James Randi

James Randi
Randi c. 1990s
Born
Randall James Hamilton Zwinge

(1928-08-07)August 7, 1928
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedOctober 20, 2020(2020-10-20) (aged 92)
Plantation, Florida, U.S.
Other namesThe Amazing Randi
Citizenship
  • Canada
  • United States
Occupations
Years active1946−2016
Spouse
José Alvarez
​
(m. 2013)​
James Randi's voice
Recorded October 2016 at CSICon
Websiteweb.randi.org
Signature

James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.[1] He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims.[2] Randi retired from practicing magic at age 60, and from his foundation at 87.

Although often referred to as a "debunker", Randi said he disliked the term's connotations and preferred to describe himself as an "investigator".[3][4] He wrote about paranormal phenomena, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, famously exposing fraudulent faith healer Peter Popoff, and was occasionally featured on the television program Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Before Randi's retirement, JREF sponsored the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, which offered a prize of $1 million to applicants who could demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event under test conditions agreed to by both parties.[5]

  1. ^ Rodrigues 2010, p. 271 Archived August 31, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Randi, James (February 9, 2007). "More Geller Woo-Woo". Swift (Newsletter). Archived from the original on July 10, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference westdefense was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "One-Million-Dollar Challenge". MIT Media Lab: Affective Computing Group. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  5. ^ "JREF Status". JREF. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2015.