Psychic entertainers know what you like

[Still Waters]

They're mental, magical, hypnotic, bizarre. And they want to entertain you.

They are the Psychic Entertainers Association, or PEA, an organization of mostly performers and creators who present entertainment of a psychic nature.

"That includes mentalists, a term for people who do mind reading and thought reading," says Loyd Auerbach, a former PEA president and currently on the board of directors.

This weekend, the group, which numbers about 250 international members, is gathering in Los Angeles for its annual "Meeting of the Minds" convention.

"Basically, we're not phony psychics -- we're psychic entertainers," says Auerbach, 54, who, in his alter ego of "Professor Paranormal," is an accomplished mentalist.

Auerbach is also an acclaimed parapsychologist, whose first book, "ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists," was referred to as the "sacred text" on ghosts by Newsweek in 1996.

One of the things he does is what the PEA calls "bizarre" magic, a mystical form of storytelling. Auerbach creates his own "Seance Fiction Theater."

"The whole focus is on entertainment. When you go to a magic show, there's not even the slightest expectation that anyone -- other than a 3-year-old in the audience -- is going to think that this stuff is real, and it won't impact them emotionally.

"Magicians fool you, trick you, but we try to engage you. It's psychic entertainment with the sixth sense -- that's your sense of humor."

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