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The story
Hidden camera footage has once again confirmed that Mr. Marick’s signature “Hand Power” was in fact a sleight-of-hand trick, sparking discussion on 5ch. Marick shot to massive fame after a 1988 TV appearance, but around 1991 the tide turned and he faced fierce backlash as a “fake psychic.” The thread mixed surprise at the trick’s mechanics with lengthy posts recounting the media backlash of that era, touching on both his skill and how people view the old controversy.
What people said
That's because Fuji TV bullied him relentlessly.
Everyone knows that already
The amazing part is that he can actually do it
• The boom takes off: He debuted in 1988 on shows like Nippon TV's '11PM,' sending all of Japan into a frenzy with catchphrases like "It's coming!" and "Hand Power," paired with mysterious magic he called "super magic."
• The media turns on him: The same press that once praised him flipped around 1991, branding him a "fake psychic" and airing special segments like "Condemned! Mr. Marick," until public opinion was uniformly hostile.
• Toll on body and mind: Extreme stress and pressure triggered facial paralysis caused by a nerve deep in his ear, and he reportedly went through a period close to vanishing or fleeing in the night.
• A misunderstood stance: Marick himself later explained he was always performing as entertainment (magic/"super magic") and was never claiming to have real psychic powers.
"Hand Power" literally just means the power of the hand, so he never actually lied
Someone who chose honesty over letting himself be turned into a guru by people who wanted to cash in on the psychic-power boom
He and Maggie Shiro trained under the same master, like brothers
That's a different persona
Feels like he got his status and reputation back on Tokuho Oukoku (a Japanese variety show)
Normal people enjoy playing along even knowing it's staged, but the ones who aren't sharp enough to get that look down on everyone else, thinking "anyone who enjoys that for real is an idiot, I know it's fake" just to feel smart
This was all before Shinzo Abe even showed up on the scene
the really amazing part was having one audience member hold cards like in Old Maid and guessing which one was the joker
no trick involved — he just reads the guest's eyes and behavior to figure it out
He probably makes you think there's no trick when there actually is one
Never seen Poka Poka, but
when you're the one actually on the receiving end of a mentalism trick, it genuinely freaks you out
It's the same as Maggie Shiro mumbling away in his Tochigi dialect, making it look like some cheap trick while actually pulling off something elaborate
Couldn't even fit four 500-yen coins into the hollow of my palm
Let alone drop them one at a time
Some tricks you're not allowed to explain, even to fellow magicians
But now that YouTube exists and amateurs can just post videos, rules like that are probably going to stop mattering
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Mr. Marick rose to massive popularity in 1988 through appearances on shows like ’11PM,’ captivating audiences with the catchphrases “It’s coming!” and “Hand Power.” But around 1991, media coverage flipped entirely, with special programs airing to condemn him as a “fake psychic” — a backlash so intense it reportedly took a toll on his body and mind, including facial paralysis brought on by extreme stress. He later explained that he had always been performing magic and “super magic,” never claiming to have genuine psychic powers, and this thread repeatedly made that same point. Opinions in the thread were split between praise — “if you can’t spot it on first viewing, the magician wins” — and skepticism toward just how overheated the backlash was at the time, with both views coexisting rather than one side winning out.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “[Video] Mr. Marick Gets Exposed as Hidden Camera Reveals “Hand Power” Was Just a Magic Trick….”
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