THE AMAZING RANDI COMING TO AUSTRALIA

The Amazing Randi.

Renowned sceptic and magician James Randi is making his way to Australia in December for screenings of his documentary followed by Q&A sessions.

The 86-year-old has dedicated the best part of the last 50 years to investigating paranormal and pseudo-scientific claims.

The James Randi Educational Foundation offers a $1 million prize to anyone who can prove they have psychic or supernatural ability under satisfactory observation.

“That must be a big enough carrot,” he told Yahoo7.

“No one has ever passed a preliminary test.”

His life has been brought to the big screen by documentary filmmakers Tyler Measom and Justin Weinstein.

An Honest Liar was crowd-funded by a Kickstarter campaign and tells the story of Randi’s many feats as a magician, his famous run-ins with psychics and his more recent battles trying to keep his partner out of prison after it was revealed he was living a lie.

Many Australians would know Randi from an infamous encounter with Don Lane that resulted in the TV host storming off the set telling the magician to “piss off”.

Lane took exception to Randi suggesting that psychics such as Uri Gellar may not be using supernatural powers to bend spoons, rather just skills that magicians had employed for years.

“His trick is rather useless,” Randi said.

“I don’t find spoon bending to be socially useful.

“I lie to people in order to get the effect I want but do it as an entertainer.”

Uri Gellar has become world-famous for bending spoons with ‘his mind’ and his willingness to restart broken watches just by urging them.

Randi has travelled the globe showing people how to replicate these feats and said if Gellar is using mind power he’s doing it the hard way.

Another opponent of Randi’s who also makes an appearance in the documentary is Peter Popoff, a self-proclaimed faith healer and a character Steve Martin drew inspiration from for his role in the 1992 movie Leap of Faith.

Popoff would stand in front of his followers and predict with very specific detail, the names, ailments and even home addresses of people in the crowd.

Then James Randi stepped in and exposed Popoff on national television.

He found the televangelist was using an earpiece and the voices in his head actually came from his wife, not God. She would transmit the messages that people had written on prayer cards, hoping to be saved by a higher power.

“That’s the great pity of it, they need to have some real magic in their lives,” Randi said.

“They want and need to believe.

“It’s very deceptive and it’s wrong.”

Popoff declared bankruptcy in the late 1980s but has emerged again in the past decade after selling ‘miracle water’, moving into massive mansions and driving high-end cars like Porsches.

It probably shows a sceptic’s work is never done but Randi hopes his legacy will help future generations to take an interest in critical thinking.

“People need to be introduced to the idea that some people out there are going to swindle them somehow,” he said.

“Children should be raised with a sceptical attitude - not a negative attitude about life and other people - but a critical attitude.

“They should be informed.”

An evening with James Randi begins on December 1 in Adelaide before continuing around the country. Tickets are on sale now.

December 1: The Science Exchange, Adelaide.

December 3: Octagon Theatre, Perth.

December 4: BCEC, Brisbane.

December 5: MCEC, Melbourne.

December 7: Metro Theatre, Sydney.