Originally posted Friday, January 10, 2020 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Chip Coffey, a veteran Atlanta medium, has joined Travel Channel's "Kindred Spirits" as a regular season four.
The show, which returned January 3 features Adam Berry and Amy Bruni as paranormal investigators. Coffey comes in to help interact with the spirits.
Coffey has had his share of TV gigs over the years including A&E’s “Paranormal State” and “Psychic Kids” and showed up occasionally on “Kindred Spirits” its first three seasons. But it’s been awhile since he’s had a regular role.
“Kindred Spirits” focuses on problematic haunted situations. “We as a team go in and assess what’s happening,” Coffey said. “We gather whatever evidence we can about what’s going on and research the history of the property and people living there and have lived their in the past. We also examine what’s going on in the vicinity around the haunted locations.”
Coffey said he goes in knowing absolutely nothing to keep his mind clear. “They give me an airline ticket and a hotel room,” he said. “They bring me in blindfolded sometimes. I then give my intuitive impression of what’s going on in the location. Then we try to come up with a resolution.”
The season's first episode, for instance, is an old elementary school in Maxwell, Iowa built in 1921 and closed in 2002. Owners Jim and Nancy Oliver purchased it hoping to convert it to event space but now just live there. While there have been benign spirits there for years, a new one had arrived and the building maintenance man Will Conkel is concerned about the aging couple's well being.
Coffey shows up halfway through the episode. “You have a war going on in this building,” Coffey says. “One thing that’s negative and another thing that is more positive. And they’re at odds with each other. Two distinct energies. Someone in my head, ‘Get the f*** out.’ Not going to happen.”
Ultimately, they talk to the newer spirit and calm him down in hopes he can co-exist with the others.
Coffey said 95 percent of the time, they provide the clients with a clearer picture of what’s going on and leave them better off than when they came in.
The medium, who has lived in Atlanta for 36 years, said he has worked hard to stay relevant in recent years with guest appearances on shows from "Haunted Collector" to "Drunk History." And he continues to do private readings.
ON TV
“Kindred Spirits,” 9 p.m. Fridays, Travel Channel
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