Drew McAdam is a Mentalist /’men-ta-list/ noun. Someone skilled in non-verbal communication, who uses mental acuity, observation and suggestion. A master manipulator of thoughts and behaviour.
Drew McAdam, “Scotland’s foremost mind reader” according to the BBC, has entertained and baffled representatives from almost every major commercial company you can think of. He has also demonstrated his mind-boggling demonstrations everywhere from the US to Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Sicily, and across Europe to Africa.
Buzz Aldrin, Barry Crier OBE, Rory Bremner, Chris Tarrant, Alice Cooper, Uri Geller, Kenneth Kaunda, Tina Turner, top athletes, sports personalities, Radio and TV stars, top politicians and members of royalty – to name just a few – have been left open-mouthed in astonishment at his remarkable demonstrations.
His flexibility enables Drew to entertain in a variety of forms and manners, from intimate groups to hospitality functions and after dinner events, and from trade show stands to full theatre shows – and everything in between.
Scotland’s foremost mindreader Drew McAdam has numerous TV and radio credits to his name, including a hilarious special guest appearance on “Ready Steady Cook” where he not only read Ainslie Harriotts mind but bent all the spoons. Drew was also the subject of the recent BBC series “School For Genius”. He was presenter and performer in the BBC “Brain Smart” project, and had a regular spot as The Interrogator on the UK’s most popular daytime talk show ”The Trisha Goddard Show.”. A regular guest on STV’s “The Hour” he was also a contributor on BBC Scotland Radio talk shows. He regularly appears in newspaper and magazine articles and most recently his skills have been called upon by the National Geographic Channel and BBC Radio 4.
When I spoke to Drew about coming on the podcast he said that he had recently started a project, and explained it as such:
“Having reached the age of 66 years, I realised that I know little to nothing about the lives of my father, my grandfather, or my great grandfather – in fact I don’t even know what his name was. That’s rather sad, don’t you think? So, I thought I would rectify that; not because I’ve had a particularly exciting or interesting life, but so that my descendants would have some idea of where they came from. To that end, I wrote down all my jobs, then started filling in the blanks – at the moment it’s at almost 56,000 words. Time to stop, I think.”
Anyway, here is the list in chronological order, starting from when I was about 14.
- Roll delivery boy.
- Newspaper delivery boy
- Window cleaner
- Gardening work.
- Dish washer in a hotel.
- Shop worker
- Paste-up artist in an Advertising Agency.
- Civil Servant
- Insurance salesman
- Insurance Office Manager
- Photographer
- Intelligence Officer
- Loft Insulation Sales Manager
- Mortgage Advisor
- Short story writer
- Journalist / Columnist
- Music reviewer
- Retained Firefighter
- Copywriter
- Performer – Mind Reader
You can probably work out from that list that I get bored easily.
This means there have been many changes in my life. Some where I jumped, and some where I was pushed.
Also, I have a particular philosophy that means I have achieved every single one of my boyhood dreams – except becoming an astronaut:
· Fly from The Law (the hill that was at the back of my house where I grew up)
· Parachute jump
· Ride in a Helicopter (I ended up skimming about in private helicopters a LOT)
· Perform mentalism
· Be an American: (Yup, I was made an honorary citizen of Louisville, Kentucky.)
· Be an artist and sell paintings
· Photographer
· Be a published writer
· Go underwater in a submarine
· Be an intelligence officer (I had a ridiculous view of action spies)
· Meet my musical heroes, those whose posters were on my bedroom wall.
· Appear on television and be on the radio (I was The Interrogator on the UK’s most popular daytime chat show, dozens of other appearances, and had my own 4-part series on the BBC)
· Be a fire-fighter
· Drive the gimmick-laden Aston Martin DB5 from the James Bond movies
· Swim with sharks – not in a cage
· Be in a film – one with battle scenes
· Perform in front of my schoolmates, and take their applause (yes, that was an ego-driven one).
· Be a crossword clue in a national newspaper.
I achieved each and every one of those boyhood dreams (still not been an astronaut and gone into space yet though) and they all came about by inadvertently applying my philosophy.
If you have any questions for Drew, or if you want to book him for an event then get in touch via his email and please do check out his website and follow him on Social Media.
Facebook: @mindbizdrewmcadam
Email: drewmcadam@aol.com
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