13 Facts About James Hydrick

James Alan Hydrick was born on February 28,1959 and is an American former stage performer and self-described psychic.

James Hydrick had a long history of criminal offenses and was imprisoned at least three times, after which he escaped; his final offense was for child molestation in 1989, for which he remains in a psychiatric hospital.

James Hydrick was convicted of kidnapping and torture in 1977, for which he was imprisoned.

James Hydrick escaped three times: he allegedly kicked through a concrete wall in a Georgia jail, broke through gates at a South Carolina prison, and finally, in 1982, he pole-vaulted over a fence at a state prison in Utah.

James Hydrick claimed he was able to use psychokinesis to turn the pages of books and make pencils spin around on desks, among other feats.

James Hydrick performed the pencil-spinning trick with the host John Davidson's hand on his mouth to block him from exhaling.

However, James Hydrick had readjusted the pencil beforehand so that it was as precarious as possible and would move with the slight manipulation of his hands.

James Hydrick caused a page from a telephone book to turn over, allegedly by telekinesis.

James Hydrick Randi replicated the pencil trick on a similar show, That's My Line, hosted by Bob Barker, demonstrating that it was a simple illusion and not a product of telekinesis.

Barker and Randi offered $10,000 if James Hydrick would be able to move the pages of a phone book under certain conditions.

James Hydrick confessed to Korem that he had developed his trick in prison, and that he had not learned it from a Chinese master as he originally claimed.

In 1989, James Hydrick was sentenced to 17 years for molesting five boys in Huntington Beach, California.

James Hydrick petitioned for release in May 2013, but a trial resulted in a hung jury.