Joe Power (psychic)

Power has been active as a stage performer of mediumship since 2004, touring around the UK and Ireland.[2] He also offers one-to-one sessions, readings and courses claimed to aid development and training in psychic powers.

In May 2009, Penguin published The Man Who Sees Dead People,[3] Power's autobiographical account detailing his early life with his claimed psychic abilities and his brother's murder.

Power appeared as the main subject in the first episode of the first series of the Channel 4 show Derren Brown Investigates, in which Brown investigated his claimed psychic abilities through rewatching his live stage events, sitting in on celebrity readings and organising independent private readings.[4]

One such reading was with Hollyoaks actress Claire Cooper,[5] during which Power asked if Cooper drove a Mini, which she confirmed. However, in Power and Brown's final talk, Brown stated that one of his crew saw Cooper pull up in her car next to Power.[6]

Another feature of the show involved Brown setting up a reading with a non-skeptic, named Ros, but giving her the fake name of 'Pam' and asking Power to meet her in a house that was not her own, supposedly to test Power's psychic abilities by reducing the amount of research he could do beforehand. This reading was shown as being poor in comparison to other readings Power had done earlier in the show. Again, Power alleged that Brown and Objective Productions had acted unfairly towards him, as Brown had met Ros before Power himself had met her, despite what he understood to be a statement that she hadn't met Brown.

Power later filed a complaint with Ofcom. He told the Liverpool Echo: "Originally I was told the programme was going to be called Derren Brown Unexplained and I thought it would be fair... But I was made to feel uncomfortable from the start. I felt like it was an interrogation. The edited version showed me being abusive, but I wasn't, I was just very annoyed at what they were doing."[7] Ofcom dismissed the complaint.[8]

In 2010, Power was challenged by Michael Marshall from the Merseyside Skeptics Society (MSS) to prove his psychic capabilities.[9] If he was successful, MSS would remove from their website all material critical of Power's work. Power declined the challenge and instead accused Marshall of sending him death threats, an accusation which was later dismissed as unfounded by Ormskirk Police.[10]