Mind-reader Colin Cloud stuns the judges and audience on this week’s America’s Got Talent — when he performs an incredible routine which he dubs the “closest thing to a real-life Sherlock Holmes”.
The performance sees him give the judges a coin which they then have to hide in one of their hands. He then asks the audience to come up with two words for each judge to think of — one for the hand with the coin in and the other for the empty one.
Not only does he guess the hand with the coin in correctly, picking the ones relating to the words “white”, “cat” and “Oscar”, he also then pulls a white cat with the nametag “Oscar” our of a box on stage.
But who is Colin Cloud, and where did he get his talents?
Cloud is a “forensic mind-reader” and deductionist from Scotland. He was born in the town of Harthill, Lanarkshire, halfway between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
When he was a youngster he became fascinated with Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Holmes, who had an amazing knack for reading people, and started trying to replicate his talents.
Cloud studied a degree in forensic investigation at Glasgow Caledonian University, graduating in 2007. But it wasn’t long before he took his talents elsewhere.
He initially signed up with a motivational speaking company called Tree of Knowledge, but left in 2013 to pursue his showbiz career.
He has been a regular act at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s biggest arts festival, since he made his debut there in 2012 — with his shows repeatedly sold out.
He is once again set to perform at the festival this year, from August 2 until August 26, with a new show called Dare.
He has done several other stage shows outside of the festival, and has made several appearances on TV over the years, especially in the UK — including on Britain’s Got Talent, the British version of America’s Got Talent.
Watch him reading the minds of morning TV presenters Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby in the clip below — and finding out an embarrassing memory.
In 2015 Cloud joined touring magic show The Illusionists as “The Deductionist” alongside the current line-up of “The Trickster” Jeff Hobson, “The Anti-Conjuror” Dan Sperry, “The Manipulator” Yu Ho-Jin, “The Inventor” Kevin James, “The Escapologist” Andrew Basso, “The Weapon Master” Ben Blaque, “The Deceptionist” James More,”The Futurist” Adam Trent and “The Grand Illusionist” Darcy Oake.
Cloud, who also performs at private functions and events, carries out his routines using a selection of forensic and mental deduction techniques.
His website says: “He’ll know what you’ve had for lunch, where you’ve been that day, what you do for a living, the car you drive, even your PIN code. He’ll read you like a book.”
You can follow his latest movements and announcements on his Twitter.
In case you missed it, make sure to check out the chicken that plays the piano from last week’s auditions episode.
America’s Got Talent airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC.