MASTER OF MIND GAMES

Oz Pearlman told Barack Obama what he was thinking, guessed Joe Rogan's banking PIN and freaked out Richard Branson - and the former Wall Street analyst reckons we can all learn his tricks

- BY MICHAEL ODELL

EVERYONE knows you should be careful with your banking data these days.

Shred old statements. Regularly change your password. Guard your PIN with your life.

Which makes meeting the magician Oz the Mentalist, otherwise known as Oz Pearlman, a bit challenging. In June this year the 43-year-old American appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and guessed the host's ATM PIN code live on-air.

Oz (pronounced to rhyme with “clothes”, a Hebrew name meaning “strength”) first softened up Joe with preliminary chat about how men choose pass codes (they often go for rising numbers and repeat patterns).

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he gained access to Joe's bank account in front of his 50 million listeners. Most people respond to Oz's magic tricks with a “Wow!” or an “Amazing!” but not Joe. “Yeah, I don't like that,” he growled, clearly bemused and rattled. Viewing numbers for the clip subsequently exploded on the internet.

“I think Joe Rogan’s reaction was unexpected and therefore authentic,” says Oz. “He obviously wasn't in on the trick, which is what some people claim when they see something they can't comprehend. He showed genuine fear and confusion, followed by anger.”

Joe isn’t Oz’s only high-profile scalp. After appearing at a US sports convention with former president Barack Obama, Oz introduced himself and told Obama he could read his mind.

“I only had 30 seconds, and the guy had a lot of Secret Service people around,” Oz says. “But he was thinking about an old friend in Chicago and fortunately I was able to give him the correct name.”

When you see photos of Oz with people such as the actor Joaquin Phoenix, Richard Branson or Steven Spielberg, they all look a bit frazzled, like, “What just happened?”