Time for the truth

Try as he might magician James Randi could not make the milling crowds or the festive traffic clogging the streets outside Dadar station lsquodisappearrsquo with a bit of magic The 84yearold magician or skeptic as he is known was in the city recently to talk to other magicians and those interested in different streams of magic about his life his art and how he exposes swindlers and deceivers who make money off gullible and sometimes desperate people looking for solace and some hope He is a skeptic and true to his label has a questioning attitude towards knowledge facts or opinions and beliefs stated as facts He doubts claims that are often taken for granted Matchbox moves Watch my hand Randi seems to say u00a0PicsSatyajit Desai Hall of Tricks Randirsquos talk took place at the newly minted Magic Academy Hall in Dadar W The Academy Hall is tucked away behind a labyrinth of tiny streets including that of a sugarcane vendor which directly leads up to the Hall It is a meeting place for magicians and youngsters who want to learn about magic hold workshops exchange ideas and buy tricks Academy founder Bhupesh Dave said ldquoI am a magician I use magic for my corporate training sessions I thought the magician fraternity in the city and even beyond ndash in India needs a place to congregate exchange ideas information and also host visiting magicians All eyes ears and smiles The audience laughs as the entertaineractormagician gives a slide presentation It is also a place where magicians can buy tricksrdquo said Dave pointing to glass shelves stocked with magic paraphernalia the traditional black hat worn by magicians decks of playing cards a colourful fan something that looked like a saw and other gizmos that seemed to blink at one cheekily saying itrsquos a trick you canrsquot figure out Art of branding For those who dismiss magic as a lot of mumbojumbo Dave says ldquoMagic can help you increase your memory power Our Indian magicians are at par with the best They can compete at international level but they need to be able to market themselves and the art well too they have to know have to become a brandrdquo explains Dave who says he is a mentalist Mentalism is the art of reading the minds of the people Dave signs off saying magic has great scope as a profession and career and the Academy ldquoIs a small step in bringing resources to established and aspiring magicians in the cityrdquo Queen of hearts Bhupesh Dave founder of the Magic Academy Hall does some abracadabra with a giant pack of cards Essentially an artiste Somebody who embodies Daversquos belief in magic as a lsquocareer with great scopersquo is Randi who spoke at the Academy Hall This feisty old man with a twinkle in his eye labelled Mumbairsquos traffic as ldquointerestingrdquo before holding the audience of mentalists rationalists and established magicians in thrall as he spoke about his career ldquoI work on TV and in shows nearly all over the world in fact I am essentially a TV artisterdquo said Randi who says basically as a magician he is an ldquoactorrdquo and an ldquoentertainerrdquo The buzz is Magicians in the audience exchange ideas as they talk about different formulae This USbased Florida native he lives in Fort Lauderdale was born in Canada but became a US citizen ldquoAs the US gave me better opportunitiesrdquo had some choice words for socalled godmen and those who make paranormal claims and pseudosciences ldquoIt is time for the truthrdquo said Randi with all the force of his 84 years ldquoIt is time they stopped swindling othersrdquo Talk to dead Even though this was his first visit to India Randi knew about Indiarsquos propensity to veer towards godmen swallow a number of dubious supernatural claims and generally tend to believe individuals peddling all kinds of selfproclaimed cures and indulging in chicanery This entertainer lived up to his lsquoersquo tag e is for entertainer by giving a very lively slide presentation of some magic tricks Card trick James Randi demonstrates with a letter on a card He also spoke about how he had punctured hollow claims in the USA too of a woman called S Browne who claimed to talk to the dead ldquoWhen I threw her a challenge she claimed that she could not find my telephone number in the phone book I said you can talk to the dead and cannot find me in a phone bookrdquo said Randi to shouts of laughter Media gets bashed The media came in for a bashing as Randi told this reporter ldquoI blame the media too for encouraging these fakes with their rubbish claims All the media wants is a sensational story good and exciting news that is what they care about They do not bother to double check anything at all and this is not a personal attack on yourdquo said Randi Randi says there is only one way of exposing fakes ldquoTell people just how they are being fooled and how these tricks are being donerdquo he said ldquoso that they are not swindled of large sums of moneyrdquo Randi lumped a number of godmen in the fake category and claimed that adoring adherents and the fact that industrialists and politicians follow them does not mean they have credibility ldquoPoliticians are seen mixing with these types because they believe being seen with a perceived lsquoholyrsquo man is attractive for their image They also have no problem selling their integrityrdquo said Randi who added that people turn to these swindlers at vulnerable times in their life ndash death of a loved one financial crunches loss of something valuable and so these people peddling rubbish are able to take advantage of people at their lowest ebb mentally I for interactive u00a0A question amp answer session post Randirsquos talk in Dadaru00a0 Not a cynic Randi emphasised though that he was a skeptic and not a cynic ldquoI demand proofrdquo said the Randi smiling above his snowy Santa Claus beard ldquoMany people think they have psychic abilities because they mistake coincidence for evidence When tested their powers disappearrdquo he explained Randi in his 15hour talk to his audience showed them various magic tricks Several magicians smiled knowingly as they may have fathomed how the trick was done D J Grothe president of the James Randi Education Foundation JREF said Randirsquos ldquoMoral righteous indignation along with compassion come together to make him an unmoveable forcersquo No pulling punches Force Randi was from his humourspiked presentation ldquoI bet you didnrsquot think I was this goodlookingrdquo he said to his bemused audience to his no punches pulled comments on those who dupe the gullible Randi was above all an actor and a very good one ldquoWe magicians work in funny waysrsquo he said as eagerbeaver listeners queued up for his autograph Mr Snowy Beard who looked like a Santa Claus who has been on a diet will continue puncturing the bubble of falsehood of so many deceivers In an age where puffed up reputations posturing and blatant lies too are part of what is called lsquomarketingrsquo James Bond Randi believes he has a license to kill ndash corny claims by consu00a0