John Edward, real name John Edward Magee Jr., is a famous "psychic" who claims to be able to contact the dead.

He was just another ordinary Italian kid growing up on Long Island, New York until he was 15 years old and a psychic informed him that he had a real special gift.

He calls his gift  (hehehe)  "The Process"  (he sure tries to make that sound real scientific, doesn't he?!)  and it's basically an exercise in throwing out some rather vague questions that are designed to gather information from his audience. Sooner or later at least one person in the very large audience will "recognize" some of the references he provides and they will eagerly fill in enough blanks so that John is able to make educated guesses that will give the appearance of delivering a special message.

It's not a bad way to make a living and John Edward certainly makes quite a good living between his books, TV show, gala seminars and his private readings which can command a bundle of money from people eager to receive messages from the dearly departed.

'I'm getting a father figure. It's a father, grandfather, uncle, brother or maybe a son. There's an "M" sound..... Michael, Mike, Mitchell, Mitch, Mick.....'

Cold Reading is what this is called. Basic psychology, keen observation, patience and sufficient bravado so a "psychic" is able to fish around long enough to strike gold. John's great at disclosing the feel-good stuff that is guaranteed to make his fans swoon, but he seems to have a 'block' when it comes to providing any type of information that comes even close to being worthwhile to mankind on a grand scale.

John's "special gift' is almost always limited to the usual and vague, 'he's not in any more pain and he wants you to know that he's happy.' *yawn*