13 Facts About Bert Reese

Bert Reese was an American-Polish medium and mentalist, best known for his billet reading demonstrations.

Bert Reese was a spiritualist and friend of Aleister Crowley.

Bert Reese claimed to possess the ability of x-ray vision.

Bert Reese drew criticism from magicians of the period who could replicate his billet reading feats by trick methods.

In 1915, Reese was convicted by a magistrate as a fortune teller.

Bert Reese appealed his conviction and agreed to demonstrate his abilities by taking a test.

The famous inventor Thomas Edison was duped by the billet reading tricks of Bert Reese and stated he was "neither a medium nor a fake".

The controversy surrounding Bert Reese led The New York Times journalist Edward Marshall to write two articles in November, 1910 with illustrations and suggested methods how Bert Reese performed his tricks.

Bert Reese's tricks were exposed by magician Samri Frikell who replicated his feats.

Houdini noted that Bert Reese had managed to deceive Edison, Judge Rosalsky and many others who were inexperienced in magic trickery.

Houdini commented that "Bert Reese knew who I was, when I called for a sitting, and I will say that, of all the clever sleight-of-hand men he is the brainiest I have ever come across".

Magic historians consider Bert Reese to have been an expert mentalist.

Science writer Martin Gardner wrote that Bert Reese was an expert mentalist no different from stage magicians of the period such as Joseph Dunninger but managed to fool a number of people into believing he was a genuine psychic.