The Amazing Kreskin Dies at 89
The New York Times:
George J. Kresge, who as the entertainer the Amazing Kreskin used
mentalist tricks to dazzle audiences as he rose to fame on
late-night television in the 1970s, died on Tuesday in Wayne, N.J.
He was 89. A close friend, Meir Yedid, said the death, at an
assisted living facility, was from complications of dementia.
Kreskin’s feats included divining details of strangers’ personal
lives and guessing at playing cards chosen randomly from a deck.
And he had a classic trick at live shows: entrusting audience
members to hide his paycheck in the auditorium, and then relying
on his instincts to find it — or else going without payment for
a night.
Somehow his first appearance with Letterman wasn’t until 1990, but after that he was a regular. Just a canonical “late night talk show guest” of that era. He was good at the mentalist tricks, but what made Kreskin great — amazing even — was that he was just such a weird, fun, and funny guy.
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The New York Times:
George J. Kresge, who as the entertainer the Amazing Kreskin used
mentalist tricks to dazzle audiences as he rose to fame on
late-night television in the 1970s, died on Tuesday in Wayne, N.J.
He was 89. A close friend, Meir Yedid, said the death, at an
assisted living facility, was from complications of dementia.
Kreskin’s feats included divining details of strangers’ personal
lives and guessing at playing cards chosen randomly from a deck.
And he had a classic trick at live shows: entrusting audience
members to hide his paycheck in the auditorium, and then relying
on his instincts to find it — or else going without payment for
a night.
Somehow his first appearance with Letterman wasn’t until 1990, but after that he was a regular. Just a canonical “late night talk show guest” of that era. He was good at the mentalist tricks, but what made Kreskin great — amazing even — was that he was just such a weird, fun, and funny guy.