Editing James Randi (section)

===Magician===
[[File:James Randi Submerged Coffin.webm|thumb|Randi being submerged, 1956]]
[[File:RandiFork.jpg|thumb|upright|A fork bent by Randi]]
Although defining himself as a conjuror, Randi began a career as a professional stage magician<ref name="takedown">{{cite web|url=http://www.ted.com/talks/james_randi.html|title=James Randi: Homeopathy, quackery and fraud|date=February 2007|work=[[TED (conference)|TED]]|publisher=[[Sapling Foundation]]|location=New York|access-date=April 24, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719111508/http://www.ted.com/talks/james_randi.html|archive-date=July 19, 2011}} Randi explained in a February 2007 presentation that he believed the word "magician" implies one who has magical abilities, whereas a conjurer is one who uses skills to merely play the part of one.</ref> and [[escapologist]] in 1946. He initially presented himself under his real name, Randall Zwinge, which he later dropped in favor of "The Amazing Randi". Early in his career, he performed numerous escape acts from jail cells and safes around the world. On February 7, 1956, he appeared live on [[NBC]]'s ''[[Today (U.S. TV program)|Today]]'' show, where he remained for 104 minutes in a sealed metal coffin that had been submerged in a hotel swimming pool, breaking what was said to be [[Harry Houdini]]'s record of 93 minutes, though Randi called attention to the fact that he was much younger than Houdini had been when he established the original record in 1926.<ref name="Sinclair">{{cite news |title=Television & radio column |first=Gordon |last=Sinclair |author-link=Gordon Sinclair |newspaper=[[Toronto Star|Toronto Daily Star]]|date=February 7, 1956}}</ref><ref name="Bryant">{{cite news |title=Handcuffs no problem Toronto-born magician laughs at locksmiths |first=George |last=Bryant |newspaper=Toronto Daily Star |date=June 21, 1956}}</ref>

Randi was a frequent guest on the [[Long John Nebel]] program on New York City radio station [[WOR (AM)|WOR]], and did character voices for commercials.<ref name="CSICon" />{{rp|31:00}} After Nebel moved to [[WFAN (AM)|WNBC]] in 1964,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Long John Nebel Papers: An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University |url=https://library.syracuse.edu/digital/guides/n/nebel_lj.htm |access-date=November 5, 2023 |website=Syracuse University Libraries}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 5, 1964 |title=FILM ON VIETNAM READY FOR A.B.C.; Show Sept. 10 Will Be First Of Four Documentaries |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/05/archives/film-on-vietnam-ready-for-abc-show-sept-10-will-be-first-of-four.html |access-date=November 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Randi was given Nebel's time slot on WOR, where he hosted ''The Amazing Randi Show'' until January 1966, and often had guests who defended paranormal claims, among them Randi's then-friend [[James W. Moseley]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moseley |first=James W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYKKiU9cvZEC&dq=james+randi+WOR+radio+partyline&pg=PA189 |title=Shockingly Close to the Truth!: Confessions of a Grave-Robbing Ufologist |date=November 2, 2010 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61592-541-4 |language=en |author-link=James W. Moseley}}</ref> Randi stated that he was fired from WOR over complaints from the archbishop of New York that Randi had said on-air that "Jesus Christ was a religious nut," a claim that Randi disputed.<ref name="CSICon" />{{rp|34:00}}

Randi also hosted numerous television specials and went on several world tours. As "The Amazing Randi" he appeared regularly on the New York-based children's television series ''[[Wonderama]]'' from 1959 to 1967.<ref name="Butler">{{cite web |url=http://www.tvparty.com/lostwonder1.html |title=Wonderama! |last1=Butler |first1=Kevin S. |last2=Ingram |first2=Billy |work=TVparty! |publisher=William Ingram |location=Greensboro, NC |access-date=April 5, 2007 |quote=Sonny Fox hosted another 'Wonderama Thanksgiving Day Party' on Thursday afternoon, November 23, 1961 with guests ventriloquist and cartoon voice-over performer Paul Winchell, magician/escape artist and magic historian The Amazing James Randi and folk singer Pat Woodell. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230223655/http://www.tvparty.com/lostwonder1.html |archive-date=December 30, 2006}}</ref> In 1970, he auditioned for a revival of the 1950s children's show ''[[The Magic Clown]]'', which showed briefly in Detroit and in Kenya, but was never picked up.<ref name="Butler 2">{{cite web |url=http://www.tvparty.com/lostny2bonamo.html |title=Bonamo, The Magic Clown |last=Butler |first=Kevin S. |work=TVparty! |publisher=William Ingram |location=Greensboro, NC |access-date=May 13, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510233350/http://www.tvparty.com/lostny2bonamo.html |archive-date=May 10, 2008}}</ref> In the February 2, 1974, issue of the British conjuring magazine ''[[Goodliffe's Abracadabra|Abracadabra]]'', Randi, in defining the community of magicians, stated: "I know of no calling which depends so much upon mutual trust and faith as does ours." In the December 2003 issue of ''[[The Linking Ring]]'', the monthly publication of the [[International Brotherhood of Magicians]], it is stated: "Perhaps Randi's ethics are what make him Amazing" and "The Amazing Randi not only talks the talk, he walks the walk."<ref name="99JxU">{{cite journal |last=Barber |first=Peter W. |date=December 2003 |title=Points to Ponder: Another Matter of Ethics |journal=[[The Linking Ring]] |volume=83 |issue=12 |page=97 |issn=0024-4023}}</ref>

During [[Alice Cooper]]'s 1973–1974 [[Billion Dollar Babies tour]], Randi performed on stage both as a mad dentist and as Cooper's executioner.<ref name="o9b6K">{{cite AV media |people=[[Joe Gannon]] (Director) |year=1974 |title=[[Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper]] |type=Motion picture |publisher=General Media International, Inc. |oclc=62534800}}(2005 DVD release)</ref> He also built several of the stage props, including the [[guillotine (magic trick)|guillotine]].<ref name="h6t5F">{{cite web|url=http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/people/p-randi.php|title=The Amazing Randi|website=SickthingsUK|publisher=Simon Halley|location=Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England|access-date=May 18, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108052435/http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/people/p-randi.php|archive-date=November 8, 2007}}</ref> In a 1976 performance for the Canadian TV special ''World of Wizards'', Randi escaped from a [[straitjacket]] while suspended upside-down over [[Niagara Falls]].<ref name="lgfSE">{{cite journal |last=Randi |first=James |date=May 3, 2002 |title=Dangerous Stunts |journal=Swift |type=Newsletter |access-date=May 18, 2007 |url=http://www.randi.org/jr/050302.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070609005249/http://www.randi.org/jr/050302.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 9, 2007}}</ref>

Randi has been accused of actually using "psychic powers" to perform acts such as [[spoon bending]]. According to [[James Alcock]], at a meeting where Randi was duplicating the performances of [[Uri Geller]], a professor from the [[University at Buffalo, The State University of New York|University at Buffalo]] shouted out that Randi was a fraud. Randi said: "Yes, indeed, I'm a trickster, I'm a cheat, I'm a charlatan, that's what I do for a living. Everything I've done here was by trickery." The professor shouted back: "That's not what I mean. You're a fraud because you're pretending to do these things through trickery, but you're actually using psychic powers and misleading us by not admitting it."<ref name="RpPRF">{{harvnb|Alcock|2001|p=42}}</ref> A similar event involved Senator [[Claiborne Pell]], a confirmed believer in psychic phenomena. When Randi personally demonstrated to Pell that he could reveal—by simple trickery—a concealed drawing that had been secretly made by the senator, Pell refused to believe that it was a trick, saying: "I think Randi may be a psychic and doesn't realize it." Randi consistently denied having any paranormal powers or abilities.<ref name="BprO1">{{harvnb|Gardner|2000|p=178}}</ref>

Randi was a member of the [[Society of American Magicians]] (SAM), the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), and [[The Magic Circle (organisation)|The Magic Circle]] in the UK, holding the rank of "Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star."<ref name="34MHb">{{cite web|url=http://themagiccircle.co.uk/news/711-the-magic-circle-president-promotes-a-knight-a-dragon-and-student-doctor-of-magic?highlight=WyJyYW5kaSJd|title=TMC Promotions|date=January 11, 2013|access-date=July 22, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723074917/http://themagiccircle.co.uk/news/711-the-magic-circle-president-promotes-a-knight-a-dragon-and-student-doctor-of-magic?highlight=WyJyYW5kaSJd|archive-date=July 23, 2015}}</ref>