WORLD-FAMOUS psychic medium, former host of television show Crossing Over and author John Edward aims to amaze Hobart audiences in November.
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Edward will bring his Crossing Over style performance to the Derwent Entertainment Centre on November 12 — his second visit to Tasmania.
Whether you know him as a star or a sham, one thing is undeniable: Edward has landed at success.
He has toured Australia 10 times in the past 11 years and said he was looking forward to the upcoming string of shows.
"I look for excuses to come there, I skipped going to other countries but kept coming to Australia," Edward said.
"I was getting, I wouldn't call it hate mail, but dislike mail, from other countries going, 'why do you keep going to Australia, why are you not coming to the UK'."
Edward said it was the friendly atmosphere that kept him returning, particularly in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
"I really resonate with the energy there," he said.
"When I get there, I feel good, when I'm walking around the cities there I feel good — I find myself happy and smiling, I'm energetically charged."
It's the same energy he uses to connect to the afterlife of those he reads.
"It's different from person to person, but it's a very intense feeling," Edward said.
"To be able to convey information the fragments ... these messages from people who have crossed to their families and to try and empower them — to give them peace of mind, hope and connection — it's an amazing feeling.
"As amazing as it can be, there's a flip opposite, it can be frustrating because the person is not getting it, or I'm not interpreting it correctly, so that kicks in.
"Sometimes they don't hear from the people they want to hear from — you might want to hear from your dad, but I might connect with your cousin, who has been gone from before you were born.
"There's a whole other level of stuff that comes up with it."
The psychic-medium has also received wide criticism for his work, with claims he uses mentalist techniques of hot and cold reading during the shows.
Among those to dig at Edward's work was cartoon South Park and claymation Celebrity Deathmatch.
Edward said he was used to receiving negative feedback, but it took another level when he was the main focus of South Park's "The Biggest Douche in the Universe" episode in 2002.
"It really never bothered me up until my son came into the age of the internet," he said.
"The fact that I had to have a conversation with him and say, 'here's the deal, your friends are probably going to be giggling and snickering and they're going to be watching South Park, and South Park said your dad is the biggest douche in the universe'.
"I said, 'and he has an entire episode dedicated to him, which makes you the son of the biggest douche in the universe', and he's looking at me like, 'OK'.
"I basically talked to him like this, I said, 'Justin, people have opinions and you have to not engage'.
"I would say to my grandmother or my aunt, you know like, 'people are going to say stuff, you know, don't worry about it'.
"Looking up the ladder of family was one thing, looking down the ladder to your child and having to prepare them for that is a harsher feeling, so that's not a positive for me.
"I don't love the personal attacks, I think people can get a point across without name calling, you know, it's almost childish sometimes.
"It's like, 'I don't believe in an afterlife', OK well I do believe in an afterlife, 'well I don't believe in an afterlife and you're a big weenie' — that's what it feels like to me.
"I respect that people don't believe, I just wish that the people who don't believe would respect the people who do believe and not call them names."
Edward said he would continue on his path as a conduit between the living and the deceased.
"If I see it, hear it and feel it, I say it," he said.
"I don't think I'm getting it to keep it to myself, I'm getting it to share it or help the person deal with it or better understand it."
Edward's Hobart show will include question and answer sessions, a guided meditation and messages from the "other side" — those attending are not guaranteed a reading.
The show will run from 7pm to 9pm, November 12, and tickets can be bought at www.ticketmaster.com.au.