Some of us think we know everything, even what others are thinking, but that is generally just arrogance or impatience with listening, unless you know Joey and Phina Pipia, the father-and-daughter team who read minds for a living.

The Psychic Dynasty will charm the socks off families next Saturday, at 1 p.m., February 8 in the Little Panida Theater as they make mind-boggling predictions and “summon spirits from the beyond” to engage the audience in fast-paced and funny, tightly scripted dialogue.

“Every effect you see is entirely original,” says Phina Pipia, because “our goal is to give audiences an experience they have never had before, and they will never have again.” Many of the effects in the show were inspired by classic effects from the heyday of mentalism during the turn-of-the-century, but the two have re-invented those pieces to make them their own. “There’s nothing in the show anyone has ever seen before,” she said.

Phina’s father, Joey, says they are “committed to amazement in its purest form. Our goal is always to transport audiences to a place of both laughter and awe.”

Joey Pipia is a magician who studied with the renowned magician, Slydini. He has toured widely with his own Tall Grass Magic Show and his close-up magic show, The Magic Chamber.

The Pipias invite audience members to participate, but they assure every volunteer will feel totally at ease and safe. “When we say we’re mind-readers, people usually get nervous and worried that we’ll read their minds and reveal their secrets, or embarrass them onstage,” said Phina, adding that the opposite is actually true.

“We take great care to be very respectful of each audience member, so that nobody ever feels nervous. And we only ask audience members to do simple, straightforward tasks — an audience member might be asked to think of a Beatles song, or to select a playing card. But we never ask anyone to reveal anything secret, or do anything they don’t want to do.”

The Little Theater seems small for a show of this caliber, but Phina said they enjoy performing in smaller, more intimate settings where the audience can see each effect up close. “We find that the show is even more amazing when each member of the audience is close enough to enjoy it,” she said.

The two do their own re-creation of an effect called “The Spirit Cabinet,” where, in the original version, a performer would be enclosed in a cabinet where they would channel a spirit. “When we developed our version of the piece, we asked each other whose spirit would we want to channel, and after a lot of deliberation, we decided on Johnny Cash because we both adore his music. So, in our act, the audience puts me in a trance by singing ‘Ring of Fire’ and all kinds of amazing things happen as we challenge the spirit of one of the great musicians of all time!”

All the Pipias are performers. She and her sister were homeschooled; there was a lot of emphasis on following their passions and creating their own paths. She and her dad collaborated growing up and performed together frequently on theater pieces. “It wasn’t until I moved back to the West Coast from New York City, where I worked as a dancer, that we began collaborating specifically on mentalism acts and building this show,” she said.

Phina’s sister is a professional musician and both sisters play the sousaphone, which she explained is a kind of tuba that’s designed to be played while you march in a parade as opposed to a traditional tuba that rests in your lap. They tour together with their own stage show, The Pipia Sisters. Their mother is also a professional musician — a music director, pianist, and organist. “She is a huge support as we develop shows, and often comes to rehearsals to provide feedback and ideas,” she said.

Her family home was always filled with music; her dad, she said, was always rehearsing and testing out new effects on them at the kitchen table, and she and her sister were always writing songs or plays — an exciting way to grow up, she said, and she and her sister today live the same way — with art front and center in their lives.

Phina holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance performance from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College in NYC. After graduation she worked as a dancer in NYC and then transitioned into writing and producing musicals in lower Manhattan.

She and her father enjoy working together, and have a similar work ethic and values. “We love creating new material, and crafting shows that wow audiences and make people laugh. We live for sharing our art with live audiences who will go home wondering ‘how did they do that?’”

They are on the road a lot, but their home base is Port Townsend, Washington on the tip of the Olympic Peninsula.

Tickets to the show are $15, available at Brown Paper Tickets, or at the door of the Little Panida. For more information, see ThePsychicDynasty.com. You’re sure to go away wondering, how’d they do that?

Susan Drinkard can be reached at susanadiana@icloud.com.