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Definition: When a magician or so-called psychic tries to "read" an audience, either they will already have information about the people there or those people will be complete strangers. When they are strangers, the performer must engage in "cold reading." Cold reading is any attempt to gather information about people without their realizing that this is going on. It often involves throwing out common names or ailments in the hope that one of them will be "hit" - that is, in the hopes that someone will visibly or audibly react to the words. Upon achieving a hit, the performer can continue to get more specific and keep guessing more things, eventually getting enough hits that it appears to be supernatural knowledge.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
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