http://www.thesainttwins.com/ Adrian Saint (real name Amir Ghasri) is a UC Davis student, CoHo employee, and wiki:WikiPedia:Mentalist Mentalist performer.  Saint has performed numerous shows around the Davis area.  In 2004 he appeared on MTV in a special about his techniques and life as a twin.  Saint astounded the Davis population in February of 2006 by http://www.californiaaggie.com/media/paper981/news/2006/02/08/CampusNews/Going.Mental1603769.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomainwww.californiaaggie.com predicting the results of the SuperBowl in a bet with The California Aggie, in which he would donate $1000 to charity if he was even a single point off.

Although he claims not to be a magician, he is teaching a class at the Experimental College called http://asucd.ucdavis.edu/experimentalcollege/index.cfm?pagesearch&coursesid2559 Magic for Effective Rapport that will get you laid.

Adrian Saint performed his last show in Davis at Historic City Hall and Bistro 33 on June 7, 2006. Fifty or so people were in attendence and some were quite astonished at some of his tricks. During the show he unveiled a new trick for him, a variant of Russian Roulette where there was a broken bottle inside of one of four paper bags, and he had a spectator tell him which bags to smash with his hand. Although from the side, it was obvious which bag had the bottle, so there was no risk to Saint, the audience was still pleased. It became especially funny when the spectator, who also knew which bag the bottle was in, told him to smash the bag that contained the bottle. Agitated, Saint kept asking Are you sure? until the spectator pointed to the correct bag.

 Superbowl Prediction Controversy 
In http://www.californiaaggie.com/media/paper981/news/2006/02/03/Features/Mentalist.Has.Mind.In.Endzone.With.Super.Bowl.Bet1598509.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomainwww.californiaaggie.com his SuperBowl bet, Saint gave The California Aggie a sealed envelope containing his alleged prediction, and the Aggie agreed to keep it safe and locked in a vault.  On Tuesday Februrary 7th, Saint was given his sealed envelope during his presentation at Thompson Hall in front of an audience.  Saint opened the envelope, which contained a cassette tape, and placed the tape into an A/V setup.  He then played a recording of himself announcing the results of the SuperBowl.

What did Saint do?  One possiblity is that Saint had a CD in the A/V setup, instead played that one (which contained the known results), and either transfered the audio during the presentation to the old tape or just gave them an altered tape entirely. Tiny prophetic gnomes, nestled in Saints spleen, may have whispered to him the winning score weeks before the competing teams had even been chosen. Its also possible that Saint actually predicted the results.

The California Aggie followed up with another http://www.californiaaggie.com/media/paper981/news/2006/02/16/CampusNews/ThePower.To.Predict1616376.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomainwww.californiaaggie.com&page2 article about the Super Bowl prediction, this time interviewing outside sources that could give a thirdperson perspective on the issue.

The Sacramento Bee has since published an http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14221880p15047464c.html article about Saints super bowl prediction, focusing on his publicity in The Aggie

Users/KarlMogel also addressed the Super Bowl prediction in a http://www.californiaaggie.com/media/paper981/news/2006/03/07/Opinion/Guest.Opinion.Reason.For.Skepticism1657657.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomainwww.californiaaggie.com&page1 guest opinion. Comments are encouraged on http://www.inoculatedmind.com/?p27 Karls Blog. Saint addressed some of Karls comments in this http://www.californiaaggie.com/media/paper981/news/2006/03/09/Opinion/Guest.Opinion.The.Mentalist.Strikes.Back1661490.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomainwww.californiaaggie.com   Aggie guest opinion two days later. It includes a few sports predictions and 5 predicted numbers for the March 18, 2006 Super Lotto. However, three of these predictions have already turned out wrong. None of the lotto numbers were predicted correctly, and Villanova was defeated in the NCAA mens basketball championship, and finally, the Detroit Pistons were beaten by Miami Heat in the NBA Championship.

On June 8, 2006, Saint was a guest on Karl Mogels radio show on KDRT, where Karl revealed http://www.inoculatedmind.com/?p49 how he thinks Saint did it. It turns out that the stereo he used matches a modifed stereo you can buy from magic stores that is designed to do this trick, called the http://www.magicauction.com/Mag_auc/mentalism.htm Impossible Cassette Prediction. (Scroll down to see it) After the show, Saint denied ever claiming that he really predicted the Super Bowl, implying that the Aggie overblew it. When Karl brought up the fact that he said I did predict the Super Bowl in his guest opinion, Saint said that you can use the word prediction in many different ways. This was off the air but recorded on tape.


20060210 00:53:15 nbsp This trick has been done numerous times by psychics, and was debunked by Penn & Teller over a year ago. If a prediction was indeed made, then it should have been revealed to someone before the Super Bowl. Because it was revealed more than a day after, all it takes is simple slightofhand.

Someone at The Aggie did suggest that Saint reveal the prediction right after the Super Bowl in the Aggie office, but he declined, saying he wanted to reveal it at the event. The prediction was given to them already sealed, preventing anyone from hearing it before the game. Users/KarlMogel

20060210 01:14:56 nbsp Is he claiming he has ESP, is psychic, etc. or is he doing this for entertainment purposes only? If the former, he should take the http://www.randi.org/research/faq.html JREF million dollar challenge, if the latter, give the guy some credit for stimulating critical thinking about how he could have achieved such a stunt.   Users/CraigBrozinsky

20060210 01:27:03 nbsp I am assuming his shows are for entertainment considering that we never see headlines such as Psychic wins Lottery!  I bought a lotto ticket using Saints predicted numbers and unfortunately lost my dollar. Well, I guess I paid a dollar for entertainment. Users/DussonYeung

20060210 08:50:39 nbsp Adrian does not claim to be a psychic. He is a mentalist which, as he points out, means he does get things wrong from time to time. Hes just usually right. If you really doubt what he can do, go see one of his shows the next time he does one. Users/EricFox
  Actually, Adrian Saint does claim to be a psychic, after doing some termredefining gymnastics in the FAQ of his website. Without saying yes, I consider myself a psychic, he says:
   Much like a sense that can be sharpened to compensate for the loss of another sense or the way human memory can be expanded and sharpened, ones psychic potential is always an unknown until it is revealed and explored. The ability to focus on that potential and to expand its boundaries is at the heart of a psychics extrasensory power.
 He also says that if by psychic, you mean talks to the dead, then he is not. He does call himself a Psychic Entertainer which is kind of like saying its Orange Drink instead of Orange Juice. Psychics also admit that they get things wrong from time to time. You misread/misheard him, as he used the gets things wrong from time to time to distinguish himself from a magician, not a psychic.
  Additionally, He claims on his website that he can read minds: The two primary things a mentalist can do is figure out what you are thinking (read your mind) and he can influence your decisions and actions. However, in the first Aggie article, he claims that he cant: I dont read minds
 He is no doubt an entertaining performer, but it is his claimed ability to predict the Super Bowl that is in question. Also, being there may bias your perception. Slightofhand works so well because you trust your eyes, and they are being fooled.  Users/KarlMogel KJM
   Update: Adrian Saint did not handle the tape, he activated the stereo with a remote control during the presentation. Although the stereo had only one tape deck, it did have a CD drive. According to Jeff Katz, who opened the box, the tape was rolling in the stereo. However, this does not rule out that a CD could have been playing on the speakers while the tape was playing. As pointed out above, it could indeed have been dubbing from the CD to the tape while playing on the speakers, resulting in both the appearance of the tape playing and the appearance of a prediction being made.  Users/KarlMogel KJM

20060210 09:45:51 nbsp Or he can just bother to reveal his prediction ahead of time. Users/JosephBleckman  I agree totally. The fact that it was not revealed before the event to anyone really makes calling it a prediction problematic.  Users/KarlMogel KJM

20060210 10:07:36 nbsp Isnt that photo on his website (c) The California Aggie? Users/ArlenAbraham  The photo is (c) Steven Nagareda, and Ghasri has permission to use it for ads and promotions. Users/KarlMogel KJM

20060210 16:30:12 nbsp Things arent always false if you cant explain them.  Theres always room for the unexplained.  Like why The Aggie got in the business of taking wagers. Users/BrentLaabs

20060213 17:14:46 nbsp The Aggie forgot to mention in the article that I never touched the tape, there was only one tape, I didnt switch it, and there was nothing in the CD player. I bought the tape for $1 from the student store and record it on my friends tape recorder. Someone at the show accused me of having my entire show, including the super bowl thing setup and staged. I offer a reward up to $25,000 if you can prove anything I do in my show is set up or staged. I just wanted to clear things up, since there been so much rumor and gossip about what I do. I dont care if you believe in what I do, but if you think everything I do is set up and staged, come see one of my shows, you probably walk out with a new perspective. And I dont have any powers!! Users/AdrianSaint

20060213 18:19:19 nbsp Ill take you up on it if you disprove the skeptics by announcing your predictions ahead of time for an upcoming sports game. Users/JosephBleckman

20060213 18:27:33 nbsp I did the super bowl prediction cuz my friend bet me, and I studied it for a year or so. My friend wants to predict the NCAA tournment, so for the fun of it, I just put my prediction in the aggie classifed section. You can bet on it if you want, but like I said I have no powers, I am a entertainer. I dont have to prove anything to anyone, but I just made that post to clear things up to show people everything I do is natural and logical, I have no powers or anything supernatural!  Users/AdrianSaint

20060213 18:30:49 nbsp Guys dont you see?! He cannot announce the outcome ahead of time because that would affect the outcome!  What part of Ashton Kutchers Butterfly Effect did you not understand? Users/MikeIvanov That they casted Ashton Kutcher. KJM :)

20060216 21:47:51 nbsp Predict the ASUCD election! Users/KrisFricke
  20060216 22:26:32 nbsp No thanks, I dont want to predict the ASUCD election cuz I predicted the fall ASUCD election. I done everything I wanted to do in Davis, with predicting the super bowl and election. I am in the process of moving on to bigger and better things. Working with my mentor on his TV special that is due out sometime next year and in process of possbilitiy appearing on Oprah and an A&E show in the upcoming year. But I do appreciate all the press that I got, from a $1 cassette tape that I bought from the student store. As they say in the mastercard commercials, it is priceless. Thanks to the press, my fee has gone up.  Users/AdrianSaint

20060216 22:34:38 nbsp The superbowl stunt was, well, a stunt. The real magic was getting all that free advertising from the aggie. Users/ArlenAbraham

20060216 22:37:56 nbsp I am in showbiz, and it wasnt just the aggie. I got free press from the Sac Bee, LA Times, Orange Country Register, (since I live in OC) and the Aggie.  Users/AdrianSaint
 Can you provide links to any of these stories? I tried ocregister.com, latimes.com, proquest and lexisnexis. Did they pick it up from Uwire?  Users/ArlenAbraham

Its entertainment; who cares how he did it.  The point is that you cant figure out how he did it, thats what makes it interesting. Plus, hes said in like 1000 Aggie articles that he uses probability, psychology, etc to do all this stuff, hence why he gets stuff wrong sometimes. Users/ChrisMay

20070907 23:18:38 nbsp What would blow my mind is if he could magically pull a personality out of his ass.  Users/JoshFernandez
