My favorite Conan bit about a mentalist is nowhere to be found online
It's must've been the 90s, and this bit remains my favorite Conan segment of all time.
It was one of those bits between the first guest and the second guest. The kind of throwaway bit no one really thinks about, but this one has stayed with me for decades.
So between the first and second guest Conan has on a fake guest who purports to be a mentalist that can move things with his mind. After a bit of chatter he begins his act. He claims to be able to move a spoon on Conan's desk with his mind.
He begins by concentrating very hard at the spoon. Nothing is happening and he becomes increasingly focused and flustered. I recall him sweating and shaking as if he's about to stroke out or something.
After it seems apparent this is no mentalist, and nothing is going to happen, the spoon finally moves ever so slightly, and the mentalist completes the trick as if he accomplished something. They go to commercial.
I love the idea of this apparent fraud claiming to move spoons being a failure, even though he moved the spoon a tiny bit. I mean, moving it even slightly with your mind should turn our understanding of the human mind on its head, but his act was still considered embarrassing.
Aside from not being able to find any video of it, I couldn't even find anyone talking about it. I wonder how many other brilliant segments are lost to time simply because they were between the first and second guest.