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Sylvia Browne

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Psychic/Fraud

The Resume

    (October 19, 1936-November 20, 2013)
    Birth name was Sylvia Celeste Shoemaker
    Wrote 'Adventures of a Psychic' and 'The Other Side and Back'
    Started professional psychic readings (May 8, 1973)
    Incorporated as Nirvana Foundation for Psychic Research (1974)

Why she might be annoying:

    She was as phony as any other psychic.
    The majority of her predictions were so ambiguous that she could claim an accurate prediction by making it work.
    She agreed to be tested by skeptic, James Randi, on CNN but was never tested.
    She claimed to be on a mission from God.
    Her son, Chris Dufresne, is also a psychic, because he is in her blood line.
    She had a pay-per-view special.
    Probably to get around local laws and make her profit, she ran 'lecture series.'
    Among the junk she sold were mugs ($10) and sword pins ($70).
    She wrote the book, 'Do Be... Don't Be Book,' for kids (plagiarizing Romper Room?).
    Her rules for her spirit guide Francine were: 'Each question must have a single focus and be brief, and we cannot deal with missing persons or homicides in this venue. Fee is $100 per question (we usually limit you to 2 questions).'

Why she might not be annoying:

    She made a fortune off of gullible simpletons.
    She was against the psychic hotlines (calling the kettle black?).

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 31 Votes: 64.52% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 193 Votes: 53.89% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 26 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 35 Votes: 48.57% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 39 Votes: 51.28% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 29 Votes: 89.66% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 27 Votes: 70.37% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 40 Votes: 52.50% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 264 Votes: 65.91% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 100 Votes: 81.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 98 Votes: 81.63% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 49 Votes: 69.39% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 223 Votes: 38.12% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 116 Votes: 77.59% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 299 Votes: 75.25% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 429 Votes: 75.29% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 1767 Votes: 69.89% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 2462 Votes: 70.39% Annoying
    In 2003, Out of 4357 Votes: 70.14% Annoying
    In 2002, Out of 7751 Votes: 79.03% Annoying
    In 2001, Out of 1110 Votes: 76.04% Annoying