Review - Kelvin Cruickshank, Astor Theatre, Melbourne, May 2008

I’d booked this a couple of months in advance, so I was quite looking forward to an evening with Kelvin Cruickshank. I had known about him for maybe 1.5 years so I certainly knew what I was getting myself in to. That day, I read a review from a Newspaper chap in Auckland. It didn’t give a very good review in all honesty, but it’s different every time you do this, you are never sure what you are going to get spirit wise.
The venue was a bit of a surprise and it appeared his people did not research the venue well enough. The crowd of approximately 200 was far too big for this to be a medium event. It was a bit disappointing in that aspect. Kelvin admitted this venue wasn’t appropriate. But it was going to be harder for him than the audience in this situation.
The event kicked off after the start time of 7:30 – people were still coming in the doors. Looking around in the audience there was a lot of diversity. Predominately ladies - Old couples, Ladies who had dragged along their partners, mothers and daughters, single ladies. Not young hot men at all. (I’d never been to an event without at least one hot man). While looking around the crowd, I saw some people who had brought along full photo albums, soft toys. Simply crazy. I remember the event information advising no photos necessary.
After an hour of reading, he retired for a 15 minute break. The first few people he connected with, were a bit frustrating, he would give them information and they would come back and say no and then oh my brother is in the army or something like that. You could hear the crowd grown at such “morons”. One of the daughters said that she didn’t have any children then later admitted that she had a son. Which left the audience confused. Was this a set up and had she forgotten some of her lines?
Personally, I had never doubted his skills but found this audience a bit confusing. After intermission, the readings continued. Another moron but Kelvin quickly quizzed them.
He would advise every now and then that it quite difficult for him with so many people and so many spirits. He advised that everyone would be readable tonight. He explained a bit about what it was like to have this gift, everyone can do this, he went through some guidelines and had a few explanations about falling on hard times (which certainly struck a chord with me) and why you would be tested – to grow stronger etc.
I found myself getting bored in a couple of the readings. By 10:20pm, well into question time this still hadn’t finished. My train was coming at 10:29 so I left before it finished. At one stage I had to walk off for about 10 minutes (the seats were so uncomfortable especially as I had hurt my hip a few days before and my back was out due to it).
I have always wanted to attend one of these events and just recently missing out on John Edwards, I felt Kelvin was the best to go to being a fellow Kiwi. While I was very glad I went along to this event, I somewhat felt a bit sorry for Kelvin. He seems like such a patient man, even I was irritated by the audience.
Question time certainly grated a bit for me. People would raise their hands instead of asking him questions about him or Sensing Murder or anything that would benefit the audience, they would say, I would like to know about this person.. Hardly question time! There was this really funny one where, Kelvin explained he cannot contractually talk about murders etc when people ask him things but this one lady who asked Kelvin a question started off something like this. Oh I am trying to find a missing person. My friend next to me has come all the way down from Queensland to see you (what was that about I thought, I’m sure he went to Brisbane) trying to find her mother she is missing. Kelvin asks, well, she is not listed missing is she – to which the lady replied no. Kelvin then went on to advise this pushy lady that he cannot comment on such matters. And that’s something that he wouldn’t be able to talk about in such an audience and he would only do so in a one on one ready. How do we get in contact with you to do that she asks. To which Kelvin replies that you would start at Birth, Deaths and marriages. Quickly the lady responds, OH we’ve already done that. To which Kelvin advises something to the point of some people go missing for a reason – they don’t want to be found. This lady clearly wasn’t listening to a word Kelvin was saying. I mean, how sad, she got her friend to come all the way down to VIC so that she could attend an audience with Kelvin Cruickshank with no guarantees and gets nothing. Hasn’t she heard of private investigators?
Another Gem in question time – A lady stands up to ask Kelvin Oh Kelvin, would it help if we gave you a photo of the person. To which Kelvin replies no (I mean, he’d finished all the readings anyway, the event information when booking said no photos needed), she rephrases the question to Kelvin but asks the exact same thing, to which he reiterates it’s not going to help him.
The enormity of it all though really didn’t hit me until I was at the train station. I met a few people who had also left early from the event and spoke to them. One lady had worn her son’s clothes who had died a few months earlier in hoping that she would connect with him.
I do not have a need to go to any more medium events at this point in time. I have been to one, no readings happened for me but I didn’t really expect it to. I thought it would be nice if it did, however, it made me feel quite grateful about my own life. Here were 199 other people gathered at this event. So desperate to hear from their loved ones they had bought along photos, clothes, toys it was just really sad. When I needed information from a loved one who had passed, I had a beneficial one on one with a medium and this certainly helped. I just couldn’t handle the desperation around these people. I’m so empathic I just felt sad about it.