Randi, James (Randall James Hamilton Zwinge), 1928–2020, Canadian-American illusionist and psychic investigator, b. Toronto. Performing as “The Amazing Randi,” he was a conjurer and escape artist who appeared frequently on television. Among his exploits was escaping from a straitjacket while suspended upside down above Niagara Falls. He was best known, however, as a debunker of pseudoscience and its practitioners. His targets included faith healers, mind readers, evangelists claiming spiritual powers, chiropractors, and homeopaths, most notably Uri Geller, who claimed to bend forks and spoons with his mind. Randi was awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant in 1986. He wrote many books, including Houdini: His Life and Art (1978), The Magic of Uri Geller (1975, repub. as The Truth about Uri Geller, 1982), 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).
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