Sunday, November 09, 2014
Now you see it now you don't
I am a long time wanna-be magician. Or illusionist. Or charlatan.
That last one is the preferred title of a magic guy I have watched since, well it seems like, infancy. Now here he is full blown and glowing in the New York Times Magazine today.
The Unbelievable Skepticism of The Amazing Randi
Randi was a favorite of Johnny Carson so he frequently appeared on that night-time show. Also a frequent repeater on Ed Sullivan.
He began with a magic act but became "disillusioned" when no matter how hard he tried to show people that the magic was actually explainable he quit that act and became a mentalist. Someone who can read minds and tell the future. Still fake but somehow more palatable in the doing.
Randi turned to being a scientific investigator of the magical and spiritual when he set up a foundation to prove that there was no such thing. He took it upon himself to begin unmasking other mind readers who unlike Randi still tried to manipulate and con people with their stuff.
He is still at it.
The interesting thing is that he still hopes to find someone who is truly psychic or able to read minds or do spiritual communicating. He still has not. And the pot has grown and grown over the years.
One of the best surprises in this article is to discover that Randi was/is gay! He had a partner for many years who was also his stage assistant. A younger man who got into some trouble because he was an illegal alien and no amount of magic would get him off. They eventually married which broke the hold the immigration people had over him. Happy endings.
