| Jim Karol | |
|---|---|
Jim Karol in October at Seton Hall University |
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| Pseudonym | The Psychic Madman |
| Birth name | Jim Karol |
| Born | April 10, 1953 Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Medium | Psychic, television, film |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1970's-present |
Jim Karol (born on April 10, 1953) is an American mentalist and actor known for his participation in the NBC television show, Phenomenon.
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Karol was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He became an entertainer after being laid off from his previous job as a steel worker.
Karol first gained regional notoriety on December 22, 1990 when the Pennsylvania Lottery numbers that were drawn matched his prediction.[1] As a result, the numerous people who had taken Karol's advice ended up dividing up a $12 million payout into small shares.
Since then, Karol has performed extensively on both the college and corporate circuits. He has also authored three books, his most current titled Psychic Madman with co-author Lu Ann Brobst Staheli, and he currently predicts football outcomes on a popular gambling website and works with the Poker Training Network (PTN).
His shows combine elements of magic, mentalism, feats of memory, humor and extreme stunts, some of which involve an electric chair and a fox trap which he allows to snap closed onto his own hand.
Jim has been seen by millions of people from his appearances on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, NBC's Today, Howard Stern on Demand, as well as The Montel Williams Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Fox News Channel, and numerous other television programs.
He is also becoming a regular on national radio shows such as Jim Breuer, Coast to Coast AM, and The Howard Stern Show. Jim has also held three Guinness World Records and has been featured in the blockbuster hit 2006 movie Jackass Number Two. In October 2007, he was one of ten mentalist contestants on the NBC program Phenomenon which was hosted by Criss Angel and Uri Geller. He was one of the first two contestants voted off on the two hour Halloween episode of the show.[2]
He also performed at the World's Magic Awards on FOX and received the award for the World's Greatest Mentalist.