"No matter how smart or well-educated you are, you can be deceived," says James Randi in the trailer for the new film An Honest Liar. If you're at all familiar with his work, I can bet you're pretty damn excited to see a new documentary devoted to this man who knows a thing or two about deception. But does James "The Amazing" Randi have a few lies of his own?
It's no secret that we here at Gizmodo love a good debunking. Whether it's exposing old fake photos getting passed around on Facebook or dubious UberFacts on Twitter, we do our best to fact-check the internet. Because, really, who's got the time? But we owe a lot to the grandfather of debunkery, a magician who made a name for himself by exposing charlatans on TV: James Randi.
The title of the film, An Honest Liar, obviously refers to his work as a magician and how that allowed him to spot fakes like the infamous "psychic" spoon-bender Uri Geller. But the title also presumably has another meaning, which the trailer only teases at. You see, Randi has been the master of debunking for decades, but only recently came out as gay. In fact, it was in 2010 at the age of 81.
How could a man whose business it was to expose frauds, fakes, and scams hold such a secret for so long? The film, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and is now touring the country, will hopefully answer that question.
I, for one, haven't been this excited to see a documentary in a long, long time. Sadly, it doesn't appear to be coming to my city any time soon. But you can keep an eye on upcoming screenings on their website.
Image: Screenshot from the 2014 film An Honest Liar