James Randi (1928–2020)

Author of Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and other Delusions

16+ Works 1,890 Members 23 Reviews 5 Favorited

About the Author

Randall James Hamilton Zwinge was born on August 7, 1928 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He began his career in the late 40's as an illusionist and escape artist. He became known as the Amazing Randi and was an international success. In 1986, he received the McArthur "genius" grant. He retired from show more stage magic at the age of 60 and began a career of investigating claims of the paranormal. He devoted his life to debunking paranormal claims. Preferring to be called a skeptic or an investigator, he aimed to show that "something was not likely." He was considered a father of the modern skeptical movement. He wrote numerous books which included, Houdini, His Life and Art (1976) co-authored with Bert Randolp Sugar; Flim Flam! The Truth About Unicorns, Parapsychology, and Other Delusions (1980); The Faith Healers (1987); and An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural (1995). In 1976, Mr. Randi, along with Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, and others, founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. It published the magazine Skeptical Inquirer. James Randi, also known as the Amazing Randi, died at his home in Florida at the age of 92. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: James Randi , James Randi

Image credit: Credit: Steve Jurvetson, 2007

Works by James Randi

An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural (1995) 286 copies

The Faith Healers (1987) 276 copies

The Mask of Nostradamus: The Prophecies of the World's Most Famous Seer (1990) 149 copies

The Truth About Uri Geller (1975) 122 copies

Conjuring: Being a Definitive History of the Venerable Arts of Sorcery, Prestidigitation, Wizardry, Deception, &… (1992) 113 copies

The Magic World of the Amazing Randi (1989) 55 copies

Houdini, His Life and Art (1976) 49 copies

James Randi: Psychic Investigator (1991) 38 copies

The Supernatural A-Z (1995) 33 copies

Test Your Esp Potential (1982) 7 copies

JOHN EDWARD AND THE ART OF COLD READING.: An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA) (2000) 3 copies

Avventure nel mistero (1999) 2 copies

Daniken, tajemnica Syriusza, parapsychologia i inne trele-morele. Cz??? 1 (1994) 1 copy

Daniken, tajemnica Syriusza, parapsychologia i inne trele-morele. Cz??? 2 (1994) 1 copy

An Honest Liar | James Randi Documentary DVD (2015) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Undiluted Hocus-Pocus: The Autobiography of Martin Gardner (2013) — Afterword — 91 copies

The Outer Edge (1996) — Contributor — 47 copies

Psychological Subtleties 2 (2007) — Foreword, some editions — 39 copies

Skeptic Magazine Volume 16 # 4 (2011) — Author — 1 copy

Tagged

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Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Randi, James
Legal name: Randi, James
Other names: Randi, the Amazing (stage name)
Zwinge, Randall James Hamilton (birth name)
Birthdate: 1928-08-07
Date of death: 2020-10-20
Gender: male
Nationality: Canada (birth)
USA (naturalized 1987)
Country (for map): USA
Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Place of death: Plantation, Florida, USA
Places of residence: Rumson, New Jersey, USA
Plantation, Florida, USA
Occupations: stage magician
fraud investigator
Relationships: Alvarez, Jose (husband)
Organizations: CSI: Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly CSICOP)
Society of American Magicians
International Brotherhood of Magicians
The Magic Circle
James Randi Educational Foundation
Awards and honors: MacArthur Fellowship (1986)
Joseph A. Burton Forum Award (1989)
Richard Dawkins Award (2003)
Philip J. Klass Award (2007)
Heinz Oberhummer Award (2016)
Short biography: James Randi has an international reputation as a magician and escape artist, but today he is best known as the world's most tireless investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. ?Randi has pursued "psychic" spoonbenders, exposed the dirty tricks of faith healers, investigated homeopathic water "with a memory," and generally been a thorn in the sides of those who try to pull the wool over the public's eyes in the name of the supernatural. ?In 1993, the PBS-TV "NOVA" series broadcast a one-hour special dealing with Randi's life work, particularly with his investigations of Uri Geller and various occult and healing claims being made by scientists in Russia.
In 1996, the James Randi Education Foundation was established to further Randi's work. Randi's long-standing challenge to psychics now stands as a $1,000,000 prize administered by the Foundation. It remains unclaimed.

Members

Reviews

Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other… by James Randi

Well-paced, interesting topic, with an enjoyable bitchy tone, on occasions. Well-written and enjoyable.

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unsurefooted | 9 other reviews | Feb 25, 2024 |

The Faith Healers by James Randi

The faith healers described in this book deserve the Randi treatment -- it's clear that the contempt he holds for all of them was well-earned. Does tend to get a little redundant after a few hundred pages, but the sections on investigation are fascinating.

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picklefactory | 1 other review | Jan 16, 2018 |

Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other… by James Randi

If Martin Gardner is the Godfather of skepticism, James Randi is the crude, but effective enforcer. He prefers to debunk by empirical means (as opposed to Gardner's thorough intellectual dismantling) and Randi hides no disdain, calling the "psychics" and other frauds charlatans and more while explaining how he handled the would be para-whatevers. And, he has yet to be proven wrong. Who best to out a trickster than a professional magician?

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Razinha | 9 other reviews | May 23, 2017 |

Flim-Flam!: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other… by James Randi

Magician and skeptic extraordinaire James "the Amazing" Randi examines and debunks all kinds of way-out-there stuff, from people who claim they can levitate by means of meditation, to "psychic surgery," to the Bermuda Triangle. He also details a number of experiments he conducted to test whether people with claimed paranormal powers could demonstrate them under controlled conditions. (Spoiler alert: They couldn't.)

Parts of this book, mostly chapters that focus closely on one particular topic, are in-depth, fascinating, and entertaining to read. (Although I suspect that whether one finds the tone of humor-laced curmudgeonliness Randi takes throughout charming or irritating is likely to depend upon one's predisposition.) Other parts are rather disjointed, choose odd details to focus on, and display, perhaps, more passion than polish in the writing. It's also kind of dated, as it was first published in the 80s and features a number of subjects that were big topics then, but have been replaced with new pseudoscientific fads since. (When was the last time you heard anybody talking about biorhythms?)

Still, uneven or not, I deeply appreciate the fact that this book, and other books like it, exist, and that Randi is and has been out there doing the things he does. His book about Uri Geller, in which he devastatingly exposed all the famous spoonbender's tricks, was a real eye-opener for me as a youngster. I started reading it as someone who'd always simply accepted psychic claims (as well as any number of other dubious phenomena) at face value, and finished it as a more mature and significantly less gullible thinker. I say we need more books that can do that sort of thing. Many, many more. … ( more )