Get the latest on my writing, comedy, performance art, and other craziness!

  
Two Performance Artists book by Scotch Wichmann
Two Performance Artists Kidnap Their Boss And Do Things With Him
Inspired by my crazy adventures as a performer on the road, this is the story of two performance artists who cook up the ultimate performance: to kidnap their billionaire boss...and turn him into the wildest performance artist the world's ever seen.

scotch wichmann sticker
Blog Biography Performance Art Audio/Video Stage, Radio, & TV Writing Press Kit, Bio, & Photos Calendar Contact
Parapsychology Ph.D. Complete!
February 10, 2024 4:49 pm

Yesssss….. My parapsychology schooling (scientific study of the paranormal) is finally done — I’m a Ghostbuster at last! Lolol.

Building upon declassified U.S. government psychic research, my Ph.D. project tried to prove whether people can steal information from computers clairvoyantly.

I launched a double-blind study where 146 people from around the world tried to psychically sense information about randomly chosen picture, video, ATM PIN, & passphrase targets stored in computers located at a secret location in L.A., with submissions scored by 6 judges. Computers were not networked, had audio disabled, & screens were dimmed to black & shielded.

Many results were statistically significant. From thousands of miles away, some psychics described as many as 7 unique details about picture targets (a=0.05, p=0.000597) and video targets (p=0.000911). Likelihood was calculated to be on par with flipping a coin & getting heads 11 times in a row.

Some people sensed details tangentially related to psychic targets, even when the details weren’t physically present. One target was a short video clip from The Shining. Some psychics sensed blood, loud heartbeats, “a mother on vacation in the mountains,” and other film specifics, even though these details weren’t contained in the actual clip I used — wild!!

I’ll publish full results (600+ pgs!) after presenting in journals & conferences later this year. For fun, here’s one submission:

Parapsychology experiment by Scotch Wichmann showing a glass cathedral dome

Participant's submission successful described the dome features and colors

THANK YOU to my amazing participants, Dr. C. Bishop of Wesleyan U. for his math genius, the U of Sedona for guidance, my 6 tireless judges who judged 1,752 rounds of data, and to KayDee Kersten for being my adventure buddy on this wild ride!

P.S.: Wanna be more psychic? Participants answered survey questions about past psychic experiences, which I then compared to their actual psychic performance. Based on the data, you’ll have more success in your psychic endeavors if you set your intention to be psychic. Participants who BELIEVED they might be psychic were 21.8 times more accurate than doubters. xoxo

Filed under E.S.P., Parapsychology, Psychic Experiment, Weird | 1 Comment | Permalink
 
 
Dissertation Finally Finished
July 15, 2023 6:12 pm

Parapsychology Ph.D. candidate Scotch Wichmann holding his dissertation
After 18 months of work on my Parapsychology Ph.D. dissertation, I finally submitted it for review, defense, and approval — yayyyy! Clocking in at a whopping 658 pages, it may take months for my doctoral committee to read it all…lol.

I’m so excited my Psychic Experiment was a success. I was able to show that people with clairvoyant powers can “see” and describe secret data held in computers. The results (which were obvious to the naked eye and statistically significant) provided solid evidence that psychics can mentally access pictures, video clips, ATM PIN numbers, and passphrases stored in laptop machines. The experiment was judged by 6 independent judges (including a skeptic, a psychic, and a stage magician), and I can’t wait to share more results once the paper and research are approved. Stay tuned!

Filed under E.S.P., Psychic Experiment | 2 Comments | Permalink
 
 
RIP Jerry Springer
April 27, 2023 10:51 am

B88243219Z.1_20180620064515_000_GMM7OAER.3-0_Gallery

RIP Jerry Springer. Full disclosure: I loved watching him continue what Donahue, Geraldo, Howard Stern, & Les Crane (1960′s) turned into a live-action tabloid art form. It was impossible to look away. Gimme that lurid sleaze, those profanity-laden fistfights, hurled chairs, all of it — our own American style of rough-and-ready sideshow performance, like watching grainy Kenneth Anger films live mixed with Harmony Korine…. Yeah, it was trashy (and probably partly scripted) and childishly ridiculous and definitely exploitative, but it was also reflective of people I knew and saw growing up….the 1970s-1980s were especially sleazy & gritty & violent in my formative experience. I especially loved the episodes where people in the margins were given a voice, even if it was sensationalized by the form — maybe seeing Springer episodes like “I’m a witch” or “I like to cross-dress” that were considered so shocking back then helped set the stage for some level of normalization and equity that will eventually come. History will judge. But for sure, those episodes connected with the creative, emotive, sensitive, scared, and wilder parts of me that were rejected (often violently) by my peers — somehow I was not alone. And watching all the cro-magnon haters who Springer would bring on stage to create drama? Maybe seeing them helped steel us collectively to battle the ignorant haters still burning books and banning drag shows today.

Watch this clip of tabloid talker Les Crane in 1964 ask a male guest questions about a thing called “homosexuality.” This was ground-breaking for TV. And as archaic and weirdly quaint as this footage looks, one day people will look back on Jerry Springer episodes and probably feel the same about them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev387WTquB8

Filed under Confessions, Performance art, Sex, Weird | Post Comment | Permalink
 
 
The Psychic Experiment is Done!
November 6, 2022 5:24 pm

After running for 2 weeks, the Psychic Experiment finally closed its doors to the public on Sunday, November 6. And now the fun begins: independent judges and I are analyzing the data, which will eventually become part of my Ph.D. dissertation in Parapsychology.

To everyone who participated and promoted the experiment, THANK YOU SO MUCH! The turnout was fantastic. We had professional psychics participate, but for many people around the world, this was their very first paranormal experience EVER — how amazing is that?!?

I’ll post an update here once results are available sometime in 2023. Again, THANK YOU!

Filed under E.S.P., Los Angeles, Parapsychology, Psychic Experiment | Post Comment | Permalink
 
 
The Psychic Experiment is Live!
October 23, 2022 12:26 pm

My PSYCHIC EXPERIMENT is live! As part of my final school project in Parapsychology, and inspired by the CIA’s STARGATE remote viewing program in the 1970s, I’m trying to prove that some people have clairvoyant powers allowing them to “see” data in computers far away — and YOU can be part of it!

Plus, everyone who participates will be entered into a random drawing to win one of three $200 Amazon gift cards!

The experiment only takes a few minutes, so check out the video, and head on over to www.psychicexperiment.org.

P.S. — Once I have enough data, the experiment will close, so don’t wait too long to join the fun!

*** OCTOBER 31st UPDATE! *** It’s Halloween, and the Psychic Experiment has been ROCKETING forward with more participants than we ever thought possible — if you participated, THANK YOU! And if you’re still planning to try it, good news, there’s still time — the experiment closes Sunday, November 6, 2022.

Here’s a quick thank you:

Filed under E.S.P., Los Angeles, Parapsychology, Psychic Experiment, Weird | Post Comment | Permalink
 
 
Psychic Experiment Starts October 23!
October 3, 2022 10:26 pm

Psychic Experiment by Scotch Wichmann

My psychic extravaganza is finally almost here! As part of my Ph.D. program in Parapsychology (the study of the paranormal), I’m conducting a public psychic experiment to see if people can use psychic powers to see data inside computers.

If you think psychic powers are probably real (and ESPECIALLY if you think you might be psychic), I hope you’ll participate! Starting October 23, point your browser at www.psychicexperiment.org and have at it! 3 participants will also be randomly selected to win a $200 Amazon gift card!

Andddd if you’ll be near Ventura, California on November 4th, swing by the Art City Gallery and Studios, where I’ll be unleashing a new performance art piece with an array of awesome performers! 8PM and FREE!

Filed under E.S.P., Los Angeles, Parapsychology, Performance art, Psychic Experiment, Weird | Post Comment | Permalink
 
 
Psychic Experiment Coming Soon!
April 11, 2022 11:38 am

I can’t believe it’s been so many months since my last post. This is the slowest diary everrrr!

As always, I’ve got new performance art and short film projects in the works — and I’m thrilled to say my TV pilot script The Occultist was a semi-finalist in the 2021 L.A. Screenplay Awards, and also in the L.A. Crime and Horror Film Festival — yayyy! My insanely creative pardner KayDee is also crushing it on the Producing front, most recently on the set of Friday Night Vibes, with Tiffany Haddish.

Hanging out in Wonder Valley / Twentynine Palms with KayDee Kersten

But at the moment, the majority of my time is being devoted to getting my Parapsychology Ph.D. dissertation up and running. I’m super excited and don’t want to say too much yet, except that it involves an experiment to measure E.S.P. ability in cybernetic ways that cross into The Matrix and Johnny Mnemonic territories. Stay tuned — I’ll be posting here when the experiment website goes public this summer, and I’d love for you to participate!

Definition of Science is fuck around, and find out

I also quietly launched my shamanic practice. I’m limiting my number of clients at the moment, but I’m already receiving strong interest, which is encouraging. Part of my recent journey has been mapping my shamanic lineage, which I’ve managed to trace back to Norse and Sámi ancestors who worshipped Odin and nature near the Arctic Circle. I’m continuing to train at the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, and deepening my connections to magical ancestors I sense are still around (and who were likely responsible for initiating my shamanic calling that began when I was a kid).

When your spirit guide leaves you alone for a second, you're fucked

On the running front, I’m training for another 50K (33mi) ultramarathon race in August, and last fall I qualified for the 2023 Boston Marathon, running my 26.2-mile qualifying race in Big Bear, California in 3 hours, 16 minutes, which beat the qualifying standard by 10 minutes — not bad. See you next Spring, Boston!

Pic of Scotch Wichmann after qualifying for 2023 Boston Marathon
Desert run in Twentynine Palms, 2021

Filed under E.S.P., Los Angeles, Performance art, Running, Shamanism | 1 Comment | Permalink
 
 
Hello, Summer
June 10, 2021 4:42 pm

2021 has been a wild ride, and it’s not even halfway done.

Due to Covid, this year hasn’t exactly been rife with in-person performance art opportunities, but Ventura’s 5x5x5 series curated by John M. White marched bravely onward via video, thank God.

So, after workshopping pieces in my backyard with mannequin parts, dirt, ladders, invisible skateboards, and bananas, I finally came up with something crazy from my childhood called 1979 Norwegian Choreography for Skateboard & Banana — check out the pics & video! The piece is simple, but it took 3 bone-jarring days to choreograph and shoot, so by the end, my legs were DESTROYED from all of that faux-skateboard jumping.
 
Scotch Wichmann leaping
Scotch Wichmann with banana
Scotch Wichmann with bonus arm

I just finished writing THE OCCULTIST, a new streaming/TV series pilot about a failed archeologist who becomes an occult detective — I’m so so so excited about this one, because it combines my eternal love of Indiana Jones and my obsession with the occult that dates back to my childhood — and the script just became a finalist at the 2021 Los Angeles International Underground Film Festival — yesssss!

Plus, DARK SILO, the script I co-wrote with KayDee Kersten, was a finalist in ScreenCraft’s 2021 Action & Adventure contest after winning Best Original Screenplay at the Burbank International Film Festival. Agents & producers: I am so ready for youuu!

The Occultist, a pilot screenplay by Scotch Wichmann

My preliminary schoolwork toward my Ph.D. in Parapsychology is finally done. It concluded with a thesis paper called The Liberating Power of Image in the New Thought Movement, which is a feminist take on how the concepts of image and seeing in the metaphysical “mental sciences” (Religious Science, Christian Science, etc.) can liberate one from the raging patriarchy in Western modes of being & seeing.

My doctoral dissertation is up next. I’m still plotting what to research — my list is crazy long and growing: metaphysical healing, shamanic & witchy practices, chaos, E.S.P., ghosts, even aliens…. There are too many topics I’m excited about to choose. Maybe I can incorporate them all? Hm….

I hope you found something fun and fulfilling over the past 6 months to keep you sustained & inspired through this pandemic horror show. For me, it was my wife, dog, friends, and a lot of margaritas, followed by tons of running. I’ve racked up the miles from Los Angeles to Sedona, dropped 10 pounds, ran a half-marathon virtual race, and just started training for my 5th full marathon, with hopes of qualifying for the Boston Marathon this year (assuming my legs ever recover from all that make-believe skateboarding…lolol).

Scotch Wichmann running in the desert
Scotch Wichmann running
Scotch Wichmann resting with dirty toes after trail run

So, if you drive past a pale, bony, dehydrated blonde dude who is tripping through the asphalt streets of Burbank like a loon, please don’t run him over! Wishing you a healthy & beautiful summer!

 

Filed under Amazing places, E.S.P., Film/Video, Performance art, Running, Shamanism, Weird, Writing | Post Comment | Permalink
 
 
Goodbye, 2020
December 16, 2020 6:14 pm

What a year. Coronavirus. Insane politics. Death of Justice Ruth Ginsburg. And still, in the hardest year in recent memory, so many dreamers continued making art. I’ve never been so exhausted, yet so inspired at the same time. I hope you found moments of inspiration too. Here are a few highlights for me:

Since coronavirus canceled most of my performance art shows, I decided to film all of the crazy ideas that I wanted to perform on stage in 2020. The surreal result is called It’s Almost Over, which one viewer called “David Lynch-esque” — the highest compliment for me, everrr.

Experimental, surreal short film IT'S ALMOST OVER directed by Scotch Wichmann

 
Rattle Rattle, the short film I made with KayDee Kersten, made it into 9 film festivals in 2020, and our feature screenplay Dark Silo — which won Best Original Screenplay at the Burbank International Film Festival — moved us one step closer to landing an agent.

My award-winning, clown-comedian friend Natalie Palamides crushed 2020 with her new Amy Poehler-produced Netflix special, NATE. If you didn’t see the live show in Edinburgh, New York, or L.A. (or if you didn’t catch Nat back in her salad days), you’re in luck, because Netflix did an incredible job of capturing NATE’s insane and fearless magic. Don’t miss it!

 
2020 saw me finish a third of my Ph.D. work in parapsychology and metaphysics, with an emphasis on healing and occult practices. My studies inspired me to write a TV/streaming series pilot about a becoming-magician, with more historical realism than most other occult films or shows I’ve seen. Stay tuned!

 
Lastly, with my performances canceled, my primary stress release in 2020 was running up into the Verdugo Mountains that ring Burbank. I covered 1,050+ miles, with 120,000+ feet of vertical gain, which is like climbing Mt. Everest 4 times — not bad. I also did some running in the open desert around 29 Palms, where I accidentally stumbled onto a bombing range, and got chased off by a Marine helicopter ‐ see pic below. What an adventure. (P.S., if you’re a runner on Strava, come be my friend!)

Scotch Wichmann running in Verdugo Mountains near Burbank

Scotch Wichmann in the Verdugo Mountains, with views of downtown L.A. and the backside of the Hollywood sign

Scotch Wichmann running in 29 Palms

Filed under Amazing places, Film/Video, Funny, Los Angeles, Magic, Running, Shamanism, Weird, Writing | Post Comment | Permalink
 
 
Dark Silo Screenplay For The Win! (Plus 50 Kilometers)
October 2, 2020 3:14 pm

Dear Diary: I’m crazy-excited to announce that DARK SILO — the FBI conspiracy-thriller film script I wrote with KayDee Kersten under our Roughhausers banner — just won Best Original Screenplay at the 2020 Burbank International Film Awards! Our minds are blown — thank you so much!

DARK SILO screenplay by Scotch Wichmann and KayDee Kersten wins Best Original Screenplay award at 2020 Burbank International Film Festival

In a heartfelt F-U to Covid, I had the chance to perform in a mask on the streets of Ventura a few months back with a mop and a palm frond. In Mesopotamian and Egyptian religions, the palm branch represents eternal life (the palm’s name comes from the Greek phoinix, the same word we use to mean the bird that revives itself from its own burnt ashes). Here the mop is not necessarily a symbol for cleaning; it might serve as my own human-made frond — a kind of artificial (but magic) ‘palm’ held in (the palm of) my hand (with ‘palm’ coming from the Latin palma, meaning the hand spread open like a leaf). In my mind, I was my own Axis Mundi, a human bridge channeling & imbuing the mundane and unnatural with the magical healing power of the natural. Let’s hope the spell works.

Scotch Wichmann, performance artist, performing in Ventura, CA, 2020

In another attempt to kick Covid’s ass, I was seriously disappointed to learn that all of my running races had been canceled this year, so I decided to stage my own solo race: a 50K (31 mi) ultra-marathon around Cordova, the Burbank street where I live. The run took just under 5 hours (about 28 loops around the block), during which my better half KayDee kept me alive with fluids & food, organized all of the spectators who showed up to cheer (OMG, THANK YOU GUYS!!!), and chatted with people who tuned in from around the globe to watch the race’s streaming feed, live from a camera in our front yard. KayDee also made me an epoxied finisher’s medal — see below. Amazing! First ultra-marathon, complete. Suck it, Covid!

Scotch Wichmann 50K ultramarathon results
Scotch Wichmann starting 50K ultramarathon, 2020
Scotch Wichmann running 50K ultramarathon, 2020
Scotch Wichmann running 50K ultramarathon, 2020

Wherever you are, I hope you’re hanging in there, and managing to thrive. I feel grateful that in the midst of this Covid-era craziness — so much pain, loss, confusion, animosity — that there have been moments of joy, which have been harder than ever to find — a full-time job, really — but I don’t know what else to do, except seek them out, and pry them from 2020′s rotting palm, because I — we — you — deserve them.

Filed under Confessions, Film/Video, Los Angeles, Performance art, Writing | 1 Comment | Permalink