Uri Geller

[[File:Uri Geller in Russia.jpg|right|thumb|165px|I want YOU to give me spoons to bend!]]
{{paranormal}}
'''Uri Geller''' {{lived|1946}} is an [[Israel]]i [[magic]]ian and mentalist who, for the last fifty years, has made a career for himself posing as a [[psychic]]. 

He was born in Tel Aviv, then under [[United Kingdom|British]] rule in [[Palestine]] but soon part of Israel. After military service as a paratrooper including in the 1967 Six-Day War, he became a stage entertainer, manipulating metal (he would later become popularly associated with bending spoons), making clocks run faster and slower, and viewing hidden drawings - common magic tricks but which he attributed to psychic powers. Despite repeated debunkings, he has made a career out of it ever since. In the mid 1980s he moved to Berkshire, [[England]].<ref name=bbc2021>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-59609232 Israeli 'psychic' Uri Geller still baffling fans at 75], BBC News, Dec 26, 2021</ref> He has continued to make ridiculous or unverifiable claims, including saying he could use his psychic powers to stop [[Brexit]] (he didn't), and claiming to have moved a ship blocking the Suez Canal in 2021. He also apparently makes a lot of money [[dowsing]] for oil and minerals.<ref name=bbc2021/>

==Discredited==
Geller was effectively discredited by, among other things, a 1973 appearance on ''The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson''.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqCJDpNnHNI Uri Geller on the Tonight Show] (August 1, 1973) ''YouTube''.</ref> Geller failed to bend spoons that Carson, an amateur magician in his own right, had (with the help of [[James Randi]]) chosen beforehand, and to which Geller did not have access.<ref>[http://www.metafilter.com/63568/Uri-Geller-on-Johnny-Carsons-Tonight-Show Uri Geller on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show] (August 5, 2007 1:03 PM) ''MetaFilter''.</ref>

==Litigation==
He was a focus of much [[paranormal]] research during the [[Human Potential Movement|Human Potential movement]]<ref>{{wpa|Human Potential Movement}}</ref> of the 1970s, including a well-known study at the Stanford Research Institute that claimed to validate his powers. Geller is notoriously litigious, and has on many occasions attempted to use this study (considered flawed at best by experts on magic and pathological science) as a cudgel in court against his opponents, particularly against Randi.<ref>[http://www.rationalresponders.com/Uri_Geller_Sapient An account] of this.</ref> Despite this, Geller typically loses in court battles.

==Stage magician==
It has been commented by some, including skeptical writer [[Martin Gardner]] (who was well-trained in magical techniques), that Geller's magic is rather amateurish and mediocre, and that his entire reputation rests on the assertion of [[psychic powers]], allowing him an out if a trick fails, something that happens often in the presence of a [[skeptical]] audience. Geller has of late had a career as a reality TV star, being embarrassed on his Israeli TV show ''The Successor'' for getting caught using a fake finger gimmick to rig a "psychic" demonstration, and later being embarrassed on the American version, NBC's ''Phenomenon'', when co-judge (and legitimate magician) Criss Angel called out both Geller and a contestant claiming psychic abilities with a sealed envelope, the contents of which neither would attempt to divine.<ref group=note>The envelope was later, according to James Randi in a November 2007 blog entry, revealed to contain the numbers "[[9/11|911]]", a swipe against psychic claims of being able to predict the future.</ref>

==Early career==
Geller's early career has been extensively documented in the skeptical literature, particularly Martin Gardner's ''Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus'' [[Special:Booksources/9781573920568|ISBN 9781573920568]], [[James Randi|James Randi's]] ''Flim-Flam!'' [[Special:Booksources/9780879751982|ISBN 9780879751982]] and ''The Truth About Uri Geller'' [[Special:Booksources/9780879751999|9780879751999]], and William Poundstone's ''Big Secrets'' [[Special:Booksources/9780688048303|ISBN 9780688048303]]. In recent times, Geller has become sort of a professional hanger-on, associating with [[credulous]] celebrities (including [[Chabad]] Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and, at one point, Michael Jackson), as well as investing in soccer teams in his adopted home of the [[United Kingdom]] and running them into the ground.

==Pokémon controversy==
[[File:GellerKadabra.jpeg|right|thumb|165px|For around twenty years, Geller wanted you to believe these were the same.]]
Nintendo has avoided using the [[Pokémon]] "Kadabra" in their media for some time, fearing lawsuits from Geller. Geller believes Kadabra to be a libelous mockery of his image,<ref group=note>Kadabra's Japanese name is ユンゲラー, Yungeraa; replace ン with the visually-similar リ and it becomes Yu''ri''geraa. which is how his name would be transliterated into Japanese.</ref> complete with "[[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]]" symbols (a star on the forehead, probably an [[Occult|occult]] reference, and chest lines similar to the runic insignia of the [[SS]]- these were actually inspired by [[Zener cards]]). The trading card game has not printed a Kadabra card since 2003, despite Kadabra being an evolutionary link between Abra and Alakazam. In order to get around this problem, recent Abra and Alakazam printings regard Kadabra as a completely optional step in the evolutionary chain. Thanks Mr. Geller, we couldn't have done it without you.

It seems like Uri Geller finally changed his mind on this one in 2020 (several years after Kadabra reappeared in Pokémon Go).<ref>https://www.eurogamer.net/amp/2020-11-29-uri-geller-apologies-for-pokemon-dispute-and-says-its-up-to-nintendo-to-bring-kadabra-back</ref>

==Scottish mysticism==
In 2009 he bought a small uninhabited island off the east coast of [[Scotland]] called The Lamb. There are various nonsensical mystical theories about this island. Firstly, it lies in a triangle formed by three sites associated with the [[Knights Templar]]: [[Rosslyn Chapel]], the Isle of May, and the village of Temple in Midlothian. For some reason the Knights Templar are viewed as having vast mystical powers. Secondly, along with the nearby islands of Fidra and Craigleith, it forms a shape which allegedly resembles the layout of the [[Giza pyramids]] and the layout of the stars in Orion's Belt (a fringe theory holds that the pyramids match Orion's belt). Pseudo-archaeology researcher Jeff Nisbet claims that "anyone standing on the battlefield of Bannockburn, where Robert the Bruce defeated the English army in 1314, on the anniversary of the battle on June 24, would see the three stars (Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka) rise exactly over the three islands of Craigleith, Lamb and Fidra".<ref>[https://www.urigeller.com/why-i-bought-lamb-island/ Why I Bought Lamb Island], UriGeller.com</ref><ref>{{wpa|The Lamb (island)}}</ref><ref>{{wpa|Orion correlation theory}}</ref> Whether you can even see the islands from Bannockburn, near Stirling, is unclear<ref group=note>You cannot see the islands from Bannockburn: for starters, Craigleith, Lamb and Fidra would be in a line from this angle, they are 45 miles away, and below the horizon, so it would be impossible to see even if there weren't also 20 miles of hills much taller than the islands themselves in the way as well. This is comparable to claiming you can see Ellis, Governors and Liberty island from a field on the border of Pennsylvania.</ref>, but it sounds like the worst sort of [[Celt]]ic or [[Scottish National Party|Scottish nationalist]] pseudohistory.

Geller has suggested that The Lamb was visited 3000 years ago by Princess Scota, the sister of the pharoah Tutankhamen, who supposedly fled [[Egypt]] and stayed there for a while (despite the island being tiny, rocky, and not far from the Scottish mainland), doubtless leaving behind lots of treasure. He announced plans to excavate the island to find the treasure, in a speech at the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick (which is incidentally a must for fans of puffins). In 2010 he announced he was visiting to do some [[dowsing]].<ref>[https://www.scotsman.com/news/uri-geller-looks-to-excavate-forth-s-lamb-island-in-treasure-hunt-1-1232388 Uri Geller looks to excavate Forth's Lamb Island in treasure hunt], The Scotsman, 8 March 2010</ref> Since then, he has fallen quiet, which suggests no treasure was found, or that he has - like many other older humans - retreated to a life of introversion and solitude, perhaps no longer interested in continuing to be "Fake". It seems his prior lifestyle was quite profitable.

The nearby island of {{wpl|Fidra}} is considered to be one of the inspirations of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel ''Treasure Island''. It seems Geller has taken it all rather literally, and may soon be found {{wpl|Ben Gunn (Treasure Island)|roving the island in a dishevelled state muttering about cheese}}.<ref>[http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst1599.html Fidra], Gazetteer of Scotland</ref>

==Stance on Israel==
Geller has been a firm supporter of Israel during the Gaza genocide, even accusing [[Joe Biden]] and [[Barack Obama]] to be too pro-[[Palestine]] for him.<ref>[https://www.thejc.com/opinion/im-uri-geller-and-bidens-iron-commitment-to-israel-is-as-brittle-as-a-spoon-in-my-hands-i3izokbt I’m Uri Geller and Biden’s ‘iron’ commitment to Israel is as brittle as a spoon in my hands], Uri Geller, ''The Jewish Cronicle'' 24 July 2024</ref> Bizarrely, he claimed that he used psychic powers to stop [[Greta Thunberg]]'s aid flotilla from arriving in Gaza.<ref>[https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-856996 Uri Geller to 'Post': Greta Thunberg, if you come to harm Israel, I will stop you], Aaron Reich, ''The Jewish Cronicle'' 8 June 2025</ref>

==See also==
*[[Psychokinesis]]
*[[Spoon bending party]] Learn to bend spoons like Uri

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geller, Uri}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Shysters]]

Categories: Living people, Pseudoscience promoters, Shysters