The Piddingtons

For other uses, see Piddington (disambiguation).

Sydney Piddington (1918 – 29 January 1991) and Lesley Piddington (born 1925) were an Australian husband and wife mentalism team who performed as The Piddingtons and gave one of the most famous stage and radio telepathy acts of modern times.

History

Sydney Piddington spent time in Changi Prisoner of War camp during World War II. He discovered that maintaining the morale of prisoners in the camp was essential, and worked with fellow prisoner of war Russell Braddon to develop a mentalism act as entertainment for the troops. During this time, Sydney developed many unique and innovative techniques to give the appearance of mind-reading.

Following the war, Sydney married Lesley Pope, and taught her many of the tricks that he had developed. Together they designed a stage act, and found success on Australian stages.

Soon after, the Piddingtons moved to London, and in time they were signed to present a series of live radio broadcasts for the BBC. Seeking ever-impressive stunts, Sydney masterminded specialized tests to "prove" Lesley's ability to receive secret thoughts even over a great distance.

The BBC Broadcasts

Many of the original radio broadcasts are still available. Among the more famous demonstrations undertaken by the Piddingtons were:

The Diving Bell Experiment - Lesley was submerged in a diving bell in a swimming pool in Surrey whilst Sydney conducted tests with a live audience at the BBC studios in central London.

The Tower of London - Lesley was kept under armed guard at the Tower of London across the river from the BBC studios, and was still able to determine items and names from the live audience.

The Stratocruiser Broadcast - A famous experiment where Lesley was taken to cruising altitude in a plane above a British military base. Amongst other demonstrations, she was able to determine the personal possessions of an audience member chosen at random by the panel of judges in the studio.

Secrecy of the Act

The methods behind the Piddingtons' act were a closely guarded secret, unknown even to the producers at the BBC. Following Sydney's death in 1991, Lesley is said to have told her son, "Even if I wanted to tell you how it was done, I don't think I would be able".

In the early 2000s, one of Lesley's grandchildren travelled the world speaking to magicians, historians and family members to see if anyone could shed light on how the tricks were done. Whilst some magicians were able to hazard guesses as to the general principles at work, many specific elements of the methods they used seemed to have died with them.

To this day, The Piddingtons are considered to be one of the greatest two-person telepathy acts of all time. Magicians are still unable to fully determine how many of their more famous demonstrations were done.

Sources

External links


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