Psychics: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) 

I remember driving with my mom, and we past by a psychic office that said out of business, my mom said bet she didn’t see that coming.

So does a "medium" turn into a "well-done" when they're grilled on TV?

Ha, I was 18 and a family friend asked if I'd play a psychic for an end of the school year school carnival. It was ridiculous how much people believed I was real. I wrote a bunch of words on little slips of paper and would have the person pull a couple from a bag then work those into my "reading". A bleached blonde but very tan wealthy looking girl came to my table and I told her I saw her on a boat, and in the sunshine. She was shocked because she had a vacation on the river planned. Oh really? Wealthy girl has access to a boat? *gasp* Who could imagine that to be the case?!

My cousin used to believe in psychics. Till something happened to a friend of hers. Her friend’s teenage daughter walked out on her after a fight, and went missing. Mom went to a psychic, who told her the kid was dead in a ditch somewhere. Poor woman nearly killed herself from guilt and grief. The daughter came home next day, alive and well. She was just hiding out with some friends of hers. Not harmless!!!

Me: a engineering student with dyslexia, stoked to see John oliver talk about physics...

"it's like learning that the second richest person in the world is this GameStop employee named Greg" hits a little different in 2021

I went to a group reading once. When she went through her cold reading with me she didn't get anything correct - wrong letters (and I've lost quite a few people), no chest pains... She finally announced to the room that I was blocking her and moved on. The rest of the room fell hook line and sinker. Later my boyfriend overheard a conversation between people raving about her "powers" but also mentioned there was a 'difficult person' in the audience. I find that hysterical, if she had gotten ANYTHING correct I would've gone with it - but she didn't.

i'm glad he mentioned Amanda Berry. her mom died thinking she was dead, too, since Amanda was in captivity for a literal decade. it's extremely sad and sylvia brown should have been held responsible.

The funniest of debunk of all time....a psychic told Houdini that she was talking to his mom....his response, "I didn't know you were bilingual"....she said "i'm not"....his response, "thats funny because my mom didn't speak a word of English"

If my dad tries to communicate with me through someone like Teresa Caputo, I will never speak to him again for the rest of my afterlife.

I have a deep hatred of psychics after a personal experience with one. When I was 3 years-old, my mom passed away suddenly from a bad seizure; she had epilepsy and had stopped taking her medications because she discovered that she was pregnant with my little brother/sister. She was only 26. My grandmother, naturally, was absolutely sick with grief. This was in 1988 and there was a very popular psychic fraudster at the time named George Anderson; he would write books and give lectures and of course, do “private readings” for an astronomical fee. My grandmother reached out to him and he agreed to see her. She was barely able to function or get out of bed at the time, so the family figured, “It couldn’t hurt. If it makes her feel better.” My family does not have a lot of money; we wouldn’t even qualify as middle class. Even so, my grandmother booked a flight to New York City, made reservations at a hotel and paid the exorbitant fee for this quack’s time. I was too little to accompany her but the session was tape recorded and I listened to it years later when I was older. Predictably, the session was nothing more than a bunch of vague generalizations and sappy, asinine messages. “She’s telling me that she died unexpectedly” (this could easily be gathered, here was an elderly woman seeking to connect with her deceased daughter; parents usually outlive their children so obviously something unexpected happened). “She says to tell you she is fine and loves you very much” (typical of every psychic). He would ask leading questions and then come to conclusions based on information he had gathered by asking said questions. He didn’t say one thing that was unique or something only my mother would have mentioned, like, oh, I dunno, her 3 year-old daughter? Her fiancé, my stepfather, who she was planning a wedding with? It was so absurd. It made me angry he took advantage of a grieving mother to make a fortune off of, how many others has he done this to? I believe in an afterlife, I do not believe in psychics. They may seem harmless to some, but they are taking advantage of people’s pain and misery

The irony of John Oliver being a psychic about Game Stop stock during a segment disproving psychics. What an amazing reality

John Oliver's commitment to constantly naming and shaming abusers makes me inordinately happy.

Rich Gamestop employee is a great 2021 reference... clearly John is a psychic...

I'm 3 years late and probably no one will see this but I went to their free psychic website that would be "exactly as accurate as any psychic reading that you would pay money for" and the first video I got after clicking on the psychic reading button was "Does the mid-sized Korean fishing city of Gunsan have any significance to you?" I'm an American expat living in Korea and actually lived there for 6 months! It's an insignificant place even in Korea and when I mention having lived in Gunsan (now having moved to a much bigger city), Koreans are always flabbergasted how I ever ended up there. The chances are hilarious and certainly more accurate than what I would get from a paid reading!

I'm a 21 year old out on a Friday night and I'm thinking I'll just check this out for 2 minutes while I wait to get into the club. I'm in the club now and still listening to the whole damn thing. Please keep doing this Mr. Oliver.

That "Game Stop" joke aged like a fine wine...

At 15 I thought I was having psychic dreams. I would dream something and find out later that day it actually happened. I was falling asleep to music on the radio, and it turned out the news came on about an hour before I woke up.

My niece was amazed at a reading she payed well for. She was adamant that this woman told her things she could not have possibly known. Until I asked her if she had mentioned any of them on line. She had mentioned every one of these revelations on one platform or another. Psychics have a whole new way of reading your future since the advent of the internet.

I am disappointed James Randi (who made an entire career over having so-called psychics prove their abilities) wasn't mentioned. He had a $1,000,000 prize to anyone who could prove that their 'abilities' were real and not just due to probability. No one ever claimed it.

One time I was at a psychic thing and I said “I never got a chance to come out to my grandma before she died. I just wanna know she’s okay with that.” And the psychic was like, “she forgives you for not being able to come visit her. She knows you had a lot going on.” And I was like, “oh uh no I VISITED her every day before she died. I meant like come out as bisexual.” And that woman’s face bro. Oof

I thought that John Oliver was gonna talk about physics.

I'm autistic and my mom believes in psychics and they used to bully me all the time whenever my mom would try to have a psychic reading done and said that I just had a lot of negative energy and was possessed by demons

Best psychic ever Tony Soprano. He has a 99.9% accuracy on knowing when someone will no longer be at the Thanksgiving reunion.

I'm a psychic John Oliver, Abraham Lincoln wants to tell you that yes, you do bear a turtle like resemblance

“Yup, that boy is indeed in the opposite of heaven: he’s in a Denny’s” I died man

I just imagine a ghost hanging out next to the medium, whispering to them "Psst, Pssst, say that there's a "R" somewhere in my name, or in an important month or a place we meet once."😂

When my aunt died my mom became obsessed with psychics and finding someone to connect her with my aunt. One day , we travel for 4 hours to visit this church that had psychic reading and a woman came to her and ask her things about my aunt to "find her on the astral side easier", the issue is my mom didn't tell everything, she only talked about my aunt 2 kids, but left the younger out, and didn't mention me , even though we were super close and i was there. Shocking but the letter only talked about my mom, nothing on the other siblings nor my grandparents, and her 2 kids , ignoring the younger. After that my mom lost faith on those things and im glad she did. Some of these things designed to bring confort can make things way worst when controled by money hungry manipulative monsters

You didn't disappear? "I'm right here." Lol

SO much shade thrown in this episode. lmao. I love it

"He's a sophisticated, Manhattan, sex monster." John's one-liners are pure gold!!! 😂

Psychics are amazing! A psychic told me that my grandmother was going to die, and sure enough, 12 years later, she did!!!

Houdini waged a hard-fought war against psychics for exactly these reasons. When his mother died, he tried using psychics to talk to her, but as an expert magician himself he caught on to their tricks quick. Then he started going all over the country debunking psychics left and right. He often went to seances in disguise until he figured out the trick, then ripped off his disguise and told everyone present exactly what was going on. He swore to his loved ones that when he died he would try to contact them no matter what, and devised a secret code with his wife so that no psychic could just bluff their way into convincing her. When he died her wife offered a reward to anyone who could contact his spirit, which means he kept debunking fake psychics even after his death. Only one medium was able to have "Houdini" speak to his wife matching the code. So for all we know that guy is the only legit psychic. Or at least, he was. He died in 1971. His name was Arthur Ford. Insert hitchhiker's guide reference here. ... But wait, there's more! After Arthur's death, the person writing his biography found evidence that many of his seances were faked, and that he did a lot of hot reading on his clients. On top of this, the code that Houdini and his wife used in their early acts was published in page 105 of Houdini, His Life Story. It's possible that this was the basis of Houdini's ghost code, and Arthur could definitely have read it. I personally like to believe that Houdini appears at every seance. Not because he was summoned, but to give the psychics a disapproving lecture about ethics. A lecture that they can't hear because, well, they're fakes.

When I was in 12th my psychology teacher told us he was a psychic and had a show he did in Manhattan and he wanted to try his powers here. He had people pick up dictionaries and could guess the word they picked. Guessed cards people picked. And guessed numbers we were thinking. With perfect accuracy. By the end I was completely convinced that psychics were totally real. On Monday he told us everything was fake, he doesn't have a show in Manhattan, it was all set up, we're all idiots.

I remember many years ago that my supervisor was going to the state fair to see a psychic that is there every year and everything she says comes true. So the next day I asked her what she said and she told me that the psychic told her something significant would happen on November 12th. So I waited for November 13th and asked her if anything significant happened. She looked at me with a puzzled look. I reminded her about the psychic and she looked away and blew it off. I remembered because it was my birthday but she completely forgot.

Oh, dearest Randi... How much do we miss you.... 🌹❤️🌹 The best illusionist and absolute master in debunking "psychics", teaching scientists and us to recognise all their mean tricks and laying bare their greed for all to see. I so wished, someone like you would step up and continue your wholesome legacy! Cheers!

The second-hand embarrassment of the psychics being wrong nearly killed me

Wow. These shots against Matt Lauer were BRUTAL and i love it.

I always laugh when a medium first makes contact with someone on the other side, they don’t know their name or even their first name initial. However, by the time they are finished talking to the deceased they are chatting in complete sentences …… amazing!

Pointing out Dr Oz is a walking joke is even more appropriate now than the 2 years ago he first said it

Let me just say that as a pediatric nurse, it's so frustrating to see your patient's parents make decisions about their care based on what a psychic told them. They need to honestly outlaw these scam artists.

I once had a psychic tell me over and over again that I was having a lot of problems at work, he was very adamant about it. At the time, I was in college and didn't have a job. At all. He didn't like hearing that.

I love Wanda Jo Oliver. I wish she were on the show more often.

"It is weird to envision a scenario in which something happened at the Today Show offices and then *Matt Lauer* was the one who went home and cried." Just a perfect delivery of that insane line.

Not to mention, Amanda Berry’s mom died of grief before Amanda was found. I don’t know how you could be a psychic and not feel horrible for contributing to stuff like that

I love the Dad who communicates from the afterlife to let his daughter know she has a scar on her foot. Like thanks for that indispensable information, Dad. Any other priceless nuggets of wisdom from beyond the grave? Is the sky blue?

A friend and I went to a psychic for shits & gigs. We both talked about our love lives. The psychic told us both the EXACT SAME THING. My friend was excited to tell me first how it went, and I never had the heart to tell her otherwise.

This stuff is 100% totally real and I'm going to prove it to you. "Uranus will help land you a job," my psychic said. "How is that possible?" I wondered to myself. Then one day while I was going on interviews, I got this bad case of diarrhea. After I went to the bathroom and was done relieving myself, I noticed that I had made a mess and started cleaning up the toilet and the area around it with toilet paper and paper towels. After I exited the stall, low and behold, there was a man standing in front of me. "How would you like to be our next janitor?" he said. 😄

Read this as “Physics” and was sorely disappointed that this wasn’t a science documentary

One thing that John didn't touch upon with the Pamela Brown/Amanda Berry incident, is that Amanda's mother died before Amanda escaped. Pamela Brown sent Louwana Miller to her death bed believing her daughter was dead, and that is beyond unforgivable. EDIT: Sylvia Brown NOT Pamela Brown

I love John Oliver's dimples. And his brain. And his cute accent. And the snark! John Snarkiver! Thank you!

Watching this after my Mom passed away and I can definitely see how easily it would be to fall into these sorts of scams.

What I want to know is why are there dead people whispering initials into psychics' ears? "Tell her my name has an M or a J in it. She'll know it's me."

Brains are funny. I read the “Psychics” in the thumbnail as “Physics”. I was incorrect, but I was not disappointed.

The Matt Lauer jokes landed soooooo smoothly lol

Wow, good for Greg, negotiating for shares of the company in his benefits package, that was real savvy of him

"This week's meeting of the Clairvoyant Society has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances..."

Amanda Berry.... One of the three women who were held captive for 10 years.... used to love watching Sylvia Brown with her mom. She actually watched an episode of a talk show while kidnapped where Sylvia was a guest and Amanda's mother was there to get a reading. Amanda was elated that Sylvia was going to tell her mother she was still alive. Then she watched in horror as Sylvia told her mother she was long dead and gone... Never coming back. She knew because Amanda's spirit came and told her so. Her mom was so devestated and Amanda was so angry she ever believed in her. These people do real damage to people already suffering. It should be illegal....

I love how when Meredith Viera is interviewing Theresa Caputo at 12:00, you can tell she's just thinking "This is such B.S." but has to remain professional.

I'm still waiting on a psychic to win the lottery.

Another reason for John to love New Zealand. Here and old law "Acting as a medium with intent to deceive" is still a punishable crime and is still actively enforced.

Apparently this episode shouldn't have been about informing people of the terrible nature of psychics, but instead about how to differentiate between the words "psychic" and "physics"

The brilliance in this man. It never disappoints. The segment about finding missing family, classy answer that seems like it should be the obvious response

John Oliver… thank goodness for you! Truth, facts, reality! Calling out the horrible people out there! Thank you!

"He's in the opposite of Heaven; he's in a Denny's" is iconic and no one can tell me otherwise.

After my child died, I joined a number of online support groups. All of them were full of people claiming they got a reading from a medium about their dead kid. When I voiced my concerns, people told me I'm taking away the hope from them and practically ostracized me. Grief support groups would be great, but this frenzy about psychics is really making it impossible for non-believers like me to participate.

Well, these folks might not be able to predict the future but the writers of the Game Stop joke sure can.

John Edward is a master class in how confident people are influential, that you can watch in real time.

Oliver's episode on Televangelist and this one goes hand in hand.

As a clinical mental health counseling student, I want to thank you for using your platform to shed light on this predatory industry. People who have suffered any type of prior trauma or still struggle w/ losing someone they loved, needs to see a health-care professional that can actually help them process their feelings, thoughts, and emotions

This made me think about an anecdote Christopher Hitchens once told about the writer of horoscopes for the New Statesman, who was fired with the words: "As you probably already know, I regret to inform you that you're fired."

“Ghost snitches get ghost stitches.” Dead 😂

The Sylvia Browne clip infuriated me. Amanda’s mother died before finding out that her daughter was alive. I hope Sylvia is rotting in hell for telling Lawauna that Amanda was dead. That is disgusting and shameful. It makes me sick to think about Amanda being abducted, terrorized in captivity daily, and forced to watch her mother be told that she’s dead on national television. RIP, Lawauna.

I read "Physics" in the thumbnail and got super excited. I only realized my mistake when he said "Psychics" and I died inside. Sooo depressing.

Wizard's First Rule: People are stupid, given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. This has been so relevant over the years between politics, religion, and even with stuff like this psychic episode~

This man is a treasure, if he ever quits we lose a massive help to this nations intelligence deficit. Pay him well, pay his team well. As always, good work please keep it up!

Wakey, wakey with John Oliver PRAISE BE!

With the psychic woman in the Denny's, they should've had the boy walk past her but everyone around her pretends they can't see him

Wow, that reading from Wanda Jo was so right, I called my late great-grandmother GraMcracker. Wow, I’m going to cry all the way home now.

what's even worse about the reading about amanda is that she was sitting on the couch next to her captor. he burst out laughing when the psychic said she was dead, and then he turned to amanda and taunted her about it. if i recall correctly, her mother passed away before she was able to escape. she was trapped in that man's house for years.

Psychics are grief-vultures. They're despicable, and that's why I have an entire series exposing them and their tactics.

Best cold reading I saw was someone who told the person they just met that they knew that their life was rapidly changing and they would have to make some though decisions in the near future. (And that God would help them with that) Thing was, every last person in that room was a college student.

You are the best of the best, John Oliver!!! 😊🎉

Tyler Henry is also really good at his job because his voice is perfect for causing ASMR and he intentionally talks softly. I bet a lot of people feel like they're "feeling the energy from him" or "feeling the spirits in the room" because he gives them back of the head and down the spine tingles and chills. It's actually the same technique a lot of other grifters, like hypnotists, energy healers, and literally everything about every religion throughout history, use to manipulate people into having a "spiritual experience".

I have a friend who talkes ťo the dead. They never talk back but he talkes to them. Lonely job being a undertaker.

If I was murdered, I'd not only be naming names, but also making life as hard as possible for whoever did it.

I love how he rips these people apart!!

I love that they actually bought the domains that he mentions at the end and put an extra bit on there.

A friend from high school who I had lost contact with (I'm now a college grad, so it's been a while) reached out to me out of the blue because a psychic at a convention he went to "described me perfectly" and told him I was murdered. I mean, it's great that it got us into contact again, but holy shit.

There's a "psychic" who lives in the Milwaukee area and happens to share my name. When I still had a land line, I'd get calls from people wanting an appointment with her. Without knowing the circumstances that prompted the call, and not wanting to be the person who drove somebody over the edge, I kept my skepticism/mockery to myself. But here's what I very much wanted to say: "I'm not her. But don't worry; if she's as good as you think, she'll call you."

The Travolta joke killed me 🤣

As someone who lived with an aunt who believed this kinda shit, I take great pleasure in watching people take the piss out of these snake oil selling snakes.

As much as I love making fun of them failing, I hate that they take advantage of people who are genuinely hurting and seeking answers to questions about really personal problems

That Wanda Jo's reading changed my life...

It's me from the future (2022) and I'm so glad that website is still up!

The website is delightful btw and VERY worth visiting

I wanted to see an psychic once. I went there, knocked the door and she answered: "Who is out there?" So I went away disappointed....

came to get a physics lesson from john oliver stayed to get a psychics lesson from john oliver

There's an astrology/psychic gallery about 10 minutes from where I live (I pass by it every time I go to my local model railroad club), and while I've never seen cars parked in front of it, I imagine the folks who run it live in the apartment above. Moreover, while I feel psychics/mediums/fortune tellers have very little in the way of truth/believability, I am sometimes tempted to walk into such an establishment and say, "Let me guess, you knew I was coming?"

"Wait: you didn't die?" Anyone who tells you there are no stupid questions needs to add an exceptions list to that.