The Alternative Press

NEWTON, NJ – When George Joseph Kresge, the Montclair, NJ native who is best know as The Amazing Kreskin was nine years old, he discovered his gift for reading the thoughts of those around him.

It started when his teacher decided to play the “hot and cold” game with his class, hiding a beanbag, and, one student locating it in a desk.

That day, The Amazing Kreskin went to his own home, and tried his own experiment.

“I decided to play the game at home,” Kreskin told The Alternative Press.

He gave his brother a penny, and asked him to hide it.

Kreskin wound his way up a staircase, and reached behind a curtain rod, to uncover the penny.

“The only thing I forgot was to have my brother talk to me,” recalled Kreskin, as he found the penny without assistance.

From there, the word traveled about Kreskin’s skills in reading thoughts, and his gifts were soon highlighted, and sought after, at private parties.

Now at 77 years young, Kreskin makes up to 261 appearances a year around the world, and has clocked over three million miles in the air.

“It’s neat to be in the home base area,” Kreskin said.

He will be appearing at The Newton Theatre on Sunday, July 15 at 3pm.

Kreskin is familiar with Newton, with his father having chauffeured a family who lived in town.

“I used to hear the name ‘Newton’ almost every day,” said Kreskin.

Of the performance he said, “I’m looking forward to it, it’s a full evening show.”

Kreskin continued, “The reason it’s a success is they’re not coming to watch the program, they’re coming to be a part of the show. I’m reading their thoughts.”

Kreskin said the shows vary based on who is in the audience.

At a recent show in Washington State, he asked which member of the audience was thinking of the name, “Alice”.

For example in Las Vegas, Kreskin communicated with one member of the audience, and was able to convey the man’s Army Serial Number.

At a show in Washington State, when he asked who was thinking of the name “Alice”, a young woman stood up and gasped. She confessed she had not planned to tell friends and family yet (who were also there at the show), but she was expecting a child and planned to name her daughter, “Alice”.

In The Amazing Kreskin tradition, he will have members of the audience hide his check, while he leaves the premises, then returns to attempt to locate it.

If he is unable to find the check, he forfeits his performance fee.

“I have failed in my career [to find it] nine times,” said Kreskin. “Not bad out of 6,000.”

Kreskin remembers what he has described as “dramatic searches”, including a show in New Zealand, and then in a university in Illinois.

At the university, he nearly gave up the search, when he asked a man to open his mouth, where Kreskin thought the check was, to discover it was not there. Kreskin backtracked and asked the man if he had a denture plate in his mouth; from there, the participant removed the check from under the plate.

Another memorable search was at a dinner to honor Bob Hope, with over 1,500 guests. Kreskin bypassed Walter Kronkite to pick up a large serving tray, only to become flustered to not find the check underneath. He eventually made his way to a stuffed turkey being served at the dinner, and pulled the check from the bird’s cavity.

“It’s really almost an adventure,” Kreskin said. “My career has been an adventure.”

The Amazing Kreskin had his own television show from 1970 to 1975, The Amazing World of Kreskin, and has made frequent appearances on The Tonight Show, Regis & Kathy Lee, Fox News with Mike Huckabee, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and Late Night With David Letterman.

The Amazing Kreskin was the inspiration for the 2008 film The Great Buck Howard starring John Malkovich.

For tickets to the show, click here for The Newton Theatre’s website 

For more information about The Amazing Kreskin, click here for his website.