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Spiritualism is no more than trickery. Worse than that, it offers people who have been bereaved the false comfort of thinking they can communicate with lost loved ones. Throughout history there have always been individuals who claimed they could speak to the dead. In the 19th century, though, just as science and rationalism were gaining ground, the idea that the spirits of the dead could communicate with the living became known as spiritualism. This communication, it was asserted, could only occur through a person with special gifts, known as a medium.

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The Fox sisters in New York were amongst the earliest 'mediums'. Their claim that spirits in their house could answer questions by making knocking noises was widely believed and they had a huge following, which included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Others were sceptical, though, and eventually Margaret Fox admitted that the noises had been a trick.

Despite being exposed as a lie and condemned by many, including the great early 20th century illusionist Harry Houdini, spiritualism still has many adherents. The UK's most famous 'medium', Doris Stokes, who died in 1987, rigged huge public performances featuring so-called revelations about clients she secretly knew already.

Spiritualism often exploits people at their most vulnerable, such as the recently bereaved who are desperate to contact those they have lost. They are being conned by acts that are both powerful and intriguing. These use similar techniques to those of the 19th century spiritualists. This is how it works.

I start by picking the right people. Young people, who are more open-minded, and artistic people, who have vivid imaginations, are often particularly suggestible. Those in my show are young students, many of them studying arts subjects.

I start by getting people to believe in me by using a powerful spiritualist trick called cold reading. I get information from a subject while appearing to reveal facts about them. The spiritualist (in this case, me) starts by saying something like: 'I sense a connection to someone with a name like Laura, Nora. Does anyone know someone with a name like that?' Of course, several hands go up and then you go on in a similar way to get these people to give you information about themselves.

The scene is also set by using an empty building and darkened rooms. I tell the story of a 1974 suicide pact between 12 students, gradually revealing more, including film footage, of Jane, one the deceased characters. I arrange the pictures to manipulate the participants into focusing on Jane.

The tools – the ouija board, pen, blank paper, glass, letters of the alphabet and flat surface as well as the spirit cabinet – match their expectations of the kind of environment associated with the paranormal, and encourage them to believe in the trick.

The ouija board is one of most interesting. We've all heard stories of things flying off walls and people being menaced by spirits, but if you start asking around, a lot of people will say: 'We did it and nothing happened.'

When the glass moves on the ouija board to spell words and the person in the spirit cabinet throws the tambourine thinking they are possessed by spirits, it is actually my suggestions that have encouraged them into involuntary behaviour. This is common to a lot of mediums who genuinely think they are communing with the dead – I suppose this could be called unconscious fraud.

In fact, the whole event is a set up to show how people can be manipulated. There was no suicide pact in 1974 and Jane is an actress who is very much alive!

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