Jezebel: Mystery

An Academic Approach To Creepy Pickup Artists

Anna North — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:14:00 EDT

Plenty of people have called pickup artists creepy, but few have embarked on a full theoretical analysis of their creepitude. Now, a communications researcher does just that. Herewith, her breakdown of how Mystery twists evolutionary psychology to his own coercive ends. More »

Is The Kidnapped Syrian Lesbian Blogger A Hoax?

Anna North — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EDT

Activists are calling for an investigation into the alleged kidnapping of Syrian blogger Amina Arraf. But others are investigating something else: whether she even exists. More »

I Made out With a Dude from The Pick-up Artist Then Interviewed Him

Rachel White — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:32:00 EST

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Dylan was a DJ with asymmetrical hair and over-sized glasses. I had the same hair with confetti crosses and rhinestones glued to my face, so it wasn't so weird that our mouths collided in a club. What was weird was learning that this kid I'd made out with a few times was on a reality TV show…about the "art" of picking up women. More »

Pick-Up Artist Asks, “ARE YOU READY TO LAY EVERY GIRL YOU MEET?”

Sadie Stein — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:42:00 EST

This group of professional pick-up artists must be seen to be believed...and understood. Says one of the dudes (all of whom are congregating in a mall), "Really, I'm a Life Artist." More »

Why Aren't There More Female Pickup Artists?

Anna North — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST

It's been tried before, but why has female pickup artistry never caught on? Recently, a group of San Francisco women found out. More »

Can A Woman Be A Pickup Artist?

Anna North — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT

Nerve's Caitlin MacRae decided to find out what happens when a woman uses the pickup-artistry techniques "pioneered" by guys like Neil Strauss and Mystery. The results: not good. More »

Jane Addiction

Sadie Stein — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:40:00 EDT

There's a new Marple in St. Mary Mead. The iconic spinster detective's brogues have been filled by such luminaries as Angela Lansbury and Geraldine McEwen, and now by veteran actress Julia McKenzie, who premieres in A Pocketful of Rye. [BBC] More »

Is Fake "Wing-Woman" The New Reality?

Sadie Stein — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EDT

A few months ago, an infamous want-ad appeared on Craigslist. The request for a "$30/hour" "wingwoman" was just the beginning. More »

The Butler Hid It

Sadie Stein — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EDT

Two previously unknown Hercule Poirot short stories have been found in one of Agatha Christie's homes. They will be included in the upcoming Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. [Guardian] More »

Spinster Hall Of Fame: Miss Marple

Sadie Stein — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:00:00 EDT

In a time when we all need comfort, publishers roll out The Complete Miss Marple — and the stealth sage of St. Mary Mead gets her due. More »

The Book Of Love

Maria — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:40:00 EST

If a man like Mystery can make a living off of telling nerdy men how to score with chicks, why can't a 9-year-old boy write a dating book? Alec Greven recently published a book with HarperCollins called How to Talk to Girls that is full of plain-spoken, common sense tips to help boys with their dating woes. Some of the pointers are simple: "comb your hair and don't wear sweats" and keep approaches easy with a friendly "hi." Greven also warns against pretty girls — easily spotted with their "big earrings, fancy dresses and all the jewelry" — because they can be "cold-hearted." [NY Post] More »

Remember Mystery, from VH1's The Pick Up...

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:20:00 EDT

Remember Mystery, from VH1's The Pick Up Artist? We got an awesome email from a male reader who was out in LA last night with his two female roommates. He went to go to the bathroom and when he returned, Mystery was hitting on the two girls, and trying to perform magic tricks that reminded our reader more of Gob from Arrested Development, than of a professional Casanova. He confronted Mystery on his trademark "neg" strategy, in which he tries to insult women to lure them in. Mystery denied that, and then awkwardly walked away. But not before our reader stole his goggles! Click on Mystery to see photos of the famous goggles. More »

Would You Pay For Dating Advice From Someone Who Calls Himself "Savoy"?

Jessica G. — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Our lil' buddy Neel Shah continues on with his pick up artist beat with a piece in Radar about a $3,000 crash course in dating. You're probably familiar with these sorts of things if you caught any part of the VH1 show, The Pick Up Artist, starring a ridiculously eyelinered man named Mystery. Well, Neel observed a class taught by Mystery's disgruntled former business partner, a Wharton MBA holder who calls himself "Savoy", as part of a company called Love Systems. And he found out that the nine dudes willing to cough up $3,000 to learn to hit on women were far from the jerks one might presume them to be. More »

Meet Satoshi Fujita: The Japanese "Mystery" With A Wig And A Prayer

Dodai Stewart — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST

"I always teach my students that sex comes first. Then you figure out whether the woman is worth marrying later." So says Satoshi Fujita (left), head of Tokyo's Pickup School For Men Who Can't Get Any. Fujita is like the Mystery of Japan: He helps insecure geeks get laid! And, like Mystery, Fujita has all kinds of tricks up his sleeve: For starters, he wears a wig. "It was so shocking when my hair started to fall out," he says. "I was scared to look in the mirror and completely froze up when I talked to women." His wig gave him confidence; he soon developed a "science" of chatting up chicks, using humor, compliments and, uh, magic tricks. Now he teaches other lame dudes nanpa, the art of picking up women. According to Wired, there are half a dozen nanpa schools in the Tokyo area, and Fujita's is the most popular. Classes are held on street corners: "Picking up women on the streets is the best method for people who need miracles," Fujita claims. More »

Men Are Awful At Picking Up Women The World Over

Dodai Stewart — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST

Valentine's Day: One week away! And in honor of the not-so-momentous holiday, the Times of London is offering up a valentine of sorts called "The Best Chat-Up Lines In The World". Thing is, the pickup lines listed are some of the worst we've ever heard. (From Germany: "Your eyes are the same color as my Porsche.") Actually, the story is really just about all the fumbling ways dudes try to approach women: A German writer says his countrymen suffer from Caligynephobia (also known as Venustraphobia) - the fear of chatting up hot chicks. As for Italian men, they're "pretty forthright," says an Alitalia flight attendant named Daniela. "They don't hesitate to compliment you in the street on your beauty, ciao bella and all that. They even whistle." Classy! More »

Neil Strauss Joins Forces With '80s TV Dweebs To Teach More Men How To Build "Keno"

Moe — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:40:00 EST

Neil Strauss, the The Game author who introduced the world to Mystery and who we can also probably blame for Paul Janka, will soon be dispensing dating tips on MySpace TV with the aid of Corin "Corky" Nemec of Parker Lewis Can't Lose and David Faustino of Married With Children. But since such two iconic figures as Faustino and Nemec obviously don't need the help of a 5'5" bald writer dude in elevator shoes to get chicks, Neil presents them with obstacles to illustrate the pickup power of his tricks. As he explains in his statement:

After watching David Faustino get actual phone numbers with, for example, his identity concealed, his hands tied, and his mouth duct-taped, no guy should ever have to fear approaching a woman under normal circumstances again.

Oh Jesus, they concealed identities here? More »

Obama On SNL: The Only Thing More Awesome Is Bill Clinton Dressed Up As "Mystery"

Moe — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 09:30:28 EST

'The Pick Up Artist': The Students Become The Teachers

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:30:00 EDT

'The Pick Up Artist': Now They're Insulting The Strippers

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:00:00 EDT

This just in from the newest addition to...

Moe — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:00:14 EDT

This just in from the newest addition to our BlackBerry contacts, in approximately nineteen out-of-order installments we had to piece together to add to the MYSTERY: "Lots of misquotes and the joke about my being dr dolittle little and incapable of reducing where people are from (remember 212 i was was Chicago tho I also told u was in NYC) was the joke of it all which seemed to go overlooked haa. Wow commentS show people take things so seriously like when Lovedrop made jokes like so are you hot as if he was socialized enough to know exactly what he was saying. Fun break from the norm. Cheers. Nap time with my playboy model before pitch two. First one was fun." More »

My Mid-Morning Conversation With VH1's "Mystery"

Moe — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:20:03 EDT

Today the esteemed news service Afrojacks posted a number purporting to belong to VH1 Pick-Up Artist Mystery, host of VH1's The Pick-Up Artist. I dialed it, and was greeted by a welcoming voice. Then, a disconnect. Then, a ring! I picked up and commenced conversing with a man caller ID identified as VON MARKOVIC, ER on subjects ranging from lesbian porn to his love of the band Tool to Scott Baio's shortcomings to period sex to Carl Sagan to his appreciation for the art of mutual posterior-licking. And not to indulge in such a thing, but I was charmed! After the jump, the full text of my conversation, or at least, some version of the full text based on what I typed while trying to think of what the fuck someone who actually knew if Eric Von Marcovik was Mystery (Google: yes) would ask the most famous man in the world. More »