LAist Interview: Medium and Clairvoyant Lisa Williams

Photo of Lisa Williams by Caroline Cohenour

Photo of Lisa Williams by Caroline Cohenour
This Friday night, medium, clairvoyant, healer, and author Lisa Williams will be appearing live at Club Nokia, where she will be able to connect people with their loved ones who are no longer living. Williams might be a familiar face, since she has had two Lifetime Television series, Lisa Williams: Voices from the Other Side and Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead, and has made numerous appearances on TV talk and news shows here and around the country. She hails from England, but was brought to Los Angeles by the late Merv Griffin (before he became "the late") and now teaches workshops in the area in addition to making live appearances like Friday's all over the world.LAist had the opportunity to chat with Williams yesterday, and talk about life in Los Angeles, connecting with celebrity spirits, her Club Nokia show, and...Twitter.

Life in Los Angeles...
Williams, her husband, and their 8-year-old son, have been living in Los Angeles for two-and-a-half years now. "It really does feel like home now," Williams says, adding that she recently asked her son if he wanted to go back to England and his response was an adamant "No!" It's not surprising that our weather is the first thing this Brit says she loves about living here, when you compare our days of sunshine with the rainy skies of England. But above all it seems the best thing about Los Angeles is the "laid back attitude." She notes that it seems "you never get questioned about your beliefs," and that there is an overall sense of openness she appreciates.

That sense of openness has come in handy; on Williams' television shows, she included segments where she was out and about in retail areas of various neighborhoods, and she would stop passers-by, shoppers, or shopkeepers to give them impromptu on-the-spot readings, connecting them unexpectedly with loved ones who had passed away, getting reactions varying from surprised to highly emotional.

Williams loved filming those segments, because she loves LA, and it "gave [her] a chance to see different parts" of the city. While filming the segments she encountered all sorts of people--"a lot of tourists, some were residents,"--but she and her crew "found that the best place was Hollywood & Highland." They would stay there for days, filming Williams offering quick out-of-the-blue readings later aired on her Lifetime show. Another favorite spot was Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.

There is, of course, a skepticism that many people have about psychic abilities; while her woman-on-the-street readings generally netted receptive people, Williams feels that in general, Los Angeles is more open to her line of work than anywhere else she's been. She attributes this to people's attitudes, noting that "certainly in LA it's full of creative people, who have to have an open mind because of their work. The more they have an open mind, the more I am accepted," and the more likely they are to have a "spiritual experience," when working with her.

Giving an on-the-street reading at Hollywood & Highland (screenshot via MyLifetime.com)
She also believes that Angelenos are part of a city that is well-connected to spirituality, citing places like the Pacific ocean and the Self-Realization center as examples. But she's never had any significant experience of rejection or objection here in Los Angeles, which makes living and working here "fabulous."So fabulous, in fact, that it looks like Williams and her family is here to stay. "We've made LA our home," she tells us. "I don't think there are any thoughts about moving; we just love it here. My husband loves it, my son loves it."

Since Williams plans on sticking around, there are definitely some places she would like to check out...for their spirits. "I would love to go to the Magic Castle," she says. "I've been invited there, but I haven't taken anyone up on the offer yet." Apparently the Hollywood landmark boasts "a lot of [spirit] activity, has a lot of energy, and would be really good to investigate."

Hooray for Hollywood...
Of course, it's bound to come up when you're talking landmarks and the afterlife in Los Angeles: Celebrity Spirits. Williams says she's been to many historic locations in LA, like the Doheny Mansion, as seen on her show, and the legendary Roosevelt Hotel, where she admits she did bump into the spirit of Marilyn Monroe, which she says was "really, really weird." Connecting with the famous departed seems to be par for the course when your job is to talk to the spirits. "Many celebrities have made contact with me over a number of years, not just the time I've been in LA," she explains. People like Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan, and her producer, Merv Griffin, have all spoken to her, as well as Princess Diana. And it's "really random" when she realizes the messages she's getting are coming from a well-known figure. "Sometimes it's location-specific," she tells us, but sometimes it's that the spirit has a "message to get to a person." Princess Diana, for example, came while she was conducting a private reading; turned out the woman she was reading for had been a personal friend of the late royal.

Williams herself is a celebrity now, thanks in part to her television series, which were aired on Lifetime. Her last show, Lisa Williams: Voices from the Other Side, had a mere 5 episodes that ran for one full week during October, leaving eager viewers begging for more. It was her second for the network, following two seasons of Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead. So will she be back on our sets? "At the moment we’re waiting for Lifetime to make a decision," she says, but she has been "recording live events," so there is a great possibility we could see her on TV again before the end of the year.

Williams' last show aired its 5 episodes for one full week last October on Lifetime
Lisa...live!
If you need to get your Lisa Williams fix, though, you can opt to download her shows via iTunes or watch full episodes on the Lifetime site, or you can see what she does live and in person. Williams will be appearing tomorrow night in person at Club Nokia here at the LA Live entertainment complex in Downtown, and the show looks to be an exciting one--at the very least for Williams, since doing the shows are so much fun for her.

What can one expect when being in the audience of a live Lisa Williams show? Well, ultimately, "of course everybody comes wanting to communicate" with loved ones who are gone, and "that's the show--several hours of [her] doing readings for people." She urges people who are going to attend to "think about [contacting people] before," because if you ask the spirits who may be around you to come forward, they often will, although they won't for everyone there. But even if it's not your spirits she's bringing through to you, watching her read for others is so very entertaining. "Come along expecting fun!" Williams says enthusiastically, with her typical warmth and cheer. "The spirits aren't boring! If they were fun in life, they will be hilarious when they come through!" In fact, sometimes Williams admits she has to scan the crowd to be sure there aren't children; you can sell the show as all ages, but just try to tell a randy spirit to tone it down! "Sometimes it can be a bit racy," she confesses with a laugh.

A surprised man gets a message from a loved one who had passed away, as seen in the first episode of Williams' first show (screenshot via MyLifetime.com)
It's not just the spirits Williams is planning to see in the crowd tomorrow night, though. "The LA show is a really big deal for me," she explains. "You’r playing in LA opposite the Staples center--but this is a big deal because my friends will be there, my agent, my manager, people who work with me--and my husband!" The (adopted) hometown crowd can be a tough one. "Normally I don't know anyone," she says. "I'm really nervous!" Knowing all of her close friends and associates will be looking up at her on the stage is "quite nerve-wracking." She has a plan, though, to get over her nerves. "I'll just ignore them! I'll imagine they're not there," she says, laughing. Her ritual is to "completely shut away" for a half hour before the show, when she will shut everyone out, and maybe listen to some music or meditate.Being in Williams' inner circle doesn't mean you can be that friend who pesters her all the time, though. Luckily, people close to her have learned not to talk to her about readings. "You want what?" she says, acting out her immediate reaction. Of course, sometimes she can do a "witchy" favor for a friend, but Williams acknowledges that "most people respect my life, and that I’m a normal person." That doesn't mean that at a gathering, say, "over a glass of wine," she will ignore a spirit who pops up and comes through for a friend. "Oh, yeah, sometime it will happen when they least expect it," she exclaims. And of course, she'll give the ad hoc reading to a grateful recipient.

Since not everyone can make it to Club Nokia tomorrow, catching up with Williams in California isn't too hard to do. She has a lot of California dates coming up, like to the north in Bakersfield (March 5) and just outside of town in Lancaster (March 6). But if you want to be connected with Williams, you'd best get on the internet!

Online, all the time...
Williams has created a multi-faceted website where people can connect with her, and with spirits. You can become a member, you can read her regularly updated blog, and sometimes discover there's a message waiting for you. Williams often gets "messages during the day" that she puts on the site in hopes they reach their intended audience.

"I'm a bit of a tech geek," Williams admits. She uses many familiar social networking tools to help create community and stay in touch with fans and friends. "Oh my god!" she exclaims, when we bring up Twitter. "I'm a Twitter and Facebook junkie--Facebook more than Twitter." She tells us that her assistant first got her on board Twitter, and after that initial "what's this all about?" phase, she's found it's quite enjoyable. Williams (that's @lwmedium, Tweeps!) tends to Twitter more when a show is coming up, and is amazed at the positive response she's getting. She'll Tweet about arriving in a town for an appearance, that she's headed to the venue, that she's waiting for her bag and the like, noting in amusement that "people wanted to know--people love to read that sort of stuff!"

Now she's got Twitter on her phone, and says that if people are interested, it's okay with her. "I think I'm practically doing all of [the major social networking site]" she says, and indeed, you'll find her not only on the aforementioned Twitter and Facebook, but also on MySpace. And what kind of computer does a famous medium and clairvoyant use? "I'm a Mac girl!" she enthuses. "I mean, I'd have to be...I'm in LA!"

Lisa Williams Live @Club Nokia
800 West Olympic Blvd Suite A334 (at LA Live)
(213) 742-7340
Friday, February 27, 8 p.m. (doors open at 7)
Tickets: $32-$42; Gold Circle with meet-and-greet $96.50 (purchase online)
Please note that while purchasing a ticket does not guarantee direct interaction she will be giving readings to the audience. This is an all-ages show.