Editing Johnny Carson (section)

===Uri Geller===
In 1973, television personality and self-proclaimed [[psychic]] [[Uri Geller]] appeared on ''The Tonight Show''. In the ''[[Nova (American TV program)|NOVA]]'' documentary, "James Randi – Secrets of the Psychics," magician and [[Scientific skepticism|skeptical activist]] [[James Randi]] recalls that Carson "had been a magician himself and was skeptical" of Geller's claimed [[paranormal]] powers, and so, prior to the date of taping, Randi was personally asked "to help prevent any trickery." Per Randi's advice, the show's staff prepared its own props without informing Geller and did not let Geller or his staff "anywhere near them." When Geller joined Carson on stage, he appeared surprised that he was not going to be interviewed, but instead was expected to display his abilities using the provided articles. Geller was unable to display any paranormal abilities, saying, "I don't feel strong" and expressing displeasure at feeling like he was being "pressed" to perform by Carson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Unforgettable Uri Geller Appearance on Carson Tonight Show - 08/01/1973 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD7OgAdCObs |website=Youtube.com |publisher=Official Johnny Carson YouTube channel |access-date=March 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210322185421/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD7OgAdCObs |archive-date=March 22, 2021 |date=March 19, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=James Randi - Secrets of the Psychics Documentary (Full)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MFAvH8m8aI| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816145355/http://www.youtube.com/watch?rl=yes&v=2MFAvH8m8aI&feature=fvwrel&client=mv-google&gl=US&hl=en&guid=| archive-date=August 16, 2013|website=Youtube.com|publisher=JREF|access-date=August 25, 2017}}</ref>{{rp|8:10}} According to Adam Higginbotham's November 7, 2014, article in ''[[The New York Times]]'':

{{blockquote|text=The result was a legendary immolation, in which Geller offered up flustered excuses to his host as his abilities failed him again and again. "I sat there for 22 minutes, humiliated," Geller told me, when I spoke to him in September. "I went back to my hotel, devastated. I was about to pack up the next day and go back to [[Tel Aviv]]. I thought, That's it — I'm destroyed."<ref name =Higginbotham>{{cite news|last1=Higginbotham|first1=Adam|title=The Unbelievable Skepticism of the Amazing Randi|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/magazine/the-unbelievable-skepticism-of-the-amazing-randi.html?_r=0|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 7, 2014 |access-date=25 August 2017}}</ref>}}

However, ironically, this appearance on ''The Tonight Show'', which Carson and Randi had orchestrated to debunk Geller's claimed abilities, backfired. According to Higginbotham,

{{blockquote|text=To Geller's astonishment, he was immediately booked on ''[[The Merv Griffin Show]]''. He was on his way to becoming a paranormal superstar. "That Johnny Carson show made Uri Geller," Geller said. To an enthusiastically trusting public, his failure only made his gifts seem more real: If he were performing magic tricks, they would surely work every time.<ref name =Higginbotham/>}}