FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (GlossyNews) — James Randi, the renown 81-year-old skeptic, has escaped from the closet after keeping his sexuality a secret for more than 70 years.
Randi, formerly known as The Amazing Randi, began his career in Canada as a professional stage magician. Today, he is more widely known as a scientific skeptic who questions and disproves paranormal claims and pseudoscience, following in the tradition of Houdini. Randi has debunked more than 100 psychics and faith healers during his career, in a quest to rid the world of “hucksters.”
Most of Randi’s work is channeled through his James Randi Education Foundation, which challenges the notion of an afterlife and those who claim legitimate proof of paranormal, occult or supernatural abilities. His foundation sponsors The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, which offers a prize of $1,000,000 to anyone who can demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event, under test conditions agreed to by both parties.
To date, the money has never been given away.
Randi himself says the revelation of his homosexuality provides the most damning proof that human beings do not possess any psychic gifts.
Randi said, “Of all the people I have investigated — people like John Edward, Sylvia Brown and Miss Cleo — not one of these self-deluded clairvoyants could figure out I was gay? Hell, Uri Geller still hasn’t figured out that Clay Aiken fancies men. You’ve got to wonder.”
Randi’s detractors, with longtime rival Geller the most vocal among them, argue that “gaydar” is not a psychic ability. Geller responded, “Randi’s conclusion is invalid and immaterial. Being able to divine a person’s sexual orientation has nothing to do with paranormal powers. The man has no conviction.”
However, fellow skeptic and illusionist Derren Brown supports Randi’s position.
“Of course he’s right,” Brown said. “It’s quite simple, really. If people can believe a so-called psychic knows where a killer has buried a body, they should be able to grasp the idea that a psychic can tell us where Randi’s been burying his salami.”
I thought he was gay but I never gave a damn. people are what they want to be. am I psychic? I'm very intuitive and knew when my family members each died even though I wasn't present. I've put 4 criminals in jail and predicted fires and floods. I felt a stroke coming and was ready for it and felt when my home was being robbed. am I psychic? no, just intuitive and introspective.
Wow. I feel like ive stumbled into moron central reading these comments. 35 years running randi has been debunking these psuedo-nonsense claims and NOT ONE has ever been verified as legit. you all should actually have the decency to watch some of his material from the 70s/80s and see what a fool he makes of these idiots pretending to have psychic abilities.
WHEN WE ALL GROW UP we leave toys and security blankets behind – time to grow up folks. there’s no such thing as pyschic anything – its superstitous garbage.
reading these comments its quite clear why psuedo-quack-fraud is still such a thriving industry…
well done Randi – for your tireless efforts to fight fraud and STUPIDITY!
smoke…and mirrors, PB.
Really? Ok, smart guy, how do they stick all those knives in the pretty blonde without killing her?
This announcement is, essentially, a magician’s trick. It’s analogous to a “force,” a technique used by magicians to create the illusion of a choice made by a volunteer from the audience, where no choice really exists. (Of course, most “volunteers” are actually confederates, but that’s for another discussion.) Here’s how it works: If a pack of cards is cut into two piles, the magician asks the volunteer to pick one pile. If the volunteer picks the “right” pile, the trick then proceeds. If the volunteer picks the “wrong” pile, the magician explains that that’s the discard pile, and the trick proceeds with the “right” pile. So it’s a “force,” not a real choice.
If a claimed psychic had “outed” Randi, Randi would almost undoubtedly have maintained that it demonstrated the psychic’s lack of ethics, dragging his sexual orientation into the public eye.
Omg. Learn to spell, people. Randi gay? Who cares. I can’t imagine wanting to do ANY 80 year old, including myself … should I live so long. Randi’s asshattery has nothing to do with his sexual orientation nor his deserved outing of ‘psychics’ and other fraudsters. Simply put, he needs to trim his beard and admit 9/11 was an inside job. Truth in ALL things, Jimmy!
Tanty, the US canceled the “psychic” program from 1984. It didn’t work and the “results” (including a publication in IEEE) were debunked by numerous other published research. The flaws in their methodology was nothing short of an embarrassment.
That’s like a bad psychic prostitute who can’t see what’s coming…
Doesn’t prove anything, except maybe that he takes his magic up the tailpipe!
Didn’t have to be a magician or psychic to see that
scientist who believe in psychic phenomena tend to have positive results, wheareas skeptics tend to have negative results. The believers respond to this with an explanation called ‘experimental psi’. in other words, if one’s intention can infleuence outcome, which is a form of psychokinesis, then experimental beliefs will influence their own experiements. if that is the case, skeptics may never be able to reproduce the recults of the believers. the problem with this argument is that skeptics in other areas of research have been able to prove themselves wrong. another explanation for this difference in results may be thatmost skeptics dont have any interest in doing research on psychic abilities, so thay have far less data for it to be statiscally significant. a difference of 10 percent is more meaningful if there have been one thousand trials than if there have been 10. think of a coin toss.getting 6 heads and 4 tails is more likely than 600 heads and 400 tails. another factor is that skeptics also may create a less conducive encironment.
If psychics don’t exist, someone had better tell the US military who have been using “Remote Viewers” since 1984 at a cost of millions of taxpayer dollars. Although the program was officially terminated in the nineties it actually continued covertly after the Service was split up and dispersed amongst the various units that required its services. Randi is a crook who debunks for a living. When people do anything for their living they tend to stretch the truth, “Gotta pay that mortgage!”
He seeks out the extreme cases of dishonesty and then generalizes, in the process misleading a sleeping gullible public.This asshole has a lot to answer for. As if any psychic would give a rat’s arse where he parks his salami. What a fool!
I remember watching an Oprah Show years ago when Randi was pitted against a psychic named Amazing Grace. The psychic asked Randi “Are you still aiding young boys” and then the show immediately cut to a commercial. After the break, Amazing Grace was no longer on the stage.
Perhaps Randi is wrong in his own extraordinary claim that no psychic had him pegged.
By the way, who cares about Randi’s personal life, anyway?
If only to shut him up, you’d think one of these “real” psychics would have focused all their energy on Randi to come up with something about him that no one knows thus marginalizing him and bolstering themselves. Like, for instance that he’s gay which is a pretty significant detail of ones life. I think that’s the point. So called psychic ability, is and always has been, a parlor trick. It doesn’t exist. Sorry to break it to you.
This is too hilarious. He just went and put himself out there. Randi is a hopeless blockhead. I can’t believe he just did one of those family guy moments. If you can tell me how a person’s aura look like I give you money, if you can tell me what contents am I hiding in this envelope then I’ll give you money. Nope…You didn’t know I was gay didn’t ya!!!!? Wtf did that have to do with anything??? lol Well it’s out there now Randi Candi!
Didn’t have to call him up actually. Just found the fodder on the net. I can’t make this stuff up–well, at least not all of it. Most times Beck writes his own satire.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a link.
http://www.ivygateblog.com/2009/07/glenn-becks-daughter-wanted-to-attend-columbia-fox-news-host-not-a-fan/
Rather or not one is gay or not has nothing to do with psychic abilities. That’s just an alternate life sytle. I felt something was wrong with James Randy! I am a Sensitive about other things though not so much people! SO I am border line bi-sexual,so what????
Being molested at age 9 by my girlfriend in church and later raped at gun point and on a date at age 18 years! I married three times and have three children and tons of grand children. Read Aura The Ebony Princess at amazon.com
The magic community has know James Randi was gay for a long time. That being said, just because no psychic said he was gay proves absolutely nothing. There are no such thing as psychics. Especially what many call psychics now a days. Sylvia Browne, John Edwards? Come on people! I could get more HITS than them in a half hour! I still love the boldness of John Edwards though.
JE – “You have a relative that has passed that was in law inforcement?”
Lady – “No.”
JE – “Yes you do! Think!!”
Lady – “No, no one.”
JE – “YES YOU DO! Until you figure it out I can’t do anything with you.” NEXT!!
Randi is a self important ass who the MSM rant to every time they had a guest on about UFO’s or the paranormal.
Frankly, he always was a legend in his own mind
> Randi tries to dismiss them ALL without
> exception which is really unintelligent,
> close-minded, and hogwash.
Actually, he’s being open-minded. He’s saying “if psychic phenomena is real, then show me”. Demonstrate it and he (and scientists everywhere) will have no choice but to believe. But NO ONE ever has been able to do that! So, the only conclusion to reach until then is that these people (psychics) are self-deluded or scam artists.
Oh, and there are no unicorns or pink fairies either.
BTW: the article is satire. Randi did indeed recently come out as gay, but the quotes given in the article? Not so much.
Like real psychics wouldn’t have anything better than to lose their time with him. Proof that his “$1,000,000 prize has never been given away so far” does not proove anything.
I also hardly can see any psychic telling life and beyond of someone then finish by “Oh! And you’re gay.”
maybe it’s because no one really cares if people are gay or not nowadays…psychics tend to be open-minded people (pardon the pun)…
I like how not one person commented in his defense. Everyone know he is a total ass. Even other skeptics. I agree he is trolling and I don’t appreciate the bad visual I know have. Thanks Randi..
I don’t think it was a case of no one knew, I think no psychic or their guide cared enough to even think about it. Guides don’t sit there going ‘He is gay’ ‘He is straight’ The only circumstance would be if it is a major issue to the person.
To try and cover up his coming out the closet with saying it proves psychics dont exist is laughable. Trying to clutch at straws before it is his turn to talk through a medium methinks!
He has wasted his life trying to debunk people. Carrying on fooling himself that it is for the good of others. He has obviously been hiding from his own issues and demons. He should do himself a favour, live and let live and enjoy the rest of his days before he ‘crosses over’! At least John Edwards will talk to him then!lol
Who didn’t know that the king of ass is really a queen? Did the Amazing(ly asanine) Randi ever think that even if they had twigged to his sexuality, other people might have more common courtesy than to announce their suspicion on national TV? This only proves how narrow-minded and childish he is. Gays the world over should disavow having anything in common with him.
Maybe those who did perceive him as homosexual, were not only polite, but didn’t think Mr. Randi’s sexual orientation was theirs or anyone elses’ business.
Mr. Randi…you are reaching waayyy tooo hard and far. And maybe…yer also trolling for um, partners in your life. Good luck on that one…
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that no one really cared where he buried his salami.
So old Randi, now thinks that there is no psychics because “no one knew I was Gay”
Well, it was not hard to figure that out, and did anyone really care? or much less want that scary image implanted in their head?
Randi, is a complete wanker.
It’s great that ‘eternal skeptic’ James Randi came out of the closet, but he’s still as ASS. There are some people with
incredible psychic talent and there are also many bogus
psychics who take advantage of people. There are good and bad psychics just as there are good and bad musicians. Randi tries
to dismiss them ALL without exception which is really unintelligent, close-minded, and hogwash. I might add that he is also an
atheist and has tried to disprove the existence of God. Skpeticism is easy–it is easy to “pan” stuff. So, congrats Randi for coming out but you are still an ASS.