Banachek

Banachek was born in England and raised in South Africa and Australia. He was abandoned at the age of nine in South Africa with his two brothers, aged one and three, and raised them by himself until he was 16.{{cite book|last1=McAfee|first1=David|last2=d'Entremont|first2=Yvette|author2link=Yvette d'Entremont|title=No Sacred Cows: Investigating Myths, Cults, and the Supernatural|year= 2017|publisher=Pitchstone Publishing|isbn=978-1634311182|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eXIsDwAAQBAJ&q=banachek+million+dollar+challenge&pg=PT217|access-date=7 December 2017}}

Deciding that his given name did not sound memorable enough for a stage performer, Shaw adopted the stage name Banachek from the American detective television series Banacek.{{cite web|last1=Draper|first1=Paul|title=Banachek LIVE Video Q&A on Full Circle Magic, Streamed on Nov. 19, 2014|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxT5mwqgqsg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/HxT5mwqgqsg |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|website=YouTube.com|date=19 November 2014 |access-date=14 November 2017}}{{cbignore}} He was inspired to take up magic after reading The Truth About Uri Geller, a book by magician James Randi that debunked the paranormal claims of Uri Geller, famous for his feats of mentalism, particularly spoon bending. Having developed multiple methods for replicating Geller's tricks, Banachek wrote a letter to Randi in which he volunteered to demonstrate the gullibility of scientists studying parapsychology by deceiving them into believing that his mentalist tricks were genuine displays of psychic power.

{{main|Project Alpha (hoax)}}File:SteveShawWithConfederate.jpg Conference in Buffalo, New York]]

Banachek collaborated with fellow teenager Michael Edwards on James Randi's Project Alpha experiment at the newly founded McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research of Washington University in St. Louis.{{cite journal|last1=Randi|first1=James|authorlink=James Randi|title=The Project Alpha Experiment: Part 1: The First Two Years, and Part 2:Beyond the Laboratory|journal=Skeptical Inquirer|date=Summer 1983|volume=7-8|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/160343103/James-Randi-The-Project-Alpha-Experiment-Skeptical-Inquirer-1983|access-date=27 October 2017}}{{cite web |last1=Rogan |first1=Joe |title=JRE #1163: Banachek |url=http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/banachek |website=Joe Rogan Experience Podcast |access-date=22 September 2018}} From 1979 to 1982, Banachek and Edwards replicated numerous mentalist effects, so thoroughly convincing researchers of the authenticity of their alleged paranormal abilities that some could not later be persuaded that they had in fact been deceived.{{cite journal|last1=Polidoro|first1=Massimo|authorlink=Massimo Polidoro|title=Notes on a Strange World: Miracle or Magic?|journal=Skeptical Inquirer|date=March 2011|volume=35|url=https://www.csicop.org/si/show/magic_or_miracle|access-date=27 October 2017}} The revelation that a pair of untrained teenagers had succeeded in hoodwinking a well-funded team of scientists exposed the lax methodology and lack of scientific control rife in the field of parapsychological research and led to permanent closure of the laboratory.

Banachek later assisted with Randi's investigation into the deceptive practices and false claims of self-proclaimed faith healer Peter Popoff.{{cite book |last=Randi |first=James |authorlink=James Randi|year=1989 |title=The Faith Healers |location=Amherst, New York |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=0-87975-535-0 |page=147}}

On the television special The Search for Houdini (1987), hosted by William Shatner, Banachek performed an escape stunt in which he successfully dug his way out after being chained, handcuffed, locked in a coffin, and buried six feet underground.{{cite web|title=The Search for Houdini|date=5 May 2010 |url=https://mytvlog.blogspot.com/2010/05/search-for-houdini-1987-tv.html|access-date=20 December 2017}}{{cite web|title=Banachek performs the first Buried Alive on National TV| website=YouTube | date=6 December 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtNvVAYWWkY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/HtNvVAYWWkY |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|title=Banachek Buried alive on Japanese TV on August 4, 1992| website=YouTube | date=19 July 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ggtD_ptl74 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/3ggtD_ptl74 |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|access-date=27 October 2017}}{{cbignore}}

In addition to touring internationally,{{cite web|last1=Banachek|title=Banachek website|url=http://www.banachek.com/performances/|access-date=27 October 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019133333/http://www.banachek.com/performances/|url-status=dead}} Banachek serves as a consultant for numerous other entertainers and shows.{{cite web |url=http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/thought-reader_banachek/ |first=Joe |last=Nickell |authorlink=Joe Nickell |title=Thought-Reader Banachek |date=30 July 2009 |access-date=30 July 2009 |publisher=Center for Inquiry |location=Amherst, NY}}{{IMDb name|2547959|Banachek}} Among the many tricks he has developed is a version of the bullet catch, a stage magic illusion in which a magician appears to catch a bullet fired directly at him. Although the bullet catch has earned a reputation for being the most dangerous magic trick,{{cite web|last1=MagicTricks.com|title=Bullet Catch|url=https://www.magictricks.com/most-dangerous-trick.html|access-date=26 October 2017}} Banachek claims that his version is completely safe. Since purchasing the trick from him in 1995, Penn & Teller have developed several variations they use in their show at times.{{cite web|title=Official Bullet Catch website|url=http://bulletcatch.com/|access-date=26 October 2017}} Since 2021, he has presented mentalism and magic in his show Mind Games, a multi-sensory, interactive experience{{cite journal |last1=Borensztajn |first1=Jordana |title=Banachek |journal=Digital Vanish Magazine |date=2024 |issue=Special Edition |url=https://digitalvanishmagazine.com/6q0d?fbclid=IwAR0WhjWXDCSEzMyt01Tj_erI6cUDOjYZRoSnPYNWiUXwZl_jnLAcjUpgu8c |access-date=20 January 2024}} at The Strat in Las Vegas, Nevada.{{cite news |last1=Radke |first1=Brock |title=Banachek is going big in the intimate Strat Theater with new 'Mind Games' show |url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/aug/02/banachek-mind-games-live-strat-theater-magic/ |access-date=20 January 2024 |agency=Las Vegas Sun |publisher=Las Vegas Sun |date=8 August 2021}}

Banachek has appeared as himself and produced several television programs and shows, including An Honest Liar, Criss Angel BeLIEve, and Criss Angel Mindfreak. He demonstrated his ability to bend forks on Unscrewed with Martin Sargent.{{cite web|title=Unscrewed with Martin Sargent clip| website=YouTube | date=15 April 2007 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiXETE_jbzc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/MiXETE_jbzc |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|access-date=13 November 2017}}{{cbignore}} He toured with the stage show Hoodwinked in 2008.{{cite news |url=http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=bf16353a-b91a-48a5-8d26-e528e3076710 |title=If it weren't onstage, it'd be illegal |newspaper=The Montreal Gazette |author=Greenaway, K |date=10 July 2008 |access-date=31 July 2009 }}{{cite news |title=Woo in Review: HOODWINKED |author=Smith, Alison |newspaper=SWIFT |publisher=James Randi Educational Foundation |url=http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/314-woo-in-review-hoodwinked.html |date=25 November 2008 |access-date=31 July 2009 }} During his appearance on The Alpha Project show (2012), he successfully predicted newspaper headlines ten days in advance of publication.{{cite news|last1=Gillis|first1=Wendy|title=Luminato: Mentalist Banachek predicts Star front page 10 days in advance|newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=9 June 2012 |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/06/09/luminato_mentalist_banachek_predicts_star_front_page_10_days_in_advance.html|publisher=Toronto Star, 9 June 2012|access-date=20 December 2017}} He launched the Banachek: Telepathy tour in 2017.{{cite web|last1=Tommaney|first1=Susie|title=Banachek: Telepathy|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/event/banachek-telepathy-9425840|publisher=Houston Press|access-date=20 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222050902/http://www.houstonpress.com/event/banachek-telepathy-9425840|archive-date=22 December 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Banachek-The Man Who Fooled The Scientists Presents-Telepathy|url=http://www.crainsdetroit.com/event/local/3453247/banachek-the-man-who-fooled-the-scientists-presents-telepathy|publisher=Crains Detroit Business, 19 May 2017|access-date=20 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222054512/http://www.crainsdetroit.com/event/local/3453247/banachek-the-man-who-fooled-the-scientists-presents-telepathy|archive-date=22 December 2017|url-status=dead}}

Banachek served as director of the JREF Million Dollar Challenge, overseeing numerous tests of supposed psychics,{{cite web|last1=JREF Blog|title=Randi Challenges Top "Psychics" After Nightline Episode|url=http://archive.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/1388-randi-challenges-top-qpsychicsq-after-nightline-episode.html|publisher=JREF, 18 August 2011|access-date=20 December 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Radford|first1=Benjamin|title=Psychics Challenged, Offered $1 Million to Prove Powers|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/psychics-james-randi-offers-million-james-van-praagh/story?id=14382858|work=ABC News|access-date=20 December 2017}}{{cite web|title=Randi & Banachek Test "Psychics" on ABC|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFEry80s9Po|work=ABC News|access-date=20 December 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}} until it was suspended in 2015.

File:MDC 2014.jpg | date=13 November 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l20jQj0FZ_E |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/l20jQj0FZ_E |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|access-date=20 December 2017}}{{cbignore}}]]

When engaging in mentalism, Banachek provides the disclaimer that his show is "simply entertainment" and that he is not in fact a psychic, a practice that has aroused the ire of other mentalists. He reserves special disdain for mediums and faith healers who profit from people suffering from physical disability, disease, or the loss of loved ones. However, he urges caution when debunking psychics, encouraging skeptics not to "belittle the very people they are trying to convince" and to remain cognizant of the limitations of their own knowledge and expertise.

• Awarded Mentalist of the Year by the International Magician Society in 2021{{Cite web|title=Las Vegas Magician Banachek Awarded 'Mentalist of the Year'|date=27 August 2021 |url=https://www.offthestrip.com/news/banachek-mentalist-las-vegas/|access-date=2021-11-15|language=en-US}}
• Elected as a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, a program of the Center for Inquiry in 2017.
• Psychic Entertainers Association Dave Lederman Memorial Award (for Creativity in Mentalism), 1997.{{cite web |url=http://www.p-e-a.org/awards.html |title=Awards |publisher=Psychic Entertainers Association |access-date=30 July 2009}}
• Psychic Entertainers Association Dan Blackwood Memorial Award (for Outstanding Contribution to the Art of Mentalism), 2006.
• Psychic Entertainers Association Dunninger Memorial Award (for Distinguished Professionalism in the Performance of Mentalism), 2007.
• Awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership at PSYCRETS (British Society of Mystery Entertainers) Tabula Mentis VII in April 2010.{{cite web|title=PSYCRETS Honorary Awards & Lifetime Members |url=http://www.psycrets.org.uk/html/Honorary_Awards_Members/honorary_awards_members.html |publisher=Psycrets |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235624/http://www.psycrets.org.uk/html/Honorary_Awards_Members/honorary_awards_members.html |archive-date=30 December 2013 }}

• {{cite book |author=Atmore, Joseph |last2=Dunninger |first2=Joseph |author2-link=Joseph Dunninger |author3=Banachek |author4=Palmer, Bill |title=Dunninger's Brain Busters |location=Humble, TX |publisher=H&R Magic Books |year=2001 |page=111 |oclc=65215584}}
• {{cite book |author1=Banachek |author2=Burlingame, Hardin J. |author3=Wells, Scott R. |author4=Gillett, S. Christopher |title=Psychophysiological Thought Reading, or, Muscle Reading and the Ideomotor Response Revealed |location=Houston, Texas |publisher=Magic Inspirations |year=2002 |page=73 |isbn=978-0-9706438-1-0 |oclc=60349209}}
• {{cite book |author1=Banachek |author2=Dyment, Doug |author3=Wells, Scott R. |title=Psychological Subtleties 2 |location=Houston, Texas |publisher=Magic Inspirations |year=2007 |page=206 |isbn=978-0-9706438-2-7 |oclc=310366497}}
• {{cite video |people=Banachek (Featured Performer) |date=2004 |title=Banachek's Psi Series |medium=Motion picture |location=United States |publisher=L&L Publishing}}
• {{cite video |people=Banachek (Featured Performer) |date=2016 |title=Houdini & Doyle's World of Wonders |medium=Motion picture |location=Canada |publisher=GlobalTV.com}}

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{{Reflist|refs=https://www.offthestrip.com/news/banachek-mentalist-las-vegas/}}

• {{Twitter | id= Banachek | name= Banachek}}
• {{IMDb name|2547959|Banachek}}
• {{cite podcast|title=Banachek – Mentalism and Skepticism |url=http://www.pointofinquiry.org/banachek_mentalism_and_skepticism/ |website=Point of Inquiry | host=D.J. Grothe| date=13 November 2009| publisher=Center for Inquiry |accessdate=11 April 2016}}
• {{cite video|title=Houdini & Doyle's World of Wonders (feat. Banachek) |url=http://www.globaltv.com/houdinianddoyle/video/webisode/cold-read/video.html?v=665873475604 | website=GlobalTV.com | publisher=Global TV and Smokebomb Media |accessdate=20 April 2016}}

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Category:1960 births

Category:English magicians

Category:Living people

Category:Mentalists

Category:British sceptics

Category:Magic consultants