J. Randall Brown

Who is J. Randall Brown?

J. Randall Brown was an American mentalist of the Victorian era, and was one of the first nationally popular mentalists of his age. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Brown was a stage performer and early proponent of muscle reading, sometimes called "contact mind reading" or "Cumberlandism" after Stuart Cumberland, although Brown's act predated Cumberland's, and Brown himself is often credited with starting the vogue for the art. The very term "muscle reading" was coined in a series of articles about Brown's abilities. Brown's shows also combined elements of the willing game and traditional séances. One of his trademark acts was the one in which he instructed the audience that while he was out of the room they were to select one of their own to be an imaginary murderer, one the victim, and something in the room to be the murder weapon. When they were done, Brown would return, take hold of one audience member by the wrist and physically lead that person to all three selections - "reading" the muscle resistance the audience member would give as he led them about the room. Much of his act consisted of variations on finding things he could not possibly know the location of. While an expert muscle reader, Brown still described this trick to his audience as "mind reading".