Wilson - The Geller Phenomenon

The success had surpassed everyones expectations, including Gellers

Hard on the heels of success came the efforts to discredit Geller, and magicians, journalists, and photographers went on the attack.

A photo of Geller taken by Yale Joel, a freelance photographer who spent a day experimenting with Geller, and became convinced he had found a way Uri was cheating.

In spite of his success in Germany, it was to be another year before Uri Geller found his feet firmly planted on the ladder of world fame. The decisive event was his appearance on November 23, 1973 on a British Broadcasting Corporation television program, the David Dimbleby Talk-In. Also present in the studio were John Taylor, a physicist and professor of mathematics at London University, and biologist Lyall Watson, whose book Supernature was on the best seller lists.

Geller was not entirely unknown in Britain. Word had circulated of tests that had been conducted on him at the Stanford Research Institute in California earlier the same year, and on several nationwide TV programs, including the Jack Paar show, that he had appeared on. But for some reason Gellers feats had not generated much excitement in the United States. Perhaps the profusion of television stationsas contrasted with the three channels available in most parts of Britainsiphoned off a large proportion of viewers. Or perhaps the presentation of his talents on the American shows was relatively unconvincing. Such attention as he did attract tended to be unfavorable. Time magazine, for example, denounced him as a cheat. So the American tour had been anything but an unalloyed success.

Gellers most spectacular success came in Britain, where he appeared on a BBC-TV program, the David Dimbleby Talk-In, a show that dealt with miscellaneous topics in a studio format with an audience present. One program was devoted to Geller, who astonished them. In a telepathy experiment, a sailboat was a target drawing. Below it is Gellers reproduction.

The Dimbleby program changed all that. On the table in the BBC studio were various articles, mostly spoons and watches. Geller was handed a sealed envelope, which contained a drawing that had been made immediately before the program. Geller closed his eyes, concentrated on the envelope, and then made a drawing on a sketchpad of a childs sailboat. The envelope was opened and the drawing found to be practically identical to the one Geller had made. Next, David Dimbleby held a fork in his hand, his fingers around its thinnest point, where the handle joins the base. Geller stroked it gently without, apparently, applying any pressure. Within 30 seconds, the fork had begun to bend. Uri later pointed out that another fork that had remained on the table had begun to bend of its own accord. He took watches that had ceased to work, rubbed them gently, and made them start again. Lyall Watsons own watch stopped during this performance. But what probably impressed the audienceand the two scientistsmost was that the hands of one of the watches were found to have bent upward so that they pressed on the glass. If this was a conjuring trickas some of the audience believedit was difficult to see how he had tampered with a sealed watch.

One member of the audience stood up and said that he would be convinced if Geller could bend a stout metal bar, which he offered to bring onto the platform. Uri declined, explaining that although he could do it, it would take so long that the program would be over before he succeeded.

The producer of the program came on to say that they had received dozens of telephone calls from people who said that their own cutlery had been bending while they watched the program or that long-inert watches and clocks had started.

The next morning, Uri was famous. I had missed the program, but someone told me about it before the morning was over. There could be no doubt that the success had surpassed everyones expectations, including Gellers. On the previous evening, Geller had performed similar feats on a radio program; but then hearing is not the same thing as seeing. Everyone who had watched the David Dimbleby Talk-In felt they had personal proof that Geller was genuine. And they wanted to know how he did it. Not next year or next month, but instantly. And because no one knew the answer, it was discussed in pubs, bingo halls, and bowling alleys all over the country. Stage magicians dismissed it scornfully as sleight of hand; one journalist stated authoritatively that he had supervised the preparation of a chemical that would cause metal to crumble and bend, but later had to retract his rash statement. The science editor of the SundayTimes, Brian Silcock, described how he had accompanied Uri in a taxi to Heathrow Airport, and offered him his own front door key. As soon as Uri began to stroke it, it bent, so that it was later unusable. Silcock, who had been a skeptic, admitted that he was converted.

Geller with Dimbleby. In this experiment, Dimbleby held a key ring and key in his palm, and Geller placed his hand over it.Then Geller took the key ring from Dimbleby and held it in plain view, and the key slowly bent before their eyes.Above: Dimbleby with his key, now rendered completely useless. Below: while Geller and Dimbleby were experimenting with the key, London journalist Rosamund Mann was looking on with fascination. (She can be seen in the picture above, next to Dimbleby.) Abruptly, with no warning, a link of her bracelet shattered, and the gold-leaf chain slipped to the floor, surprising all those present.One of the many cartoons that have appeared about Uri. This one, by Mac, came out at the time of his London success. The caption to it read, So I said to this guy Uri back there, Okay, Smarty-pants, what else can you do, apart from bend spoons?

When the news of Gellers British triumph reached the United States, the Americans were puzzled and intrigued. Although seemingly more skeptical than the British on Gellers first appearance, they could not help being impressed once he had achieved success abroad. When he returned to the Statesand to the anxious scrutiny of Andrija PuharichGeller found that his rather dubious notoriety had changed into celebrity.

Meanwhile, in England Gellers fame continued to grow in his absence. There were extraordinary reports that during his broadcasts large numbers of the BBCs transmission devices ceased to function. A mass-circulation newspaper, the Sunday People, cashed in on the publicity to organize an experiment at short notice: at half past noon on the Sunday following his Friday-evening Dimbleby broadcast, Uri was to concentrate on England (he was at Orly Airport, near Paris, at the time) and order as many spoons as possible to bend. The

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