The Amazing Randi has passed

October 21, 2020 6:30 PM

The magician's magician and the skeptic's skeptic, The Amazing Randi, has died from "age related causes" at the age of 92.
posted by JiffyQ (113 comments total)

.
posted by Horkus at 6:38 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by Merus at 6:39 PM on October 21, 2020

?
posted by InfidelZombie at 6:39 PM on October 21, 2020 [15 favorites]

Here is a link to a more extensive report of his death.

.
posted by AugustWest at 6:41 PM on October 21, 2020

AP obit, in case anyone has trouble with the WaPo link: James Randi, dazzling magician and skeptic, dies at 92.

Johnny Carson, with some behind-the-scenes help from James Randi, confronts Uri Geller and his fraud on The Tonight Show.

Randi emerged unscathed from the massive "overdose" of homeopathic sleep remedy he took during this 2007 TED Talk: Homeopathy, quackery and fraud.

Some previouslies here, here, and here.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:42 PM on October 21, 2020 [25 favorites]

Back in the days when the internet was a weird, wild place, stumbling upon the writings of James Randi, along with some of the sharp minds on the James Randi Educational Foundation forum, literally changed my outlook on life. I've drifted away from the skeptic movement but I still question, question, question.
posted by muddgirl at 6:43 PM on October 21, 2020 [16 favorites]

Also:

🥄
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:44 PM on October 21, 2020 [18 favorites]

.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:48 PM on October 21, 2020

To properly honor his memory, I'm afraid I'm going to require... proof.
(Srsly tho, Mr. Randi, you will be missed. Fare thee well.)
posted by sexyrobot at 6:50 PM on October 21, 2020 [12 favorites]

.
posted by brambleboy at 6:57 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by equalpants at 6:57 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by achrise at 6:59 PM on October 21, 2020

.

Unlike so many others in the skeptic "movement", such as it is, it always seemed like he was motivated not by ego or pride, but by genuine empathetic outrage that people who were struggling and uncertain got taken advantage of by hucksters, swindlers, and phonies.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:03 PM on October 21, 2020 [82 favorites]

.
posted by Anonymous Function at 7:05 PM on October 21, 2020

Seems apropos to drop (again) my favourite line from his Wikipedia entry:

"I want to be cremated, and I want my ashes blown in Uri Geller's eyes."
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:06 PM on October 21, 2020 [41 favorites]

.
posted by valkane at 7:09 PM on October 21, 2020

.

Such a big loss, this guy was a huge influence on my thought when I was young.
posted by deadaluspark at 7:09 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

.
posted by briank at 7:10 PM on October 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

Amazing, indeed. What an excellent person; I'll miss him.
.
posted by theora55 at 7:12 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Agreed, Randi, the JREF, and his style of thinking/argumentation was a huge influence on young me. I don't quite understand how "skeptic" ended up going so far off into far-right ridiculousness so quickly. I'm saddened by his passing.

.
posted by Alterscape at 7:12 PM on October 21, 2020 [17 favorites]

.
posted by Otherwise at 7:13 PM on October 21, 2020

Awwww, shit.
posted by lkc at 7:19 PM on October 21, 2020

I hope he's OK on the Other Side.
posted by flabdablet at 7:23 PM on October 21, 2020

I hope he was wrong about everything and comes back as a ghost. 😔
posted by geoff. at 7:26 PM on October 21, 2020 [6 favorites]

Aw, this comes as something of a surprise to me mostly because, for whatever reason, I had just sort of assumed he'd been dead for years. What a life. What a guy.
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:30 PM on October 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

.
posted by dannyboybell at 7:34 PM on October 21, 2020

I knew him in Southern Florida. A class act, a gentleman, and a humanitarian. He believed in people and fought for the rational mind.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:40 PM on October 21, 2020 [18 favorites]

.
posted by jabo at 7:47 PM on October 21, 2020

Cool no matter how uncool the New Atheists ended up as a whole. And I know this is going to be a bummer for my dad, who... I’ll just say has things bad enough right now.
posted by atoxyl at 7:49 PM on October 21, 2020

He did good work. He'll be missed.
posted by biogeo at 8:04 PM on October 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

I was lucky to see him in person in the 80s, where he performed a disgusting demonstration of "psychic surgery", and also did an amazing mind reading truck that was obviously not mind reading, but so baffling that it might as well have been mind reading.

For that, and all that he did to advance science and skepticism of pseudo science,

.
posted by Gorgik at 8:07 PM on October 21, 2020 [7 favorites]

The greatest debunker of psychics there ever was

.
posted by jonp72 at 8:10 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:13 PM on October 21, 2020

I'm so glad he was able to come out in his lifetime and marry his partner.

I didn't realize his early career included doing serious and dangerous Houdini-style magic like the underwater coffin. I knew him mostly as a skeptic, but that kind of magic takes serious skill and fortitude.

RIP.
posted by Nelson at 8:17 PM on October 21, 2020 [28 favorites]

.

I can’t imagine somebody like Uri Gellar getting popular traction these days, and we have Randi to thank for that. There are still phony psychics aplenty, though, and I suppose magical thinking is having a renaissance in the age of memetic propaganda. We could use some more Randis but there’s no real replacement. Penn and Teller on the magic side of things, but they don’t seem to be much interested in debunking con artists.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:21 PM on October 21, 2020 [7 favorites]

If you can, check out the documentary on him, "An Honest LIar". Was lucky enough to catch it at the Opera Plaza theater, definitely recommended.

RIP
posted by gtrwolf at 8:25 PM on October 21, 2020 [12 favorites]

.
posted by belarius at 8:46 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by rhizome at 8:51 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:12 PM on October 21, 2020

.

One of my all-time heroes.
posted by mmoncur at 9:26 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

.
posted by riverlife at 9:29 PM on October 21, 2020

I always remember what he'd say after performing one of his magic tricks. He'd turn to his audience and say "And *that* was a miracle of a semi-religious nature!"
.
posted by storybored at 9:34 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

I can’t imagine somebody like Uri Gellar getting popular traction these days, and we have Randi to thank for that.

That’s a nobler legacy than most of us will leave behind.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:35 PM on October 21, 2020 [10 favorites]

.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:39 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by edd at 9:52 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by ikahime at 10:06 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by limeonaire at 10:41 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:33 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:44 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by Pendragon at 11:47 PM on October 21, 2020

.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 1:42 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by Lesser Spotted Potoroo at 1:52 AM on October 22, 2020

I first came across Mr. Randi in an interview in Omni magazine in April 1980. (PDF of entire issue; interview starts at PDF page 42.). It made a real impression on me as a high-schooler and I have been a fan ever since. He definitely helped put contemporary skepticism on the map, and as was pointed out above he did without turning out to be a jerk himself. The world is a lesser place without him.
posted by TedW at 2:17 AM on October 22, 2020 [8 favorites]

An Honest Liar is streaming on Prime.
posted by pxe2000 at 2:20 AM on October 22, 2020 [4 favorites]

.
posted by filtergik at 2:27 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by drworm at 2:28 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by spikysimon at 2:34 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by Captain_Science at 3:10 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by From Bklyn at 3:10 AM on October 22, 2020

Randi reminds me of what people have said about the Velvet Underground: Not as many people have read him as I'd like, but his influence is felt through so many things that came after him. I don't think many people finished reading "Flim-Flam!" or any of his other books and essays and didn't emerge more skeptical for it. What a scholar, what a fantastic man; what a model for us all.

.
posted by LSK at 3:11 AM on October 22, 2020 [7 favorites]

.
posted by pangolin party at 3:38 AM on October 22, 2020

James Randi is in Heaven now.

.
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:39 AM on October 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

.
posted by FishBike at 4:07 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by dr_dank at 4:12 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by acb at 4:26 AM on October 22, 2020

Yeah, with Isaac Asimov! Good job Randi!
posted by Meatbomb at 4:42 AM on October 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

.
posted by coppertop at 4:58 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by pt68 at 4:58 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by lordrunningclam at 5:06 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:20 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by Unioncat at 5:20 AM on October 22, 2020

It was my father who had a subscription to The Skeptical Inquirer in the 1980s, and that was the gateway for me to Randi. It was a good lesson to learn early.
posted by chavenet at 5:36 AM on October 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

.
posted by Gelatin at 5:47 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by Billiken at 6:19 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by MythMaker at 6:25 AM on October 22, 2020

.
(I feel like I should be doing some weird html trick with this, but I can't think of anything right now)
posted by ckape at 6:36 AM on October 22, 2020

.
One less sane voice in the world.
posted by Flexagon at 6:52 AM on October 22, 2020

I remember reading somewhere that he used to write on his business card and put into his wallet every morning "Today XX/YY/ZZZZ is the day that I die" and sign it so that anyone that found his body would be amazed that he predicted his own death
posted by mincus at 7:09 AM on October 22, 2020 [25 favorites]

.
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:11 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by blob at 7:14 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by calamari kid at 7:15 AM on October 22, 2020

I can’t imagine somebody like Uri Gellar getting popular traction these days

14 seasons of "Long Island Medium" says otherwise.
posted by hanov3r at 7:37 AM on October 22, 2020 [8 favorites]

.
posted by TheCoug at 7:54 AM on October 22, 2020

From a 2014 NYT article about Randi:

Each night before he went to bed, he wrote the date on the back of a business card along with the words “I, Randall Zwinge, will die today.” Then he signed it and placed it in his wallet. That way, if he were knocked down in the street or killed by a freak accident, whoever went through his effects would discover the most shocking prophecy he ever made. Zwinge kept at it for years. Each night, he tore up one card and wrote out a new one for the next day. But nothing fatal befell him; in the end, having wasted hundreds of business cards, he gave up in frustration. “I never got lucky,” he told me.

posted by hanov3r at 7:56 AM on October 22, 2020 [26 favorites]

also, the man who cut Alice Cooper's head off ... repeatedly.

and in discussion: James Randi and Alice Cooper - Dragon*Con 2012
posted by philip-random at 8:00 AM on October 22, 2020 [5 favorites]

.
posted by ahimsakid at 8:32 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by solotoro at 8:49 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 9:11 AM on October 22, 2020

Damn. I also came to know of him when I was younger through the Skeptic movement before it fused with the New Atheist movement and became a dumpster fire. Randi was always cool, always doing good works...damn.
posted by lazaruslong at 9:11 AM on October 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

Yeah, Randi’s brand of Skepticism was always delivered with a twinkle in the eye, and seemed to come from an avuncular interest in helping people free themselves from charlatans, quackery and superstition.

Some in the New Atheist movement, in contrast, seemed to come with a cold smirk, taking delight in argumentative cruelty.
posted by darkstar at 9:17 AM on October 22, 2020 [7 favorites]

Via The Skeptical Inquirer, James Randi taught me at a young age that people will believe what they want to believe, and no amount of evidence will sway 'em. And yet he never gave up the fight against ignorance. He's my patron saint of lost causes.

I cherish the memory of fanboy gushing at him in the lobby after a Penn & Teller show at the Rio.

.
posted by whuppy at 9:30 AM on October 22, 2020 [7 favorites]

.
posted by treepour at 9:39 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by Splunge at 9:55 AM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 10:02 AM on October 22, 2020

I've drifted away from the skeptic movement but I still question, question, question.

I love how many of us have this story, complete with an "except for Randi". There are absolutely important principles that drove that movement, even if they have become a gang of elevator creeps or whatever the disappointment du jure is.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 10:03 AM on October 22, 2020 [7 favorites]

.
posted by Mitheral at 10:13 AM on October 22, 2020

And lest we forget, James Randi came out at 81.
posted by chavenet at 10:30 AM on October 22, 2020 [4 favorites]

.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:53 AM on October 22, 2020

I can’t imagine somebody like Uri Gellar getting popular traction these days, and we have Randi to thank for that.

You're kidding, right? We've got people thinking Hunter Biden used his Chinese magic diamond to start child sex rings in pizza parlors with Hillary and Joe. If anything, I'd think Randi would be horrified by how rampant con artistry is in the current era. He made a valiant effort in his day, but it would be nigh impossible for any one man to take on the giant con game that is the internet.
posted by fungible at 12:21 PM on October 22, 2020 [10 favorites]

Everyone interested in Randi should definitely watch "An Honest Liar". His life was uniquely fascinating.

I deeply respect the good work he did, while also acknowledging that he threw a few things into a bucket they don't deserve to be in, and leave it at that. I wish I could have interviewed him on my former show.

We need more of his kind of intelligence in this world.

RIP

.
posted by dbiedny at 12:46 PM on October 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 1:17 PM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by fook at 1:24 PM on October 22, 2020

Randi and JREF mostly stayed in their wheelhouse which was flim-flam and woo woo. If he could duplicate it with a magic trick, then he could control a test for it. I have no problem with that. I think he would have a field day with tik tok.

My problem with the skeptic movement as a whole is that no one seemed to be able to move beyond that. Maybe skepticism can't defeat disinformation because the root of disinformation is cynicism.
posted by muddgirl at 1:48 PM on October 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

Visualizing Harry Houdini and the Amazing Randi hovering, ghostly, smiling down like the end of return of the jedi.

.
posted by sammyo at 2:02 PM on October 22, 2020 [3 favorites]

.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 3:20 PM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by Pouteria at 3:52 PM on October 22, 2020

.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:57 PM on October 22, 2020

I learned of Randi from Martin Gardner’s columns. This tribute Randi wrote of Gardner gives some insights into Randi’s own extraordinary mind and character.
posted by sjswitzer at 5:00 PM on October 22, 2020 [4 favorites]

That’s so awesome about Randi’s visit with Martin Gardner. Because I include them both in the pantheon of Exemplars of Humankind that I’d point to if an alien race ever demanded proof that we inhabitants of Planet Earth were worth sparing from intergalactic annihilation.

(Fred Rogers being at the top of the list, naturally.)
posted by darkstar at 5:41 PM on October 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

Here's a lovely story about The Amazing Randi vs the Tooth Fairy.
posted by Nelson at 7:33 PM on October 22, 2020 [3 favorites]

.
posted by evilDoug at 8:09 PM on October 22, 2020

Tonight CBC's "As it Happens" had Penn Gillette reminiscing about Randi and how he inspired him, both professionally and morally. Penn also relays how Randi got Carson to set things up so that Uri Geller couldn't snow people, with a clip to that Tonight Show bit.

Really touching tribute; Penn gets quite emotional at the end of it. Transcript here, full show here (obit starts at 16:55).
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:59 PM on October 22, 2020 [3 favorites]

The Onion: Psychic Already Sick Of Spectral James Randi Ragging On Her From Afterlife
posted by rhizome at 10:58 PM on October 23, 2020 [4 favorites]