October 19, 1969: Incredible Coincidence? John Edward and Trey Parker Born ON THE SAME DAY!

A Brief History

On October 19, 1969, the fickle winds of fate must have been blowing awful hard, because the almost supernatural coincidence of cartoonist Trey Parker and self proclaimed psychic John Edward were both born on this day. Little did they realize that in September of 2002 Parker and his partner, Matt Stone, would feature Edward in the starring title role of the South Park episode known as The Biggest Douche in the Universe! (The 94^th episode of the South Park animated cartoon series.)

Digging Deeper

Was this occurrence a cosmic joke? An example of fate? Or a mere coincidence? (Tell us if you know.) For those that are not familiar with Trey Parker, he and Matt Stone started the animated Comedy Central adult cartoon, South Park, about potty mouth little kids that explore a wide range of social issues and portray celebrities in an unflattering way. (That is an understatement.) They also are the writers of the Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon.

Apparently the production crew of South Park agreed that the biggest douche in the universe is psychic John Edward, whom they see and portray as a charlatan. Edward was born John Edward McGee and first worked as a phlebotomist and a dance instructor before becoming a fake medium. (Did we say that? We mean, allegedly fake medium.) Gaining prominence on the Larry King Live television show in 1998 and writing a book that same year, Edward was soon starring on his own television show where he would use his remarkable psychic talents to communicate with the dead and the “other world” to tell things to audience members that they either already know or want to know.

His idiotic technique for throwing out various names and other phrases to the audience until someone bites is portrayed on South Park when one of the boys shows how anyone could do that, resulting in moronic people thinking the boy is a psychic also.

Most examinations of John Edward result in extreme skepticism about his supposed abilities, and accusations that his television performances are edited to make him appear to be uncannily accurate. The Amazing Randi (magician and psychic skeptic) analyzed a TV episode and found only 3 of 23 assertions by Edward were correct, and those 3 were insignificant and quite general at that.

James Underdown of IIG (Independent Investigative Group) also found Edward to be a fraud. No scientific peer reviewed study of Edward has been done, though an amateurish study found him to be genuine. (The study by Gary Schwartz has been criticized.)

BTW, if you are not familiar with the term “douche” as it relates as an epithet, it is commonly used nowadays to refer to someone of dubious character, a slimy, creepy, untrustworthy type worthy of your contempt. In days gone by, one may have been called a “jerk” or a “creep.”

Question for students (and subscribers): So, what is it with Parker and Edward being born on the exact same day? Does some supernatural power know that they would one day be brought together through the magic of animated television? Was it a bizarre coincidence? Does it even matter? (Of course it does!) Please give us your thoughts on this coincidence, and while you are at it, how about your opinion on John Edward and his psychic powers in the comments section below this article.

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Historical Evidence

For more information, please see…

Parker, Trey and Toni Wurts.  South Park: Season 6.  Comedy Central, 2005.