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James Randi

 
Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia: James Randi
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(1928-)

Pseudonym of stage magician James Randall Zwinge who has developed what amounts to a second vocation as a co-founder and leading spokesperson of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and debunker of both psychics and their paranormal claims and religious claims of supernatural occurrences. Born August 7, 1928, in Toronto, Canada, he was exceptionally talented as a child, although he did not have the advantage of a college education. He was passionately interested in conjuring magic, and in adult life he achieved worldwide fame for his skill in legerdemain. He performed before royalty in Europe and Asia and appeared on national television programs and at college campuses under the stage name of "The Amazing Randi." In the lineage of many stage magicians over the last two centuries, Randi has assumed a watchdog role over people who would perform conjuring tricks while trying to pass them off as either supernatural or paranormal events. He has also been somewhat incensed at "experts" who have been fooled by hoaxing through their naive trust of the hoaxer, their own will to believe ideas which the paranormal event seems to confirm, or a simple lack of attention in seeing a trick being worked on them. Randi's own skepticism concerning the paranormal has a strong foundation in the significant element of fraud which permeated Spiritualism in past generations and is still present in the world of fortunetellers and psychics. In this work, Randi performs an unquestioned public service.

According to journalist Richard Pyatt in USA Today (August 29, 1986), Randi's interest in investigating psychic phenomena started at the age of fifteen. Randi is quoted as stating: "When I was 15 years of age, I had already started out on my career as an amateur magician. When I attended a spiritual-ist church in Toronto, I saw they were using the same gimmicks that I had been reading about in the catalog and had been learning to do myself. Ministers were apparently speaking with the dead. I saw people in that congregation who really believed that the minister was able to read the contents of sealed envelopes and bring them messages from beyond the grave. I resented that highly, and I tried to expose that. I was arrested for my troubles. So at 15, I ended up in a police station, sitting there for four hours waiting for my father to come and get me out. I guess that was the worst four hours the psychic world ever spent, though they didn't know it until recently." Like the late Harry Houdini (1874-1926), also a brilliant stage magician, he has made his concern for psychic tricks a public issue. He has made himself available to the media to attack specific psychics and has given public demonstrations imitating their feats and explaining the means by which some of the tricks were accomplished. He has also issued challenges to psychics to perform paranormal feats under his own exacting conditions and to his satisfaction for a prize of ten thousand dollars. One of his major targets has been Uri Geller, and he has published a book claiming that Geller's metal-bending feats are not paranormal: The Magic of Uri Geller (1975).

Among his most successful exposes were of several Christian healers, the primary one being Peter Popoff in San Francisco in 1986. In his healing crusades, Popoff actually called sufferers by name and described their ailments, claiming to receive such information directly from God. Actually he had developed a rather elaborate and involved system which Randi began to uncover when he noticed that Popoff had a "hearing aid" inside his ear. That ear piece suggested that someone might be broadcasting information to Popoff; the problem was how to obtain definite evidence that the identification of sufferers was fraudulent. Randi enlisted the aid of trusted individuals from the Bay Area Skeptics group and the Society of American Magicians. Some members of the group took up strategic places in the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, where the crusade was held. Robert Steiner and Alexander Jason (an electronics expert) established themselves behind the balcony of the auditorium with hidden tape recorders and electronic listening equipment.

Just before the healing service started, Jason succeeded in tuning into and recording a backstage broadcast from Elizabeth Popoff to her husband, the minister. The message began: "Hello Petey. I love you. I'm talking to you. Can you hear me? If you can't, you're in trouble." Here was firm evidence that the claimed messages from God were in fact information relayed to Popoff by his wife, and received through Popoff's hearing aid. The broadcast continued: "I'm looking up the names right now." This appeared to be a reference to the "prayer cards" which those attending the healing service were asked to fill out, giving names, description of ailments, and other information.

The tape recordings of a claimed healing from a service of the Popoff Crusade a few weeks later in Anaheim, California, on March 16, 1986, provided evidence of a backstage prompting broadcast by Elizabeth Popoff to her husband. She gave the name "Virgil Jorgenson. Virgil…. Way back in the back some where. Arthritis in knees. He's got a cane … He's got arthritis. He's praying for his sister in Sweden, too."

In the auditorium, the Rev. Popoff called out: "Virgil. Is it Jorgenson? Who is Virgil?" A man, apparently in his sixties and limping with a cane, came forward, and Popoff continued: "Are you ready for God to overhaul those knees?" Jorgenson then appeared to walk more easily, and Popoff continued: "Oh, glory to God. I'll tell you, God's going to touch that sister of yours all the way over in Sweden." Popoff then broke Jorgenson's cane, while the sufferer, apparently cured of his arthritis, walked about the auditorium, praising God and the minister Popoff.

This healing was so impressive that Peter Popoff used the film clip for three consecutive weeks on his television show. Unfortunately for the Popoff Crusade, "Virgil Jorgenson" was Don Henvick, program coordinator for Bay Area Skeptics and president of Assembly #70 of the Society of American Magicians, and he does not suffer from arthritis. His disguise as "Virgil Jorgenson" was only one of several appearances that challenged the claimed divine source of Peter Popoff's information and healing. Under the name "Tom Hendrys," Henvick was "healed" of nonexistent alcoholism at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium. In a Detroit healing crusade, Popoff "healed" Henvick of uterine cancer when this master of disguise appeared dressed in woman's garb under the name "Bernice Manicoff," seated in a wheelchair.

The decisive exposure of the electronic source of Popoff's claimed divine messages from God was made by Randi nationwide on a Johnny Carson "Tonight" show on April 22, 1986, when scenes of a claimed healing were shown with a soundtrack of the secret information broadcast identifying the sufferer.

This brilliantly organized and presented exposure of Popoff showed Randi at his best, identifying the techniques of an intricate hoax set within the trusting environment of a church service. At the same time it provided a platform for him at his worst, making broad generalizations branding all faith healers by associating them with the guilt of the few. His attempts to push his conclusions far beyond what the data would suggest has tended to sever Randi from the larger audience who would be open to his actual uncovering of hoaxing.

Randi went beyond the uncovering of hoaxes to perpetuating one himself in what was termed Project Alpha. He sent two magicians to the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research at Washington University in St. Louis. Their ability to fool the researchers into believing that they were genuine psychics became a matter of great embarrassment to the parapsychological community and the university and the laboratory was closed a short time afterward. This project was based upon the idea that most people in parapsychology are ill-equipped to do psychical research and need the help of a trained magician.

Randi served as a founding member of the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and a member of the editorial board of their journal The Skeptical Inquirer: The Zetetic. When he is not traveling the world performing and exposing the paranormal as fraud and conjuring, Randi lives in New Jersey in a house full of unusual and remarkable illusions, with doors that open unexpectedly on the side opposite the door knob and clocks that run backward.

On July 14, 1986, Randi was the recipient of a $272,000 award by the MacArthur Foundation of Chicago through his efforts in "alerting the unsuspecting public to hoaxers who, for example, claim to perform miracle cures of cancer, and also to support his exposure of shoddy, pseudo-science through his investigations and public lectures." The MacArthur Fellow Awards are tax-free, no-strings grants to individuals to permit them to continue their work without economic hindrance.

In 1992, the Skeptical Inquirer noted that Randi is no longer associated with CSICOP due to two libel suits; he resigned in order to protect the committee from further suits because of legal issues. But in 1999 Randi was still in the public eye when he addressed the U.S. Congress on medical and scientific quackery.

Sources:

Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991.

Randi, James. The Faith Healers. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1987.

——. Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and Other Delusions. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1980.

——. The Magic of Uri Geller. New York: Ballantine Books, 1975. Reprinted as The Truth About Uri Geller. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1982.

——. "Project Alpha Experiment." In Kenneth Frazier, ed. Science Confronts the Paranormal. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1986.

Steiner, Robert A. "Exposing the Faith-Healers." The Skeptical Inquirer 11, 1 (fall 1986).

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Quotes By: James Randi
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Wikipedia: James Randi
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James Randi
Born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge
August 7, 1928 (1928-08-07) (age 81)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation Magician, skeptic, writer
Website
www.randi.org

James Randi (born August 7, 1928)[1] (stage name The Amazing Randi) is a stage magician and scientific skeptic[2][3] best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician, but when he retired at age 60, he switched to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims--which he collectively calls woo-woo.[4] Although often referred to as a "debunker", Randi rejects that title due to its perceived bias, instead describing himself as an "investigator".[5] He has written about the paranormal, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and is occasionally featured on the television program Penn & Teller: Bullshit!.

The JREF sponsors The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge offering a prize of US $1,000,000 to anyone who can demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event, under test conditions agreed to by both parties.[6]

Contents

Early and personal life

Born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge[1] in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Randi is the oldest of three children,[7] having a younger brother and sister.[8] He took up magic after reading magic books while spending 13 months in a body cast due to a bicycle accident.[7] His doctors expected Randi would never walk again, but he did.[7] At 17, he dropped out of high school to perform as a conjurer in a carnival roadshow.[9] In his thirties, Randi worked in Philippine night clubs.[10] He witnessed many tricks that were presented as being supernatural. One of his earliest reported experiences is that of seeing an evangelist using the "one-ahead"[11] routine to convince churchgoers of his divine powers.[12]

In 1987, Randi became a naturalized citizen of the United States.[13] Randi has said that one reason he became an American citizen was an incident while on tour with Alice Cooper where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police searched the band's lockers during a performance. Nothing was found, yet the RCMP trashed the room.[14]

In February 2006, Randi underwent coronary artery bypass surgery.[15] In early February 2006, he was declared to be in stable condition and "receiving excellent care" with his recovery proceeding well. The weekly commentary updates to his website were made by guests while he was hospitalized.[16] Randi recovered after his surgery and was able to help organize and attend the 2007 Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada (an annual convention of scientists, magicians, skeptics, atheists and free thinkers).[17]

Randi for many years has been an amateur astronomer, influenced by his friend Carl Sagan. In 1981 asteroid 3163 Randi was named for him.[7]

Current health — cancer treatment

At the The Amaz!ng Meeting 7 (July 9–12, 2009), Randi, in a wheelchair, announced to the audience that he is fighting intestinal cancer and had a "ping pong ball"-sized tumor removed from his intestines two weeks earlier and would begin chemotherapy two weeks after the conference: "We'll fight it," he said, "And we'll beat this. We still have a lot of work to do."[18] He also said at the conference: "One day, I'm gonna die. That's all there is to it. Hey, it's too bad, but I've got to make room. I'm using a lot of oxygen and such — I think it's good use of oxygen myself, but of course, I'm a little prejudiced on the matter."[18] Randi also said that after he is gone he does not want his fans to bother with a museum of magic named after him or burying him in a fancy tomb, instead he said, "I want to be cremated, and I want my ashes blown in Uri Geller's eyes."[18]

His physicians have put his five-year survival rate at 50%.[18]

Career

Magician

Fork bent by Randi

Randi worked as a professional stage magician and escapologist beginning in 1946, initially under his birth name, Randall Zwinge, then as The Amazing Randi. Early in his career, Randi was part of numerous stunts involving his escape from jail cells and safes. On February 7 1956, he appeared live on The Today Show remaining in a sealed metal coffin submerged in a hotel swimming pool for 104 minutes, breaking what was said to be Houdini's record of 93 minutes.[19][20]

Randi was the host of The Amazing Randi Show on New York radio station WOR in the mid-1960s.[21] He also hosted numerous television specials and went on several world tours. Then Randi appeared as "The Amazing Randi" on a television show titled Wonderama from 1967 to 1972[22] and as host of a failed revival of the 1950s children's show The Magic Clown in 1970.[23] In the February 2, 1974 issue of Abracadabra (a British conjuring magazine), Randi defined the magic community saying, "I know of no calling which depends so much upon mutual trust and faith as does ours." In the December 2003 issue of the The Linking Ring, the monthly publication of The International Brotherhood of Magicians, Points to Ponder: Another Matter of Ethics, p. 97, it is stated, "Perhaps Randi's ethics are what make him Amazing" and "The Amazing Randi not only talks the talk, he walks the walk."

During Alice Cooper's 1973-1974 tour, Randi performed as the dentist and executioner on stage.[24] Also, Randi had designed and built several of the stage props, including the guillotine.[25][26] Shortly after, in February 1975, Randi escaped from a straitjacket while suspended upside-down over Niagara Falls in the winter on the Canadian TV program World of Wizards.[27]

Early in his career, Randi was sent a contract for a tour in Florida.[28] His friends in New York mentioned to him that he would certainly be working before audiences segregated by race, so before he signed the agreement, he wrote in a clause specifying that the promoters could not deny tickets to blacks or segregate the audiences in any way. Upon arriving on scene, he found that the concert promoter had ignored this stipulation in his contract. He discovered that blacks were forced to watch the show from the balcony and he immediately walked away from the tour. Appealing to the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA), he was paid in full for the balance of the tour.[citation needed]

Randi was once accused of actually using 'psychic powers' to perform acts such as spoon bending. James Alcock relates this incident which occurred at a meeting where Randi was duplicating the performances of Uri Geller: A professor from the University at Buffalo shouted out that Randi was a fraud. Randi said, "Yes indeed, I'm a trickster, I'm a cheat, I'm a charlatan, that's what I do for a living. Everything I've done here was by trickery." The professor shouted back: "That's not what I mean. You're a fraud because you're pretending to do these things through trickery, but you're actually using psychic powers and misleading us by not admitting it."[29] The famous author and believer in spiritualism Arthur Conan Doyle had years earlier made a similar accusation against the magician Harry Houdini.[30]

Author

Randi is author of Conjuring (1992), a biographical history of noted magicians. The book is subtitled: Being a Definitive History of the Venerable Arts of Sorcery, Prestidigitation, Wizardry, Deception, & Chicanery and of the Mountebanks & Scoundrels Who have Perpetrated these Subterfuges on a Bewildered Public, in short, MAGIC!. The book selects the most influential magicians, and explains their history in the context of strange deaths and career on the road. This work expanded on the 1976 book Houdini, His Life and Art, co-authored with Bert Randolph Sugar, which focused on Houdini and his cohorts. Randi also wrote a children's book in 1989 titled The Magic World of the Amazing Randi, which introduced children to magic tricks. In addition to his magic books, he has written several educational works about the paranormal and pseudoscientific. These include biographies of Uri Geller and Nostradamus as well as reference material on other major paranormal figures. He is currently working on A Magician in the Laboratory, which recounts his application of skepticism to science.[31] He is a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers the Black Widowers.[citation needed]

Skeptic

James Randi's The Truth About Uri Geller (1982).

Randi entered the international spotlight in 1972 when he publicly challenged the claims of Uri Geller. Randi accused Geller of being nothing more than a charlatan and a fraud, who used standard magic tricks to accomplish his allegedly paranormal feats, and he supported his claims in the book The Truth About Uri Geller.[12][32] Geller unsuccessfully sued Randi for $15 million in 1991.[33] Geller's suit against the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) was thrown out in 1995, and he was ordered to pay $120,000 for filing a frivolous lawsuit.[34]

Randi was a founding fellow and prominent member of CSICOP.[35] During the period when Geller was filing numerous civil suits against him, CSICOP's leadership, wanting to avoid becoming a target of Geller's litigation, requested that Randi refrain from commenting on Geller. Randi refused and resigned. However, he still maintains a respectful relationship with the group and frequently writes articles for its magazine.

Randi has gone on to write several books criticizing beliefs and claims regarding the paranormal.[36] He has also demonstrated flaws in studies suggesting the existence of paranormal phenomena; in his Project Alpha hoax, Randi revealed that he had been able to orchestrate a three-year-long compromise of a privately-funded psychic research experiment.[37] The hoax became a scandal and demonstrated the shortcomings of many paranormal research projects at the university level. Some said that the hoax was unethical, while others saw his actions as a legitimate exercise in exposing poor research techniques.[38]

Randi has appeared on numerous TV shows, sometimes to directly debunk the claimed abilities of fellow guests. In a 1981 appearance on a show called That's My Line, Randi appeared opposite psychic James Hydrick, who claimed that he could move things with his mind, and demonstrated this ability on live television by apparently turning a page in a telephone book without touching it.[39] Randi, having determined that the trick was most likely based on Hydrick surreptitiously blowing, arranged packaging peanuts (polystyrene foam shapes) on the table in front of the telephone book for the demonstration, preventing Hydrick from demonstrating his abilities which would have been exposed when the blowing moved the packaging.[40] Many years later, Hydrick admitted his fraud.[41]

Randi was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" award in 1986.[7] The money was used for Randi's comprehensive exposé of faith healers including Peter Popoff, W. V. Grant and Ernest Angley.[7] During the course of the investigation Randi was "healed" by Angley.[7] When Popoff was exposed, he was forced to declare bankruptcy within the year.[42]

In 1988, Randi tested the gullibility of the media by perpetrating a "fraud" of his own. By teaming up with Australia's 60 Minutes program and by releasing a fake press package he built up publicity for a spirit channeler named Carlos, who was actually an artist Jose Alvarez, a friend of Randi. Randi would tell him what to say through sophisticated radio equipment. The media and the public were taken in, as no reporter bothered to check Carlos' credentials and history, which were all fabricated. The hoax was exposed on 60 Minutes; Carlos and Randi explained how they pulled it off.[43][44]

In the book The Faith Healers, Randi explains his anger and relentlessness as arising out of compassion for the helpless victims of frauds. Randi has also been critical of João de Deus (John of God) a self-proclaimed psychic surgeon who has received international attention.[45] Randi observed, referring to psychic surgery, "To any experienced conjurer, the methods by which these seeming miracles are produced are very obvious."[46]

In 1982, Randi verified the abilities of Arthur Lintgen, a Philadelphia physician who is able to determine the classical music recorded on a vinyl LP solely by examining the grooves on the record. However, Lintgen does not claim to have any paranormal ability, merely knowledge of the way that the grooves form patterns on particular recordings.[47]

James Randi stated that Daniel Dunglas Home was caught cheating on a few occasions, but the episodes were never made public, and that the accordion Home is supposed to have played without touching it was a one-octave mouth organ that Home concealed under his large moustache. James Randi writes that one-octave mouth organs were found in Home's belongings after his death.[48] According to Randi 'around 1960' William Lindsay Gresham told Randi he had seen these mouth organs in the Home collection at the Society for Psychical Research.[49] Eric Dingwall who catalogued Home's collection on its arrival at the SPR does not record the presence of the mouth organs. According to Peter Lamont, the author of an extensive Home biography, "It is unlikely Dingwall would have missed these or did not make them public."[50]

James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)

Main article: James Randi Educational Foundation
The offices of the JREF in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In 1996, Randi established the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi and his colleagues update JREF's blog, Swift, on a daily basis. Topics have included the mathematics of the one-seventh area triangle. Randi also contributes a regular column, titled "'Twas Brillig," to The Skeptics Society's Skeptic Magazine. In his weekly commentary, Randi often gives examples of what he considers the nonsense that he deals with every day.[51]

He has regularly featured on many podcasts that can be found online, including The Skeptics Society's official podcast Skepticality [52] and the Center for Inquiry's official podcast Point of Inquiry.[53] From September 2006 onwards, he occasionally contributes to The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast with a column titled "Randi Speaks."[54] In addition, "The Amazing Show" is a podcast in which Randi shares various anecdotes in an interview format.

Randi on religion

In his essay "Why I Deny Religion, How Silly and Fantastic It Is, and Why I'm a Dedicated and Vociferous Bright," Randi has stated that many accounts in religious texts, including the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus Christ, and the parting of the Red Sea by Moses, are not believable. For example, Randi refers to the Virgin Mary as being "impregnated by a ghost of some sort, and as a result produced a son who could walk on water, raise the dead, turn water into wine, and multiply loaves of bread and fishes", and questions how Adam and Eve could have two sons, one of whom killed the other, and yet managed to populate the earth without committing incest. He writes that, compared to the Bible, "The Wizard of Oz is more believable. And more fun."[55] In An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural he looks at a variety of spiritual practices skeptically. Of the meditation techniques of Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat) he writes that, "Only the very naive were convinced that they had been let in on some sort of celestial secret."[56]

The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge

Main article: The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge

The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) currently offers a prize of one million U.S. dollars to anyone who can demonstrate a supernatural ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria. Similar to the paranormal challenges of John Nevil Maskelyne and Houdini, in 1964, Randi put up $1,000 of his own money payable to the first person who could provide objective proof of the paranormal.[57] Since then, the prize money has grown to the current $1,000,000, and has formal published rules. No one has progressed past the preliminary test which is set up with parameters agreed to by both Randi and the applicant. He refuses to accept any challengers who might suffer serious injury or death as a result of the testing.

On Larry King Live, March 6, 2001, Larry King asked Sylvia Browne if she would take the challenge and she agreed.[58] Then Randi appeared with Browne on Larry King Live on September 3, 2001 and she again accepted the challenge.[59] However, she has refused to be tested and Randi keeps a clock on his website recording the number of weeks that have passed since Browne accepted the challenge without following through.[60] During Larry King Live on June 5, 2001, Randi challenged Rosemary Altea to undergo testing for the million dollars. However, Altea would not even address the question.[61] Instead Altea, in part, replied "I agree with what he says, that there are many, many people who claim to be spiritual mediums, they claim to talk to the dead. There are many, people, we all know this. There are cheats and charlatans everywhere."[61] Then on January 26, 2007, Altea and Randi again appeared on Larry King Live. Once again, she refused to answer whether or not she would take the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge.[62]

Starting on April 1, 2007, only those with an already existing media profile and the backing of a reputable academic were allowed to apply for the challenge.[63] The resources freed up by not having to test obscure and possibly mentally ill claimants will then be used to more aggressively challenge notorious high-profile alleged psychics and mediums such as Sylvia Browne, Allison DuBois and John Edward with a campaign in the media.[63]

JREF maintains a public log of past participants in the Million Dollar Challenge.[64]

Legal disputes

Randi has been involved in a variety of legal disputes, but claims that he has "never paid even one dollar or even one cent to anyone who ever sued me."[65] However, he says, he has paid out large sums to personally defend himself in these suits.

Eldon Byrd

Randi was found guilty of defaming Eldon Byrd by a Baltimore District Court, after Randi called Byrd a "convicted child molester". Whilst Byrd had been found guilty of child pornography offences and admitted to molestation, this admission had been part of a plea bargain and as such did not mean he was convicted of the offence.[66] No damages were awarded to Byrd.[67]

Uri Geller

In a 1989 interview with a Japanese newspaper, Randi was quoted as saying that Uri Geller had driven a metallurgist named Wilbur Franklin to "shoot himself in the head," after the scientist realized that Geller had tricked him. This statement was incorrect—Franklin had died of natural causes. In the same Japanese newspaper interview, Randi also called Geller a "sociopath."[citation needed] In 1990, Geller sued Randi in a Japanese court over the statements Randi had made in the Japanese newspaper. Randi did not participate in the trial, but in March 1993, the judge ruled against Randi, and awarded Geller 500,000 yen (at the time about US$2000). Randi refused to pay the amount. Geller later agreed not to pursue Randi for the money in a subsequent settlement with CSICOP.[68][69] Randi later stated that the phrase "shot himself in the head" was a metaphor lost in translation.[70] He had made a similar statement in English three years earlier in a Toronto newspaper: "The scientist shot himself after I showed him how the key bending trick was done."[71]

Search Wikisource Wikisource has original text related to this article:

In 1991, Randi commented that Uri Geller's public performances were of the same quality as those found on the backs of cereal boxes. Geller sued both Randi and CSICOP. CSICOP argued that the organization was not responsible for Randi's statements. The court agreed that including CSICOP was frivolous and dropped them from the action, leaving Randi to face the action alone. Geller was ordered to pay substantial damages to CSICOP.[72][73] Randi and Geller subsequently settled their dispute out of court, the details of which have been kept confidential. The settlement also included an agreement that Geller would not pursue Randi for the award in the Japanese case, or other outstanding cases.

Other

Allison DuBois, on whose life the television series Medium was based, threatened Randi with legal action for using a photo of her from her website in his December 17, 2004 commentary without her permission.[74] Randi removed the photo, and now uses a caricature of DuBois when mentioning her on his site, beginning with his December 23, 2005 commentary.[75]

Late in 1996, Randi launched a libel suit against a Toronto-area psychic named Earl Gordon Curley.[76] Curley had made multiple objectionable comments about Randi on Usenet. Despite prodding Randi via Usenet to sue (Curley's comments had implied that if Randi did not sue then his allegations must be true), Curley seemed entirely surprised when Randi actually retained Toronto's largest law firm and initiated legal proceedings. The suit was eventually dropped in 1998 when Earl Curley died at the age of 51.[77]

Sniffex, producer of a dowsing bomb detection device, unsuccessfully sued Randi and the JREF in 2007.[78] Sniffex sued Randi for his comments regarding a government test in which the Sniffex device failed. The company was later investigated and charged with fraud.[78]

Awards

World records

The following are Guinness records.

  • Randi was in a sealed casket for an hour and 44 minutes, which broke Harry Houdini's record of one hour and 31 minutes set on August 5, 1926.[7]
  • Randi was encased in a block of ice for 55 minutes.[7]

Bibliography

TV and film

Actor

Himself

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b H.W. Wilson Company (1987). Current Biography Yearbook. Silverplatter International. p. 455. 
  2. ^ Sullivan, Walter (July 27, 1988), "Water That Has a Memory? Skeptics Win Second Round", The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/27/us/water-that-has-a-memory-skeptics-win-second-round.html 
  3. ^ "Poof! You’re a Skeptic: The Amazing Randi’s Vanishing Humbug", The New York Times, February 17, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/17/arts/17RAND.html 
  4. ^ Randi, James (February 9, 2007). "More Geller Woo-Woo". SWIFT Newsletter. James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-02/020209morebrowne.html#i6. Retrieved 2007-01-29. 
  5. ^ One-Million-Dollar Challenge from MIT Media Lab: Affective Computing Group
  6. ^ "One Million Dollar Challenge – Challenge Info". James Randi Educational Foundation. 30 October 2008. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html. Retrieved 15 June 2009. 
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Orwen, Patricia (August 23, 1986). "The Amazing Randi". The Toronto Star. 
  8. ^ Randi, James (May 9, 2008). "How Wrong Can You Get?". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/192-swift-may-9-2008.html#i3. Retrieved 2008-12-17. 
  9. ^ "Floridian: The 'quack' hunter". Sptimes.com. 1998-04-14. http://www.sptimes.com/Floridian/41498/The__quack__hunter.html. Retrieved 2009-06-15. 
  10. ^ "Filipino Justice". Randi.org. 2006-05-19. http://www.randi.org/jr/2006-05/051906sylvia.html#i13. Retrieved 2009-06-15. 
  11. ^ Jaroff, Leon (June 24, 2001). "Fighting Against Flimflam". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,149448,00.html?iid=chix-sphere. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  12. ^ a b Philip B., Jr., Taft (July 5, 1981). "A Charlatan in Pursuit of Truth". New York Times. 
  13. ^ Randi, James (September 17, 2001). "Commentary: Etc.". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/091701.html. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  14. ^ "On the Soap Box". James Randi Educational Foundation. July 15, 2005. http://www.randi.org/jr/071505on.html#1. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  15. ^ "Randi Update". James Randi Educational Foundation. February 10, 2006. http://www.randi.org/jr/2006-02/021006busted.html#i1. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  16. ^ Randi, James; Paul Hatchman (February 17, 2006). "introductory paragraph". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/2006-02/021706hal.html. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  17. ^ Randi, James (February 2, 2007). "In Conclusion...". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-02/020207geller.html#i11. Retrieved 2007-10-29. 
  18. ^ a b c d "The Demystifying Adventures of the Amazing Randi". http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-08-26/news/the-demystifying-adventures-of-the-amazing-randi/1. Retrieved September 5 2009. SF Weekly, August 24, 2009, lengthy article by Michael J. Mooney, which reported: "He has intestinal cancer and may not have long to live."
  19. ^ Sinclair, Gordon, "Television & radio column", Toronto Star, February 7, 1956.
  20. ^ Bryant, George, "Handcuffs no problem Toronto-born magician laughs at locksmiths", Toronto Star, June 21, 1956.
  21. ^ "James Randi Biography". James Randi Educational Foundation. 2007. http://randi.org/jr/bio.html. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  22. ^ ""Wonderama!"". TVparty On!. http://www.tvparty.com/lostwonder1.html. Retrieved 2007-04-05.  "Sonny Fox hosted another 'Wonderama Thanksgiving Day Party' on Thursday afternoon, November 23, 1961 with guests ventriloquist and cartoon voice-over performer Paul Winchell, magician/escape artist and magic historian The Amazing James Randi and folk singer Pat Woodell." [1]
  23. ^ Kevin S. Butler. ""Bonamo, The Magic Clown"". TVparty On!. http://www.tvparty.com/lostny2bonamo.html. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
  24. ^ "Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper," Live 1973 (DVD 2005), "Billion Dollar Babies Tour"
  25. ^ Pettigrew, Emily (2007). "Alice Cooper". St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200281. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  26. ^ "The Amazing Randi". sickthingsuk.co.uk. 2007. http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/people/p-randi.php. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  27. ^ Randi, James (2007). "Hilarious Name-Dropping". James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/050302.html. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  28. ^ [2][dead link]
  29. ^ (Alcock 2001:42)
  30. ^ Arthur Conan Doyle (1930) The Edge of the Unknown, Putnam's
  31. ^ Randi's resume from Randi.org
  32. ^ Rensberger, Boyce (December 13, 1975). "Magicians Term Israeli 'Psychic' a Fraud". New York Times: p. 29. 
  33. ^ Petit, Charles (May 23, 1991). "Bay Magicians Back Uri Geller's Critic". San Francisco Chronicle: p. A27. 
  34. ^ Levy, Michael (March 13, 1995). "Group Gets $40,000 From 'psychic' Geller Starts Paying Debunkers $120,000". The Buffalo News. http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/BN/lib00142,0EAF986A6473E6E1.html. Retrieved 2007-12-29. 
  35. ^ Michael Kernan, "God's Chariot! Science Looks at the New Occult," The Washington Post, June 11, 1978
  36. ^ ""About James Randi"". jref.org. James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/bio.html. Retrieved 2007-12-29. 
  37. ^ Philip J. Hilts, "Magicians Score a Hit On Scientific Researchers," Washington Post March 1, 1983 First Section; A1
  38. ^ WILLIAM J. BROAD, "MAGICIAN'S EFFORT TO DEBUNK SCIENTISTS RAISES ETHICAL ISSUES," The New York Times, February 15, 1983, Page 3, Column 1
  39. ^ "A Look at the Past". James Randi Educational Foundation. September 22, 2006. http://www.randi.org/jr/2006-09/092206bad.html#i11. Retrieved 2007-05-07. 
  40. ^ Video of Hydrick's page turning debunking from Google Video
  41. ^ Korem, Dan (1983). Psychic Confession. (also transcript)
  42. ^ "A Profitable Prophet". Inside Edition. February 27, 2007. http://www.insideedition.com/ourstories/reports/story.aspx?storyid=639. Retrieved 2007-05-07. 
  43. ^ ""Carlos" hoax of Jose Alvarez". Skepdic.com. http://www.skepdic.com/carlos.html. Retrieved 2009-06-15. 
  44. ^ "Randi talking about Carlos hoax". Abc.net.au. 1998. http://www.abc.net.au/science/correx/archives/randi4.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-15. 
  45. ^ Randi, James (February 18, 2005). "The ABC-TV Infomercial for John of God". James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/021805a.html#1. Retrieved 2006-11-18. 
  46. ^ Randi, James (2006). "An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural: Psychic surgery". St. Martin's Press. http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/psychic%20surgery.html. Retrieved 2006-11-18. 
  47. ^ The Record Reader from Snopes.com
  48. ^ Randi, James. "An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural". James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/Home,%20Daniel%20Dunglas.html. Retrieved 2008-01-05. 
  49. ^ The First Psychic: The Peculiar Mystery of a Notorious Victorian Wizard by Peter Lamont, Little, Brown, 2005 p 302
  50. ^ Lamont 2005 p 302
  51. ^ Randi, James (July 2005). "Fakers and Innocents". Skeptical Inquirer 29 (4). ISSN 0194-6730. http://www.csicop.org/si/2005-07/randi.html. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  52. ^ "Skepticality". http://www.skepticality.com/. Retrieved 2007-01-30. 
  53. ^ "Point of Inquiry". http://www.pointofinquiry.org/. Retrieved 2006-06-30. 
  54. ^ "The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe". http://theskepticsguide.org/. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  55. ^ "Commentary, July 25, 2003 — Why I Deny Religion, How Silly and Fantastic It Is, and Why I'm a Dedicated and Vociferous Bright.". http://www.randi.org/jr/072503.html. 
  56. ^ "James Randi Educational Foundation — An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural". http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/Maharaj%20Ji.html. Retrieved 2008-10-05. 
  57. ^ Poulsen, Kevin (12 January 2007). "Skeptic Revamps $1M Psychic Prize". Wired. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/01/72482. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
  58. ^ Are Psychics for Real? appeared with John Edward March 6, 2001 on Larry King Live CNN
  59. ^ King, Larry (2001-09-03). "Are Psychics Real?". Larry King Live (CNN). http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/03/lkl.00.html. Retrieved 2006-08-18. 
  60. ^ The Sylvia Browne Clock from the James Randi Educational Foundation website
  61. ^ a b Spiritual Medium Versus Paranormal Skeptic (Rosemary Altea verses Randi) on Larry King Live June 5, 2001
  62. ^ "Altea and James Randi". Larry King Live. January 26 2007. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/26/lkl.01.html. Retrieved 2007-02-02. 
  63. ^ a b Poulsen, Kevin (January 12, 2007). "Skeptic Revamps $1M Psychic Prize". Wired. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72482-0.html?tw=wn_index_1. Retrieved 2007-01-14. 
  64. ^ ""Challenge Applications"". James Randi Educational Foundation. http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=43. Retrieved 2007-07-13. 
  65. ^ Randi, James (February 9, 2007). "More Geller Woo-Woo". SWIFT Newsletter. James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-02/020209morebrowne.html#i6. Retrieved 2007-01-29. 
  66. ^ "James Randi: Action initiated . . .". http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/curley2.htm. 
  67. ^ "Randi found guilty of defamation". The Miami Herald. 1993-06-09. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4CD802FEBC248&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2009-04-20. 
  68. ^ Randi, James (February 9, 2007). "More Geller Woo-Woo". Swift (James Randi Educational Foundation). http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-02/020209morebrowne.html#i7. Retrieved 2007-06-03. 
  69. ^ Marcello Truzzi, An End to the Uri Geller vs. Randi & CSICOP Litigations? [3]
  70. ^ Krol, Carol (1995). "Cuckoos and Cocoa Puffs". Skeptical Eye 8 (3). ISSN 1063-2077. http://www.skepticfiles.org/randi/legal.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  71. ^ OrwenTorontoStar, Patricia (1986-08-23). "The Amazing Randi". Toronto Star: pp. M.1. ISSN 03190781. http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.lapl.org/pqdweb?did=475380421&Fmt=7&clientId=13322&RQT=309&VName=PQD. Retrieved 2009-04-03. 
  72. ^ ""Uri Geller Libel Suit Dismissed"". www.csicop.org. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. August 1994. http://www.csicop.org/articles/uri_dis.html. Retrieved 2007-06-03. 
  73. ^ ""Lawsuit Against CSICOP Dismissed" (CSICOP press release)". Skeptic Tank Text Archive File. http://www.skepticfiles.org/skeptic/randi032.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-03. 
  74. ^ Randi, James (December 17, 2004). ""Another Medium Well Done"". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/121704no.html#5. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  75. ^ Randi, James; Paul Hatchman (December 23, 2005). ""Medium Well Done"". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/200512/122305hallelujah.html#i2. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  76. ^ Randi, James (4 December 1996). ""Action initiated . . ."". James Randi Educational Foundation Info List. http://www.randi.org/hotline/1996/0085.html. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  77. ^ Randi, James (8 July 1998). ""Curley Confirmation + Sony Corp. and ESP, More on Theremin"". James Randi Educational Foundation Info List. http://www.randi.org/hotline/1998/0025.html. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  78. ^ a b Randi, James (July 25, 2008). "An Encouraging Development". James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/joom/content/view/204/1/#i1. Retrieved 2008-10-29. 
  79. ^ "Joseph A. Burton Forum Award". Aps.org. http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/awards/burton.cfm. Retrieved 2009-06-15. 
  80. ^ Randi, James (March 23, 2007). "In Closing". James Randi Educational Foundation. http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-03/032307tx.html#i11. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 

Books

  • Alcock, James (2001), "Science vs. Pseudoscience, Nonscience, and Nonsense", in Kurtz, Paul, Skeptical Odysseys: Personal accounts by the world's leading paranormal inquirers, Prometheus Books, ISBN 1-57392-884-4 

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