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= id 9 £ S is e € £ & 7E * â€" is w2 y z M 5 ‘ & = C § _ < 5ll\ Twelve people in the Kâ€"W area have March 31, 1982, etched into their subconâ€" scious minds forever when they volunteered for The Amazing Kreskin. He made them think they were extremely hot, and all of them began to remove coats, jackets and sweaters. To them, it felt like 100 degrees in the Centre in the Square "911", as he calls it , was a horrendous experienge for Kreskin and it actually bogâ€" gled his mind. Kreskin preâ€" dicted the New York devastaâ€" tion would happen during his annual predictions on CNN Jan. 1,. 2001. He says it was one of the most upsetâ€" ting moments of his life. He has been around the world many times, performâ€" ing his uncanny mental thoughtâ€"reading abilities from Japan to the Middle East. He has appeared on countless television shows, including the old Mike Douglas Show (109 times), David Letterman ("Hey folks, never mind the comâ€" mercials, we have Kreskin") and even Howard Stem. It ‘s no surprise this Polishâ€"Italian lightningâ€"fast intellect admits the only person he has ever competed with is himself. He has plays named after him ( Toronto‘s outrageous "Kreskinized"), a drink named after him, and cyberâ€" society websites trying to use the famed name for their own evil mentalist gain. He still works to help criminal investigations and is called by the government, but cannot talk about it. There are a lot cheap facâ€" similes in the world today but only one Kreskin. l I e‘s the world‘s foremost mental dynamo and he is... amazing. Mentalist Kreskin brings his mindâ€"reading talents to Kâ€"W Simply amazing THuRSDAY By Corar Lesur For The Chronicle RSDAY onl wape [ 1»; CX 78 2 NN "‘ ~nz ®P ; S a f ,’ F ‘6.4 3 y o OAAAÂ¥ L M a 4. SURVIVORY) q 3+ )2 . , mMarQuEsASs # “ 7> A i+ f~4§~‘?’ i.t 4 i io tA » l ‘ e | SEASON PREMIERE â€" / Prpilitd, "Wait till you see how I use the piano on stage to influence and control a group of 15 or 20 subjects," said Kreskin during a phone interview from Fort Worth, Tex. "A reviewer and a music critic had come to see me at a concert and said to me, ‘Kreskin, 1 have reviewed pianists all my life and I have never seen any human being do anything like that with a spotlight â€" thoughts spinâ€" ning into his control. Kreskin is thrilled to be coming back to the Centre in the Square March 5 after 20 years, and he says this show is one of a kind. ARTS FOCUS piano. I am playing the piano, and I am not going to tell you what is going to hapâ€" pen but you will find it wild." He sounds like an old carâ€" nival barker talking nonâ€" stop with that insatiable laugh, but he has all those "amazing feats" to support his own press. On his old TV show (he might be starting a new one) everyone‘s favorite Kreskinism was the ‘find the pay cheque routine‘, where someone would hide a pay cheque somewhere in the audience _ and _ Kreskin would have to find it. He always did with very few exceptions ( he admits when "This was the worst time of day â€" quarter of nine. People were coming up and down elevators. People were coming to work. The news guys were calling me. It was chaos, absolute chaos. 1 went up and down escalaâ€" tors and more elevators. I finally went to a cellar that had _ hundreds â€" working where they gather news from around the world and he cannot). But that‘s nothâ€" ing compared to his recent stunt at the Fox TV news building, where he found an envelope in a 44â€"storey office tower in 24 minutes. Continued on page 16 The foursomecontinued its antics by serenading a woman, who just celebrated her 33rd birthday, with "33 Candles", their version of "Sixteen Candles". For more information on The Essentials, visit the group‘s website at www.essentialsmusic.com/ The show also provided its share of laughs, particuâ€" larly for me, who had the pleasure of watching my friend chosen for an interactive segment. The joke was on the stars, however, who had no idea my friend is also a singer. They seemed quite surprised when she willingly accepted their threat to have her sing on stage. All in all, not bad for a young a cappella group that got its start singing in the parking lot of an ice cream stand in London, ON. _ If last week‘s performance was any indication of their mounting success, this group will be around for a long time. Oldies like California Dreaming, Up on the Roof, The Lion Sleeps Tonight and Lean On Me made up a refreshâ€" ing change from the mainstream offerings usually found in my CD player. _ My friend was later asked if she was in fact a plan â€" part of the act â€" because she looked so comfortable under the spotlight. _ 4 Since their formation, The Essentials have toured across North America and into Europe. On stage, they have joined the likes of musical icons Little Richard, The Platters and Burton Cummings. _ Tunes I sang as a child during family road trips. Tunes that accompanied my favorite television shows after school. Tunes that will always remind me of my father and his Solid Gold greatest hits collection. From the sea of smiles that appeared after the openâ€" ing song, it was obvious the peanut gallery was in for a treat. . And â€" by | midâ€"way css through the show, the handâ€" o clapping was contagious. | _ _ON THE There were seniors enjoyâ€" ing the musical mementos of their heyday. Middleâ€"aged couples, who were probably my age when much of the evening‘s _ selection _ was released. And there were even a few fellow 20â€"somethings who, not so long ago, cringed at the thought of spending an evening with ‘Mom and Dad‘s music. The Essentials are a mustâ€"see for anyone longing to capture a piece of the past. And sitting in the fourth row of the Waterloo Stage Theatre last Thursday night, 1 couldn‘t help but induige in the allâ€"male quartet‘s menu of timeless tunes. To my delight, the audiâ€" ence was made up of all ages. Well, the parents actually have more taste than I thought. And hits like Some Kind of Wonderful and Uptown Girl capped off a perfect evening. e Essentially fabulous 234 King St. S., Waterloo tcorner of King St. & Umion St ) 2 4# I www.gotravelplus.com ravelPlus ANDREA 741â€"0770