Since everyone so enjoyed the spoon-bending video, I thought I’d share a couple more featuring two of our favorite across-the-pond skeptics.
First up, one that Rebecca mentioned which features Fry and Laurie helping out Randi with an astrologer. The sound’s a bit iffy for the first minute but it clears up.
[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=uDhxcIaC23k]And now here’s one from reader Darkwinter about being a credulous git.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XTEU8HIz8s]
I have all the episodes of Fry & Laurie on DVD. One of the best comedy shows ever made.
There's a great sketch about lie detection which you can watch here:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UGMD8cL6IjE
Fry and Laurie are always excellent, any time.
However, the Randi clip was not one of his better ones – I've seen others from the same series, and they were much more powerful. In this case, while the horoscope was somewhat general, I really do feel it applied to what I've seen of Laurie. This was a weak 'exposing' for Randi.
Yeah, a bit of “straw man” going on with the horoscope guy. I thought the most telling thing was his own admission toward the end that he deliberately makes the newspaper and magazine horoscopes very general, much more telling than the rest of the segment. You could see from his expression that it was perhaps a bit more than he meant to admit!
I think Fry and Laurie were nobbled on this one.
The way the camera was pointed at those two during (and probably before) the reading may have given Jonathan Cainer a few clues to who the person was.
Another case of lukewarm-reading for an audience, when the actual reading may have missed the mark.
It wasn't the best psychic-busting of all time, by any means. But in regards to Zoltan's comment that the horoscope seemed to fit what he'd seen of Laurie, I feel I should point your attention to his self-deprecating remarks in a recent interview quoted here. He's a superb actor, but I think Stephen Fry's characterisation in response to the horoscope was pretty close to the mark – after all, there can be few people who know him better.
Also, I have to admit having a small fanboy moment upon reading my name on the Skepchick blog.