Revival of secret club is sell out .. but keep it to yourself

It's a club so secret that no notes are taken at its meetings, no records made and members are asked not to discuss the details of what they have seen - and yet tickets for its latest event sold out within hours.

• People at the society's first meeting wore white masks

The Edinburgh Secret Society has been launched by psychologist Richard Wiseman and historian Peter Lamont - both magicians - who say it is a revival of a shadowy group of 18th-century thinkers rumoured to have met in secret.

The new society met for the first time last month, with the only details to have leaked out revealing that the event included rude optical illusions, a discussion of the link between the FBI and the world's greatest hoax, and a demonstration of apparent mind-reading. The only photographs of the event to have been published feature the entire society wearing white masks.

This month's event at the Voodoo Rooms will be held on two consecutive days and, once again, tickets sold out within hours.

In keeping with the secrecy shrouding the society, the organisers declined to comment ahead of their meetings on January 19 and 20, billed as an evening exploring the psychology, history and science of self-improvement.

Dr Wiseman is known for his appearance on TV programmes including Horizon and Body Shock, and has worked as an advisor for Derren Brown Investigates.

He is professor of the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, and received a PhD in psychology from the University of Edinburgh.

Dr Lamont, a former president of the Edinburgh Magic Circle, is a research fellow at the University of Edinburgh, studying the history, theory and performance of magic.

They say on their website that the society "Organises events for those of a curious disposition. These include verbal, theatrical and experimental presentations intended to inform, entertain and bewilder".

The pair say the society is a rekindling of a group of 18th-century intellectuals rumoured to have met in secret, "against the spirit of the Enlightenment - to disseminate useful knowledge - with the aim of discussing knowledge that was not necessarily useful, and keeping it to themselves".

They write: "Well-known Edinburgh intellectuals, such as David Hume and James Boswell (pictured left) if asked whether they were members, would have denied even knowing that such a society existed.

"No notices were posted, no agendas were set and no minutes were taken. As a result, there is no evidence that these meetings actually took place."

Expert on the secret societies of the 18th Century, Dr Evelyn Lord, said that, however bizarre the goings-on of the new Edinburgh Secret Society, it was unlikely to rival its forerunners in the Capital: "I think they're perhaps alluding to a generic kind of club in Edinburgh - they were very common.

"There was something called the Wig Club and the wig was allegedly made of the pubic hair from royal mistresses. Whoever was president of the club had to wear this lice-ridden wig. It was like a gentlemen's club where you could be blackballed if they didn't want you. Lots of drinking went on and lots of merriment.

"There was one called the Boar Club that met in the Shakespeare Tavern next to the Usher Hall, and all they did was grunt at each other."

CLUB CLASS

Edinburgh's 18th Century Secret Societies

The Boar Club: Grunted at each other during meetings

The Wig Club: President wore a wig reputedly made of pubic hair from royal mistresses

The Dirty Club: No gentlemen to appear in clean linen

The Black Wigs: Wore black wigs

The Odd Fellows: Wrote their names upside-down

The Doctors of Faculty Club: Wore doctors gown and wigs

The Bonnet Lairds: Wore bonnets

The Sweating Club: Drank until midnight when they ran out into nearby closes, stealing the wigs of passers-by and chasing them until they were exhausted

The Assembly of Birds: Would sing and warble in birdsong

The Six Feet Club: Only for men 6ft or more