Need fog? Here are four cool spots to find it on the Mendocino Coast Though reports of Sarah Winchester’s ghost – and of her penchant for seances - may be greatly exaggerated, according to Winchester house historian Janan Boehme, Sinclair loves the mystery, the magic and the lore of the place. And he’s clearly a skilled magician and storyteller, weaving humor and Winchester history throughout his astonishing tricks. It’s a true story of redemption - if it’s a true story. Now Sinclair is a master magician and even gives talks to at-risk youth about walking the straight and narrow. Once out, he had a chance meeting with Penn Jillette in Las Vegas which inspired his new career – Jillette confirmed that encounter on the “Fool Us” show. He says he turned himself over to authorities in 2007 and did time in federal prison, where he spent those years teaching himself card tricks. As the story goes, he lived life as a con artist for decades under many names in many towns. Indeed, Sinclair is a bit of a mystery himself with his own puzzling past. They all do! Audience member Joanne Petersen reacts to an illusion by Aiden Sinclair during “Illusions of the Passed, a Theatrical Seance.” (Nhat V. Winchester - announces 10 card names and says, “If I’ve named your card, please sit down.” Sinclair returns to the deck of cards, waves his hand over them, then – presumably with help from Mrs. They’re told to concentrate on that person and on their chosen card. One chooses Marilyn Monroe, another Alan Turing. Then he asks them think of a famous person who is dead and who held some meaning for them.
“See and remember.” They return to their seats, but remain standing. With that, he spreads a deck of cards face-up on the table, then picks 10 audience members, one-by-one, to look at the cards, pick one mentally - but not touch it - and remember it. “Let’s be courteous enough to invite Sarah into this room tonight,” he says. “Some people come to this house to learn of an amazing woman, who was interested in architecture and art, who built stairs oddly because of her health. Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Repeating Arms gun fortune, who never really got over the deaths of her husband and infant daughter. He pauses for a beat and a raised eyebrow: “Unless you do.” The Winchester Mystery House is hosting Victorian-style seances this summer. “You will not leave here haunted or possessed by demons.” He’s low-key, but has a quick-clip delivery that keeps the audience lingering on every word. “Some of the things presented for you this evening are tricks. on July 17 - with the possibility of more to come. Now he’s at the Winchester mansion for at least two more shows this summer - at 7 and 9 p.m. You may have seen him a few years back when he baffled judges on “America’s Got Talent” and “Penn & Teller: Fool Us.” Over time, he has developed his own performance niche, doing his act in historic places like the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado or the Queen Mary in Long Beach – spots that are high on the haunt scale. Just as quietly, Sinclair emerges from an antechamber, a compact man in white tie and tails, tattoos peeking from his cuffs and a mini mohawk upon his otherwise shaved head.
Rather, apropos of the mansion’s era, the stage is a simple platform with a small draped table and two chairs – a quiet setting one might have encountered at a spiritualist gathering at the turn of the last century. It’s a magic show, but not the kind with water-tank escapes, feather-boa’d showgirls or people sawed in half. Assistant Rebecca Knight gets in the proper spirit for a performance by illusionist Aiden Sinclair called “Illusions of the Passed, a Theatrical Seance” at the Winchester Mystery House. Indeed, this mansion with its byzantine halls and stairs to nowhere make the perfect backdrop for this summer’s “Illusions of the Passed - A Theatrical Séance,” with illusionist/mentalist Aiden Sinclair.