Robert Channing Gets Inside Students’ Minds

Robert Channing, known for mind reading and motivational speeches, came to Frostburg on Tuesday, Oct. 21, to perform a mind-boggling show. Channing has been on various television networks, but he is best known for appearing on season nine of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”

Channing’s magical performance started with the use of extrasensory perception. He asked a male student in the audience to shake the hand that was in his pocket in order for Channing to guess the amount of change it held. Low and behold, Channing’s perception of eighty-seven cents was spot-on. Another extrasensory perception Channing had was when he asked a young lady named India to picture a number above her head. Channing correctly said thirty-seven.

The next skill Channing demonstrated dealt with content mind reading. Channing had two Frostburg students as his assistants. They taped half-dollars over his eyes and then added a blindfold, making it completely impossible for him to see anything. Channing did his first content mind reading trick when he was able to guess the serial number on a random dollar bill pulled from the audience. The next trick was guessing objects from the left and right side of the room. The first object from the right side made the entire crowd laugh and Channing guessed it spot on: he said, “I got a feeling this object is too big for the person this was borrowed from,” before guessing the object was a condom. Channing was then able to identify a purse and necklace as well, all without seeing or touching them.

The most stunning trick that Channing performed came when the crowd was asked to write the funniest moment of their lives, a number that means something to them, a question they want him to answer, their nickname, and their full name on a notecard. Mind you, Channing was still blindfolded while he was doing this trick. He was able to identify people in the crowd and know what they had written just by touching the paper and listening to them speak. And beyond knowing what was written on their cards, he correctly guessed other things that had happened to them, things that will happen to other audience members, and items that were not listed on the paper. Channing was able to guess Eileen Rivera’s, a member of the sorority Alpha Sigma Tau, scroll number.

The last trick Channing performed for was a prediction that he had prior to the show. He picked four random students from the crowd and together they developed their dream vacation. The first student listed Greece as her dream destination. The second student said she would take her friend Obed with her to Greece. The third student said he would like to take this trip on May 24, 1993. The final student said she would spend $13,000.72 on this vacation. When one of the students opened a sealed envelope, he found all the details of this dream vacation listed on a paper.

Channing stunned the crowd and left them laughing throughout the show. Even after the show, students were milling about, wondering how he could have guessed all of that. Some thought he had it down to a science from performing a lot and others thought it was pure magic.

Photo by Miranda Hanson.