Some of you - particularly those interested in stage magic - may be familiar with James "The Amazing" Randi, a retired stage magician and escape artist, now best known for his decades of investigating (and thus debunking) claims of "paranormal" abilities (psychics, etc).
Those who are
not familiar withRandi (as he prefers to be called) can read about him here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_RandiRandi has been an idol of mine (for his investigations) since the early 1980s, when he exposed televangelist Peter Popoff on the old Tonight Show (with Johnny Carson) for the lying charlatan that he was.
In 2004 and 2007, I emulated Randi in a small way when I created two skeptical investigation web sites:
http://www.StopKaz.comhttp://www.StopSylvia.comThrough my work on those sites, I became known to Randi, and we became friends, much to my astonishment!
I was invited to speak at several of the annual conventions of The James Randi Educational Foundation (The JREF) and, in 2009, was given their first Citizen Skeptic Award, which was presented to me onstage at that year's convention, by Randi himself!:
- I'm in the wheelchair, wearing the black T-shirt with Randi's face on it.
- Randi is the short, white-bearded gent holding my award.
- My wife Susan is standing between and behind us
- My "Beeg Seestor" (a family in-joke) Janie is on the left in the picture.
I have been a regular poster on the JREF's online forum (
http://forums.randi.org) since 2001, and frequently post there about my playing card collection.
Recently, someone there posted in one of my playing card-related threads/topics that there was a Kickstarter project to help with funding the documentary film "An Honest Liar: The James Randi Story":
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/220588101/an-honest-liar-the-amazing-randi-storyand that one of the rewards on the project was "The Amazing Deck", a Skepticism-themed deck of playing cards!
From the project's page:
NEW!!! "The Amazing Deck" - A 100% custom-designed unique deck of playing cards. Available nowhere else, this beautiful, intricately illustrated deck is an ode to Randi, skepticism, & science. The face cards have gorgeous illustrations of his heroes of choice, including, as the Kings: Houdini, Isaac Asimov, Martin Gardener, and Carl Sagan. Randi is the Joker - but in this deck, it's the "Charlatan"! We'll reveal the Queens & Jacks soon, so stay tuned! (Any guesses?) "The Amazing Deck" is no novelty reward - it will be professionally manufactured by the U.S. Playing Card Company, on the same Q1 highest quality casino regulation poker card stock used in Bicycle and Bee decks with the "Magic Finish" (the preferred finish for professionals and magicians.) The cool, vintage-style illustrations will ensure this stylish limited-edition deck will be a cherished collectible!
I immediately pledged, and then wrote to Randi, telling him about my collection, and that I was looking forward to seeing the deck in May.
He replied and said that he had rummaged around in his stuff and found four decks of cards he thought might interest me, and would mail them soon! Over the next couple of days I received more emails from him, saying "Found another deck for you!"
I am anxiously awaiting their arrival.
Will they be decks he used in his magic act?
Decks with custom courts?
Something else?
I will describe them here as they arrive.
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