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James Randi

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James Randi
File:James randi.jpg
BornAugust 7, 1928
Toronto, Canada
Occupation(s)Magician, skeptic, writer
Websitewww.randi.org

James Randi (born August 7, 1928), stage name The Amazing Randi, is a stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a debunker of pseudoscience. Born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge, in Toronto, Canada, Randi is the creator of the James Randi Educational Foundation's million dollar 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. He is occasionally featured on the television program Bullshit!, hosted by noted skeptics Penn & Teller.

Early and personal life

File:MagicworldofRandi.JPG
Randi's 1989 book The Magic World of the Amazing Randi.

Randi is oldest of three children born to a Bell Canada employee.[1] He took up magic after reading magic books while spending 13 months in a body cast due to injuries received in a bicycle accident.[1] The doctors never expected he would walk again, but Randi surprised them.[1]

His interest in debunking the paranormal started when he was in his early teens. He was present at a magic show when a magician asked for someone from the audience to help him with his performance. Randi, having experimented with magic tricks himself, raised his hand. The magician responded, "Ah, young man, you're a magician yourself, aren't you?" much to Randi's amazement. After the show, Randi approached the man and asked how he knew this. The man told Randi he did not. It was simply part of his routine and whenever he turned out to be right, he would credit his "magical powers" and whenever he was wrong, he would turn it into a standard quip.[citation needed]

Randi subsequently 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" routine to convince churchgoers of his divine powers.[citation needed]

Asteroid 3163 Randi was named after him in 1981.[1]

In 1987, Randi became a naturalized citizen of the United States.[2]

According to a special announcement on the JREF website, on Thursday February 2, 2006, Randi underwent emergency coronary artery bypass surgery. The circumstances surrounding his admission to the hospital were not clear at the time but it appeared to be unexpected. As of 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.[3]

Randi is doing well since his surgery, and was well enough to help organize and attend the 2007 Amaz!ng Meeting in Las Vegas, NV (an annual convention of scientists, magicians, skeptics, Atheists, and other freethinkers).

Background

"The Amazing Randi Show"

Randi has worked as a professional stage magician and escapologist since 1946, initially under his birth name, Randall Zwinge. 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 and remained 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.[4][5]

Randi was the host of The Amazing Randi Show on New York radio station WOR-Radio in the mid-1960s.[6] He also hosted numerous television specials and went on several world tours. Randi is noted for escaping from a straitjacket while suspended upside-down over Niagara Falls in the winter on the Canadian TV program World of Wizards.[7] Randi appeared as "The Amazing Randi" on a television show entitled Wonderama from 1967 to 1972.[8] 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 1974 tour, Randi performed as the dentist and executioner on stage.[9] Also, Randi had built and designed several of the stage props, including the guillotine.[10][11] An incident where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police searched the band's lockers during a performance has been cited by Randi as leading him to apply for American citizenship.[12]

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!.

Early in his career, Randi was sent a contract for a tour in Florida. His friends in New York mentioned to him that he’d 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]

Career as a skeptic

Randi entered the international spotlight in 1972 when he challenged the public claims of Uri Geller. Randi accused Geller of being nothing more than a charlatan using standard "magic" tricks to accomplish his allegedly paranormal feats, and he backed up his claims in the book The Magic of Uri Geller.

File:Faithhealers.gif
Randi's 1987 The Faith Healers.

Randi was a founding fellow and prominent member of CSICOP, the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Randi later resigned from CSICOP 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. 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. He has also been instrumental in exposing frauds and charlatans who exploit this field for personal gain. In one example, 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. 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 claimed his actions were a legitimate exercise in debunking poor research techniques.

Randi was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" award in 1986, drawing upon his conjuring skills to write and educate the public on superstition and pseudoscientific matters.[1] The money was used for Randi's comprehensive exposé of faith healers including Peter Popoff, W. V. Grant and Ernest Angley.[1] During the course of the investigation Randi was "healed" by these ministers.[1] When Popoff was exposed, he was forced to declare bankruptcy within the year.[13]

Randi has also appeared on numerous other programs sometimes to directly debunk the claimed abilities of fellow guests. In an 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. Randi, having determined that the trick was most likely based on Hydrick surreptitiously blowing, arranged packaging peanuts on the table in front of the telephone book for the demonstration, preventing Hydrick from demonstrating his abilities without also giving away the secret that bursts of air were passing over the pages.[5] Many years later, Hydrick admitted his fraud.[14]

James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)

In 1996, Randi established the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi updates the JREF's website on Fridays with a written commentary titled Swift: Online Newsletter of the JREF. Randi also contributes a regular column, titled "'Twas Brillig", to The Skeptics Society's Skeptic magazine.

In September 2006, he joined the cast of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast with a weekly column titled "Randi Speaks".[15]

Criticisms of Randi

Michael Prescott, a novelist, wrote an article on Randi in 2003, accusing Randi of "flim-flam", which led to an exchange of viewpoints with Randi.[16]

In an ironic twist, 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 State University of New York 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." Template:Ref harvard The famous author and believer in spiritualism Arthur Conan Doyle had years earlier made a similar accusation against the magician Harry Houdini.[17]

Randi has been involved in a variety of legal disputes, with various results:

  • In an interview with Twilight Zone Magazine, Randi accused Uri Geller and Eldon Byrd of being the ringleaders in a criminal blackmail plot aimed at destroying Randi.[18] Byrd sued Randi; the jury found that Randi's claim regarding Byrd was defamatory, but awarded Byrd $0 in damages (thus preventing further appeals by Byrd).[19]
  • In an interview with a Japanese newspaper, Randi was presented as saying that Uri Geller had driven a close friend to "shoot himself in the head", which Randi afterwards claimed was a metaphor lost in translation.[20] However, Randi made a similar statement ("The scientist shot himself after I showed him how the key bending trick was done.") in the August 23, 1986 Toronto Star[1] that seemed to validate Geller's charge. Since the referenced suicide victim died of natural causes the judge changed the charge from "libel" to "insult". Randi could not participate in the trial, but Geller dropped the charge to protect himself in another case and Randi states "I never paid even one dollar or even one cent to anyone who ever sued me, and certainly not to Geller".[21]
  • Randi once commented that Uri Geller's public performances were of the same quality as magic tricks Randi read on the backs of cereal packets as a child. Geller sued both Randi and CSICOP. CSICOP disavowed Randi, pleading that the organization was not responsible for Randi's statements. The court agreed that including CSICOP was frivolous, and they were dropped from the action. Geller was ordered to pay substantial damages to CSICOP (over $20,000)[22][23] The order specifically excluded Randi from receiving any of the damages. At this time, Randi and Geller had both run up legal bills amounting to hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars[citation needed]. In a private meeting they achieved an out-of-court settlement, the details of which have been kept private[citation needed]. This case, as noted above, was directly responsible for the decision of Randi to part company with CSICOP.
  • Late in 1996 Randi launched a libel suit against a Toronto-area psychic/self-published author/entry-level web developer named Earl Gordon Curley.[26] Curley had made a number of objectionable comments about Randi on Usenet. Despite constantly prodding Randi via Usenet to sue (Curley's implication being if Randi didn't 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, allegedly drinking himself to death.[27]

The $1 million challenge

Main article: James Randi Educational Foundation

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. Since then, the prize money has grown to the current $1,000,000, and the rules that surround claiming the prize are official and legal. No one has progressed past the preliminary test which is set up with parameters agreed to by both Randi and the applicant. He also refuses to accept any challengers who might suffer serious injury or death as a result of the testing they intend to undergo.

Randi's 1995 Paranormal Encyclopedia.

On Larry King Live March 6, 2001 Larry King asked Sylvia Browne if she would take the challenge and she agreed.[28] Then Randi appeared with Browne on Larry King Live on September 3, 2001 and she again accepted the challenge.[29] However, she has refused to be tested and Randi keeps a clock on his website recording the number of weeks that have passed since Sylvia accepted the challenge without following through.

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.[30] 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."[30] 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.[31]

Randi has recently challenged David R. Hawkins to win the prize with Hawkins' "arm-pressing technique" (applied kinesiology), suggesting it would only take thirty minutes of easy work, but believing that Hawkins would not even attempt to apply for the challenge for "obvious" reasons.[32]

Starting on April 1, 2007 only those with an already existing media profile and the backing of a reputable academic would be allowed to apply for the challenge.[33] 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 and John Edward with a campaign in the media.[33]

Critics say that Randi has set up the system so that the million-dollar challenge cannot be passed, despite the fact that contestants are required to participate in establishing the conditions for success and failure. Randi himself states that "What if someone wins the million dollars? ... I think it's very highly unlikely", but bases this on the unlikelihood of the paranormal.[34] For details of the disputes, see James Randi Educational Foundation. So far, no one has passed even the preliminary testing procedures, let alone been awarded the prize money.

Randi's caustic style

Randi uses a harsh, uncompromising style of writing and presentation. His supporters say that there are other organizations of skeptics that have similar standing offers to prove the existence of paranormal abilities, and anyone claiming to be an expert in their field of the paranormal can apply for any of these other prizes, avoiding Randi altogether. In his weekly commentary, Randi often gives examples of what he feels is the nonsense that he deals with every day to explain his lack of patience.[35]

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, also known as John of God, a self-proclaimed psychic surgeon who has received international attention.[36] Randi observed, referring to psychic surgery, "To any experienced conjuror, the methods by which these seeming miracles are produced are very obvious".[37]

Also, in his weekly commentary, which he publishes every Friday, Randi often expresses dismay that he has to frequently expose various frauds because few others do so.

Awards

World records

The following are Guinness records
  • 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 Aug. 5, 1926.[1]
  • Being frozen in a block of ice for 55 minutes.[1]

Bibliography

TV and film

Actor

Himself

Randi's 1993 TV show Secrets of the Psychics.

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Orwen, Patricia (Aug 23, 1986). "The Amazing Randi". The Toronto Star.
  2. ^ Randi, James (September 17, 2001). "Commentary: Etc". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 2006-10-29. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ Randi, James (February 17, 2006). "introductory paragraph". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 2006-10-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Sinclair, Gordon, "Television & radio column," Toronto Star, February 7 1956.
  5. ^ Bryant, George, "Handcuffs no problem Toronto-born magician laughs at locksmiths," Toronto Star, June 21 1956.
  6. ^ "James Randi Biography". James Randi Educational Foundation. 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  7. ^ Randi, James (2007). "Hilarious Name-Dropping". James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  8. ^ ""Wonderama!"". TVparty On!. Retrieved 2007-04-05. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) "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]
  9. ^ "Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper," Live 1973 (DVD 2005), "Billion Dollar Babies Tour"
  10. ^ Pettigrew, Emily (2007). "Alice Cooper". St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  11. ^ "The Amazing Randi". sickthingsuk.co.uk. 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  12. ^ "On the Soap Box". James Randi Educational Foundation. July 15, 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  13. ^ "A Profitable Prophet". Inside Edition. February 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  14. ^ Korem, Dan (1983). Psychic Confession. (also transcript)
  15. ^ "The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe". Retrieved 2006-10-29.
  16. ^ Original article at [2]. Exchange of viewpoints with Randi at [3]. No information on whether any of these was published in regular media.
  17. ^ Arthur Conan Doyle (1930) The Edge of the Unknown, Putnam's
  18. ^ Orenstein, Russell T. (June 17, 1992). "Letter to Eldon Byrd". urigeller.com. Retrieved 2006-10-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ http://www.skepticfiles.org/skeptic/randi013.htm Newspaper account of the Byrd trial
  20. ^ Krol, Carol (1995). "Cuckoos and Cocoa Puffs". Skeptical Eye. 8 (3). ISSN 1063-2077. Retrieved 2006-10-29.
  21. ^ Randi, James (February 9, 2007). "SWIFT Newsletter February 9, 2007: More Geller Woo-Woo". James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 2007-02-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  22. ^ http://www.csicop.org/articles/uri_dis.html
  23. ^ http://www.skepticfiles.org/skeptic/randi032.htm
  24. ^ Randi, James (December 17, 2004). ""Another Medium Well Done"". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 2006-10-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ Randi, James (December 23, 2005). ""Medium Well Done"". Swift. James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 2006-10-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ Randi, James (4 December 1996). ""Action initiated . . ."". James Randi Educational Foundation Info List. Retrieved 2006-10-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Randi, James (8 July 1998). ""Curley Confirmation + Sony Corp. and ESP, More on Theremin"". James Randi Educational Foundation Info List. Retrieved 2006-10-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ Are Psychics for Real? appeared with John Edward March 6, 2001 on Larry King Live CNN
  29. ^ King, Larry (2001-09-03). "Are Psychics Real?". Larry King Live. CNN. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  30. ^ a b Spiritual Medium Versus Paranormal Skeptic (Rosemary Altea verses Randi) on Larry King Live June 5, 2001
  31. ^ "Altea and James Randi". Larry King Live. January 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  32. ^ James Randi. Quoted at New England Institute of Religious Research "Quotes of Experts Regarding Hawkins and 'AK'" [4]
  33. ^ a b Poulsen, Kevin (January 12, 2007). "Skeptic Revamps $1M Psychic Prize". Wired. Retrieved 2007-01-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  34. ^ Randi, James (July 2005). "The One Million Dollar Challenge and Those Who Try for It". Skeptical Inquirer. Retrieved 2006-10-18.
  35. ^ Randi, James (2005). "Fakers and Innocents". Skeptical Inquirer. 29 (4). ISSN 0194-6730. Retrieved 2006-10-29. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  36. ^ Randi, James (February 18, 2005). "The ABC-TV Infomercial for John of God". James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
  37. ^ Randi, James (2006). "An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and oaxes of the Occult and Supernatural: Psychic surgery". St. Martin's Press. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
  38. ^ Randi, James (March 23, 2007). "In Closing". James Randi Educational Foundation. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  39. ^ Avila, Jim (May 11, 2007). "Selling Salvation?". 20/20. Retrieved 2007-03-01.

Books

  • Kurtz 2001 Paul Kurtz (editor) (2001). Skeptical Odysseys: Personal accounts by the world's leading paranormal inquirers. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-884-4. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

Official

Supportive

Media

Video and audio

Transcripts

Criticism

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