NBC (national) aired a travel show about Pearlman titledOz Knows.[1] He won anEmmy Award for the show.[2]
According to an article published by LEADERS Magazine in 2025, Pearlman is the most televised mentalist in the world. The article also states that Pearlman is the most followed mentalist on social media.[3] Pearlman has appeared in televised media outside of the United States, such asESPNPhilippines[4] and a TV commercial for Mohegan Sun inChina.[5]
In 2025, Pearlman delivered aTED Talk titledThe Art of Reading Minds. In the speech, he discussed amnemonic related to remembering names of people.[6]
Pearlman was born on July 19, 1982 inIsrael.[7] He began performing magic at restaurants, children’s shows and corporate events at the age of 14, and has stated that he always had a deck of cards with him between the ages of 13 and 18.[8][9]
Pearlman was originally employed atMerrill Lynch in its global technology-services department, only performing magic and mentalism as a part-time profession. After he was allowed to deliver acorporate entertainment show to upper management within the company, he quit his full-time job at Merrill Lynch to become a full-time entertainer.[9]
NBC TV (national) aired a travel show calledOz Knows in 2018, which followed Pearlman to various tourist attractions where he would perform his mentalism. Pearlman won anEmmy Award in May 2018 for the show.[2][1] In July 2023, Pearlman was a featured performer forESPY Awards on ESPN.[49][50] He also made guest appearances onNBC Today Show on August 23, 2015[51] and in 2016[36][37][38][39] and predicted theSuper Bowl result on January 26, 2017.[52]
On December 17, 2024, Pearlman was a guest onThe Howard Stern Show. In 2014, guestValerie Harper. while discussing her terminal illness, privately shared a secret code word with Stern that only the two of them would know, which could be used after her death to prove whether psychics are real. The idea for using a secret word was based on a pact thatHarry Houdini had made with his wife Bess where they promised each other that the first one to die would attempt to contact the other from the afterlife, using a code that the couple had created to verify any spiritualists or psychics who might claim that they had made contact. Pearlman correctly guessed that the word was "curly", shocking Stern.[27][28]
On June 4, 2025, Pearlman appeared on theJoe Rogan Experience. According to Rogan, Pearlman correctly guessed the ATM PIN code of Joe's bank account.[13][14][15] Rogan appeared visibly disturbed by this and stated "Yeah... that's weird," followed by "Yeah, I don't like that."[53][14] The hosts ofFLAGRANT hosted Pearlman on their podcast the following week.[34][35]
On November 18, 2025, Pearlman appeared onThe View and revealed hostSara Haines's real PIN number live on the air. Later, Haines stated that she felt "violated" by Pearlman. "I don't like someone that will sell a human violation for click bait," said Haines.[54] Pearlman even told Haines before the show that he would never share her real PIN number on the air, so he asked her to think of a fake one. Haines called the moment a “little bit of a betrayal”.[55]
Pearlman has performed mentalism for major sports teams, including:
According to an NBC News interview shared on November 11, 2025, Oz Pearlman (at the time of the interview) just released a book calledRead Your Mind.[85]
Critics have accused Pearlman of deception; such as scouting audience members prior to performances and carrying out investigative discovery into guests to get answers.[86] Pearlman is the first to admit the "lie is that I can read your mind."[87] "I don't read minds," Pearlman confesses, "I read people."[86]
Not all mentalism attempts by Pearlman have been successful, however. OnThe Today Show in 2016, Pearlman askedAl Roker to pick a celebrity who he thought might run for President. Roker choseGeorge Clooney; but Pearlman had incorrectly predicted he would sayTaylor Swift by revealing a pre-printed T-Shirt with an image of Swift underneath the slogan: "T-Swift for President".[86][88] Pearlman deconstructed the televised moment in a later interview with60 Minutes, saying: "And what if it could be anybody else?" What if—and—and so, I was steering him back on track to what I thought would work. And—and so it looked even more amazing, because it seemed like he changed his mind at the last moment."[87]
Critics have proposed the idea that what Pearlman is doing is fraudulent. Oz Pearlman claims to be able to not read minds, not to have any supernatural skill or talent, but rather to be able to read people. His book is marketed on this premise: his ability to impart those same skills to the reader. However, Oz Pearlman's acts are centered entirely around gimmicks. He uses prop cards, trick chalkboards, trick notepads, and fake versions of Google during the preshow to glean information that he construes as being gleaned from body language and facial tells alone. Critics argue that such deception is grounds for a lawsuit given the FTC's policy on deception.[citation needed]
On April 4, 2022, Pearlman broke the world record for most miles run in Central Park in New York. The total distance that he ran was more than 116 miles (16 loops), and it was completed in 17 hours, 40 minutes and 59 seconds.The New York Times,Reuters,Runner's World, andCBS News published articles about the event. The event raised money to help Ukrainian citizens affected by the war against Russia.[89][90][91][92][93] On August 5, 2022, Pearlman ran 130 miles in 21 hours, 52 minutes and 33 seconds from Montauk to Manhattan. The Audacious Report produced a short documentary about the run andThe New York Times published an article about it.[94][95][29] Pearlman won theNew Jersey Marathon four times. He won the 50-mile Chicago Ultra Marathon in 2015 in 5 hours, 25 minutes, and 26 seconds,[96] and has ranked within the top 30 fastest Americans for 50-mile races. He has also participated in theHawaii Ironman World Championship, Western States 100 Mile Run, Spartathlon 153 Mile Run, Leadville 100 Mile Run and Badwater 135 Mile Run.[97]
