The Edinburgh Secret Society

An Evening of the Weird – SOLD OUT!

Richard Wiseman — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:03:09 +0000

Both the 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. shows sold out in just a couple of hours.

We look forward to seeing you. It will all take place at The Counting House on Friday 2nd March.

Important notes to those who obtain tickets:

1) We do NOT issue tickets. When you buy your tickets you will be emailed a paypal receipt – please print it out and bring it along with you on the night.
2) The doors for the first show will close at 7 p.m. and the doors for the second show will close at 9 p.m. – after that there is no admittance.
4) The Counting House is at: 36 West Nicolson Street Edinburgh EH8 9DD

An Evening Of Weird Secrets – Tickets On Sale Now!

Richard Wiseman — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:56:11 +0000

Friday 2nd March
First show: 7 p.m. – 8.15 p.m
Second show: 9 p.m. – 10.15 p.m -SOLD OUT

The Edinburgh Secret Society is once again changing how we do things. In this wondrous evening we will all learn truly practical (and some truly useless) secrets, and witness the skills of some very strange people, as we invite some of our members up on stage, and give them just a few minutes to display their expert knowledge on a remarkable range of matters.

Discover how to:
….defend yourself with a handkerchief
….apply the perfect make-up
….breed hedgehogs
….uncover your family history
….mix a perfect cocktail
….juggle any three objects
….perform the world’s greatest magic trick

And that’s just some of the things you’ll be able to do by the end of the evening! We will also have a demonstration of swordsmanship, a lesson in tarot reading, and live classical music.

This will be more informal, more inclusive, and probably weirder than recent events. At least, that’s the plan.

It will all take place at The Counting House on Friday 2nd March. There will be two identical shows – one starting at 7 p.m. and the other starting at 9 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now – but don’t delay because we expect them to sell very quickly.

To buy tickets for the 7 pm show, please click the button below:

Important notes to those who obtain tickets:

An Evening Of Weird Secrets

Richard Wiseman — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:27:28 +0000

Friday 2nd March
First show: 7 p.m. – 8.15 p.m
Second show: 9 p.m. – 10.15 p.m

And that’s just some of the things you’ll be able to do by the end of the evening! We will also have a demonstration of swordsmanship, a lesson in tarot reading, and live classical music.

This will be more informal, more inclusive, and probably weirder than recent events. At least, that’s the plan.

It will all take place at The Counting House on Friday 2nd March. There will be two identical shows – one starting at 7 p.m. and the other starting at 9 p.m.

Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Monday 20th February. We expects tickets to sell quickly. And remember, as with all our events, there will be no reports of recording of the proceedings – if you want to find out what happens, you have to be there!

Tickets will be just £8.

Important notes to those who obtain tickets:

It’s all about you…..

Richard Wiseman — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:32:42 +0000

Good morning. Richard and Pete here.

Throughout 2012 we will be staging many more strange and unusual events. However, we are curious about you, and what you can do – perhaps even get you involved in some way …

Can you sing, dance, play an instrument, juggle, make people laugh, or otherwise engage and entertain an audience?

Or could you talk for a few minutes about a topic that is dear to your heart (no matter how strange or obscure), such as the history of Edinburgh, what makes for great art, exposing the scams used by second hand car salesmen, the truth about flea circuses – you know, that sort of thing?

Or perhaps you have a secret skill and are happy to share your expertise, by explaining how to make the ideal easy meal for four, or the best cocktail, how to demonstrate the lost art of napkin folding, show how professionals hang wallpaper, or how to train a dog … or a goldfish?

Or perhaps you run a venue, restaurant or shop and are interested in becoming involved in an event?

Either way, don’t be shy. We would love to hear from you and explore ways of working together. In the first instance simply drop us a line EdinSecretSociety@gmail.com

What a night!

Richard Wiseman — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 11:15:21 +0000

Thanks for coming along to the event last night. We don’t want to say too much about what took place, but Dani was simply magnificent, the laws of physics were changed, and there were ballon animals aplenty. Our resident photographer Gordon Rutter took these picture of both audiences, and you can see much larger versions of the images by clicking on them (6MB). We hope that you enjoyed the evening, and please feel free to comment!

Virgins and devils!

Richard Wiseman — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:13:40 +0000

Well, that was quite a night. We sacrificed a virgin, saw a real ghost, and summoned Mr Splitfoot himself. Twice. Plus, there were masks aplenty and much throwing of balls.

A huge thank you to everyone who came along, and to our wonderful make-up expert Jak Morgan and fantastic chamber choir Coroedina. Thanks also to top ghost hunter Gordon Rutter – his book is available on Amazon right now.

Hope that you enjoy Gordon Rutter’s photos (click on the images of the audience to see big versions) and please feel free to tell us your favourite part of the evening.

The Secret Show

Richard Wiseman — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 08:24:42 +0000

Well, that was quite a night. We had people hammer nails up their nose, eat razor blades, demonstrate the power of voodoo, read minds, sing songs about sex, demonstrate a new illusion involving 52 highly trained mice, and breathe fire. We also managed to squeeze in a wonderfully weird photograph from Gordon Rutter…..here is everyone shaking their head…..

Very special thanks to everyone who made it happen…. Ali Cook , Barry and Stuart , Pete Firman , Piff the Magic Dragon , Helen Arney, and Colin McLeod. They are all on at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, so please do support their shows.

Did you have a good time?

P.S. I (Richard Wiseman) will be speaking at the Edinburgh Book Festival on 18th August. Details here.

The Lafayette Seance

Richard Wiseman — Wed, 11 May 2011 08:51:54 +0000

First, many thanks to the 500 members that came along to The Lafayette Seance at the Festival Theatre. We hope that you had an interesting and entertaining time. Part of the evening involved a live webcast. Although the quality of the webcast wasn’t perfect, we thought that you might enjoy watching the first five minutes so that you can see how it all looked to the people watching online…..

Also, Naomi kindly sent us this image from the event…..

Some may wish to believe that we did indeed conjure up the spirit of Lafayette, and that he chose to make his presence known by appearing as several little balls. Others may think that the final word in the previous sentence is a better description of that explanation. Either way, it is a fun photograph. Feel free to post your comments about the evening, and do say if you experienced anything weird and unusual that historic night…..

Finally, to order ‘The Death and Life of The Great Lafayette’ by Ian Robertson and Gordon Rutter, click here

The Experiment!

Richard Wiseman — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:40:19 +0000

Our thanks to the 300 people that came along to The Experiment last night. As ever, we cannot say very much about what actually happened, but we are prepared to report that it involved a horse named Chuffy, a woman that hurt easily, and a great deal of yum yum. The Experiment went well, and most participants survived. If you were there, feel free to describe how you felt and your favourite part of the evening.

Also, just to remind you that our next event will be repeated twice – on the 12th & 21st April. We anticipate a great deal of fun being had by all. More details next week.

Photograph: Gordon Rutter.

Self-improvement at the Secret Society

Richard Wiseman — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:09:04 +0000

Our thanks to everyone who came along to our two evenings on self-improvement. Unfortunately, because we are a Secret Society, we aren’t at liberty to say what happened. However, we are prepared to divulge that it involved a large amount of fish, a monkey dressed as a rabbit, and everyone chanting the word ‘custard’.

As you can see from the photographs, we have managed to keep the identities of all participants a mystery. Our thanks to the Secret Society’s resident photographer Gordon Rutter for recording the event.

If you are interested in hearing about future events, please join the Society by adding your email address in the box on the right. If you were actually there feel free to comment on your personal highlight of the evening (but remember not to give too much away).

Our next event will take place on Friday 18th February. We don’t want to say too much at this stage, but the event will be on a much larger scale and explore the darker side of the human psyche.