Oz the Mentalist has been bringing pseudo-magic back to the mainstream. A mentalist is a performer who successfully simulates mind-reading abilities. They use psychology, misdirection, and acute observation skills to make it seem like they have supernatural powers. And Oz is one of the best in the business right now.
Advertisement
Oz, whose real name is Oz Pearlman, has been at it for about a decade now. He was a finalist on America’s Got Talent in 2015, and then went on to win an Emmy for his NBC show, Oz Knows, in 2018. He has appeared on a wide variety of programs, ranging from Ellen to the Joe Rogan Experience to The Howard Stern Show to Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. But his most common patsies are athletes and sports teams, especially football.
On the premiere of his new show, Unlocked with Oz, the mentalist had Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski in his grasp. Oz was able to correctly guess Brady’s phone password in the most roundabout way possible, shocking the GOAT so thoroughly that he dropped the whiteboard he was holding and began laughing uncontrollably.
“Bro, that’s the craziest sh*t I’ve ever seen in my life,” Brady managed to blurt out through his flabbergastedness.
Brady, Gronk, and Edelman were far from the first pro athletes to have their minds bended and boggled by Oz. He has performed for a dozen NFL teams as well as a couple of NBA and college football squads. He even appeared on HBO’s Hard Knocks to have a little fun with Aaron Rodgers and company.
Pearlman was born and raised in Detroit and attended the University of Michigan, so he’s always been a Detroit Lions fan. That’s why he considered having Detroit’s current offensive stars (QB Jared Goff, RB Jahmyr Gibbs, and WRs Tim Patrick and Amon-Ra St. Brown) on Unlocked was a special homecoming for him.
In the main trick, Pearlman asked Gibbs to write down a random four or five-digit number on his phone calculator, and the mentalist would guess it. But he would guess it by asking the four players to think of another NFL player in their heads, and use their jersey numbers to compose what Gibbs punched in on his phone.
Pearlman correctly guessed that Gibbs was thinking of Commanders LB Bobby Wagner (#54), St. Brown was thinking of Gibbs (#0), and Goff was thinking of Bills QB Josh Allen (#17). Goff was especially amazed when Oz guessed the Allen part.
“I don’t know how you f*cking know that. That’s unbelievable.”
They were now ready for the big reveal. As Gibbs looked at his phone to say the number, one could see the realization of what Oz just did pop on his face as he read out the number: 54,017. Then he flipped it upside down, and it spelled out “Lions”.
Safe to say Oz had a successful homecoming in Michigan.
