Total recall: Mentalist/Illusionist Jim Karol returning to the Valley

Jim Karol has a formidable memory -- the nationally known mentalist/illusionist and competitor on the recent NBC-TV reality show ''Phenomenon'' claims to know 80,000 ZIP codes, every word in the Scrabble dictionary and thousands of sports facts. He also has authored two books on improving memory skills.

But when the Allentown-born performer is asked to pin down the last time he performed publicly in the Lehigh Valley, he struggles. At first, he guesses ''more than 10 years ago.'' Then, a short time later it comes to him -- 1993 at Northampton's Roxy Theatre. On Sept. 16 of that year, Karol, then a North Catasauqua resident, headlined a benefit show for the Northampton Fire Department. Read more