the greats were great for a reason; they never let anything keep them down.