Known as the go-to clairvoyant in Tinsel Town, 25-year-old Tyler Henry has made a name for himself by using his abilities to give readings. With a successful show (‘Hollywood Medium’ ran for four seasons), one book and a second on its way (coming out in February,) Henry has solidified a spot in the world of psychics—but it all begins and ends with a want to help people.
At a young age, Henry’s abilities began to show but years later, the California small-town native still is driven by trying to connect not just people to those who have left the physical world, but just people to people in general. That sentiment is what drove his tour, which will be stopping in Atlantic City at the Borgata Casino, Hotel & Spa on Oct. 15 and 16 but also in Bethlehem on the 13th and Bensalem at later dates.
Henry sat down to discuss more about what audiences can expect from his tour and what he likes most about showing what he can do—skepticism as he says, is welcome.
So, how did this all start for you?
It started around when I was 10 years old. In April of 2006, I woke up one night and I just had this knowingness that my grandmother was going to pass away, and at the time it just felt like a memory that hadn’t happened yet…it was really confusing. I went to go and explain this feeling to my mom, and as I was explaining it to her, her phone actually started ringing and we were interrupted. And so she picked up her phone, and when she did, it was my dad on the other end saying that my grandmother had passed away.
So, that was really the catalyst, but at 10 years old that was not something I recognized as an ability as much as something that kind of happened to me. It really took years of these moments to happen—they happened around school, students, teachers and eventually, as they grew stronger, I couldn’t really deny that there was something more.
How did those feelings evolve into wanting to go out and help people?
I still don’t have a lot of control over my ability, but I will say that it really was a refinement process [in the years following.] I would have these moments spontaneously, and as I got a little older I started seeing that these moments of knowingness would revolve around things that people would really benefit from hearing and when I recognized that, I realized that it could be an aspect that I could actually give to the world and it could be beneficial—despite not really understanding what could be at play. I still really don’t understand the mechanisms behind what I do, but I know that it works.
At the age of 16, I actually graduated high school early with the goal of trying to become a hospice nurse. At that age, I thought it would be an opportunity to in a more pragmatic way share my ability with people who might be towards the end of their life. But very quickly through word of mouth my life changed, and by the time I was 17 I had people leaving notes at my front door. People would hear about me and basically just beg for readings—so I got to a point where I had to make a decision. The goal has always been the same: To just leave people better than when I’ve found them. I decided to do that through readings.
Is that how you became the go-to in Hollywood as well?
For sure. I always said, if you’re real then you don’t really have to advertise—and that’s kind of what happened. When I was 16, I was just doing readings in my small town in central California, and then before I knew it, I had celebrities reaching out from all over who were interested in what I could do. I think with my age, people saw that I was young and there was a level of trust that went with that. My first celebrity client was actually Sarah Paulson and from there, one thing led to another. I found that people were a lot more open-minded in Southern California than the conservative town I was in, so naturally, it was just kind of a segway into that direction.
Are there any specific sessions that stand out to you?
Oh my gosh, so many. From the [celebrity groupings] where I’ve done over 300, my reading with RuPaul was one of the most meaningful for me personally. RuPaul was somebody that I looked up to when I was young and didn’t have a lot of people to relate too for a number of reasons, so to be able to meet with him and give him some closure around his father’s passing, it was really nice to be able to give back to somebody who gave so much to me when I was very young.
Do you ever wonder why you have this ability?
All the time. I really believe that everybody on some level has a degree of intuition, the word itself breaks down into inner-tuition or inner knowledge. I think that for whatever reason, whether it’s environmental or genetic, I think I just have certain predispositions that allow me to recognize these abilities more than maybe the average person. But I think we all have that kind of inner compass and it can be of great benefit to our lives. Certainly, not everybody has to do readings, but I think everybody can agree that we can get a first impression when we shake someone’s hand and I believe those are important feelings to go with.
What do you like most about having this ability?
I really find that it’s extremely transformative. I learned that very quickly doing my show that I was talking to people from all walks of life ranging from Steve-O to Jenna Bush—I’ve read a whole gamut of people and people have come into it sometimes as believers, sometimes as total skeptics and if anything I think it’s that same arc from start to end: People generally left with a sense of lightness and a sense of relief in one way or another. It really didn’t matter what their beliefs were going into it as much as it was about trying to help them by the end result.
When did you decide that you also wanted to take this on tour as well?
After ‘Hollywood Medium’, we had over 300,000 requests for private readings—I was blown away by that. I really wanted to share my abilities with people who I felt were deserving and who needed it most. I come from a very small town, very much not Hollywood. So that aspect of reading celebrities was cool and fun, but I felt my ability could shine more in just helping regular people just like I am.
By traveling the country, I felt like this allowed me to go to people who might not be able to come to LA and kind of cater to that demand and do it in an affordable way. Tickets range but are generally cheap and it gives everybody the opportunity to, if not get a reading themselves, at least see the process. I really believe that there’s great healing in seeing people go through that process.
In a show setting, what would you tell people to expect?
It’s different every single time, that’s kind of the beauty of it in some ways. But, the show is typically a two-part show. The first part I introduce myself to the audience and talk about who I am and what got me here and then I share what I’ve learned. As a result of doing thousands of readings now, there are certain insights that have been of great value for me. I think it helps lend context to the experience that we share together when it comes time to do the readings.
The second part of the show really just is me focusing on the audience, doing as many readings as I can in the time that we have together. And again, you just never know what’s going to happen. It’s the journey that’s interesting because everyone kind of comes into it as an individual and leaves knowing that they went on a collective experience. That for me is what it’s really all about.
To purchase tickets and find out more about where Tyler Henry is performing, visit tylerhenryhollywoodmedium.com
