 Here is your senior J ref a fellow who's gonna let you know what's going on. Please welcome Jamie Ian Swiss Well, I wish I could write poetry like that, huh? So we've been doing this annual conversation with Randy for a number of years now We've covered all kinds of topics one year with his His career as an escape artist another year was the Johnny Carson spots last year was Geller And it's really a chance is more than 1100 of you here. We're all here for the same reason We're all here because of this guy But it's hard for us all to get a chance to have personal conversations So this is an opportunity to kind of get them off script off book and see a little more of the real guy this year There's a really exciting project underway, and we just thought we would talk about that So please welcome back to the stage the reason we are all here James Randy Okay, okay, and let's very quickly to get to these gentlemen right here They're not just here because they're pretty faces. They actually have something to tell you So why don't you briefly introduce yourselves and? Tell us how you got here. Okay, my name is Tyler me some I am one of the co-directors and producers of an honest liar of course along with Justin This is our third Tam We've been here filming each time just a little introduction about me I Wanted to be a filmmaker when I was 10 years old Which was kind of a rarity for a young boy growing up Mormon in a small town in Utah But I started working when I was 17 in the industry Started making commercials made a big narrative film with Jeremy Renner and mini-driver and then got kind of disillusioned with the narrative world And there's a there's a saying that there are there's very little money in the documentary world So it tends to keep the assholes out So I guess I yeah they actually do so I guess I Well, I found a niche so I actually saw that there was a lack of them So I moved into the dock world And so I found that the dock world is much more much kinder. There's much more of a Social issue behind it and that's kept us there I made a film called Sons of Perdition after that which followed kids who were kicked out of polygamy Mormon polygamy cult it did very well and Now thank you. Somebody saw it and Now we're embroiled in this film Hello Justin Weinstein here. I am not a former Mormon. I think luckily a Foreman, yes Yeah, I Secular Jewish from New York brought up loving both filmmaking and science and I have done a little bit of both I Studied filmmaking at NYU and then went to become a research scientist and did that for a number of years Before realizing that I enjoy learning and explaining science a lot more than actually performing it It can be very tedious But more power to those who have the patience for it So I got back into filmmaking doing work for PBS Peter Jennings ABC News front line and then into the independent documentary world And I guess the last thing I did before partnering up with this character was a writer editor a film called being Elmo that was about the the man behind the Muppet Some people saw that good. Thank you And With Tyler for the last two years of our lives. We have Committed ourselves to telling the story of this man What brought us to the story of Randy after you make a film Everyone watches it and then they immediately go. Well, what's next? What's your next film? What's your next film and and I was really struggling with what film I wanted to tell and I had knew about Randy but not that much actually and I reached out to the J rev and it was one of the like four docs that I wanted to do and Sadie who was there previously She said yeah, well watch your film She says we get a lot of people who want to make a doc on James Randy and we'll watch your film And we'll see and I almost forgot completely about it I I was flying to DC to a film festival and as I was boarding the plane I got a call from Sadie and she said we watched your film. It's perfect We want you to do it and I had met Justin at that festival. We had a drink and He knew Randy and knew him very well and said we just said let's do it. So we kind of There's been two years and a week since since that day So and we'll get into what the process has been like and what the experience has been like with him and for him but We have a few different video things that you put together and Probably most interestingly that I want to make sure we get to is you have now now We've done different topics here every year and one year we did His magic and escape career and we and I managed to find some some vintage footage that most people had not seen before and we also use some footage from the Alice Cooper to it, but you have managed to find some things that I've never seen and I'm thinking I'm thinking he's never seen. He doesn't know He hasn't seen this. I have You're gonna love it When he laughs like this, I know he's this is his evil self You maybe not so much So who's got how we set up here? All right? Well, so yeah, we got over 300 videotapes from J ref and Super 16 millimeter beta quarter inch real-to-real. I mean all kinds of dirt on Randy and we went beyond that and Saw it out, you know stuff from archives Who are you praying to that? Yeah, exactly? Being atheist, I don't think your prayers are being heard unfortunately, and we're gonna embarrass you in any case and We're not actually going to embarrass you as much as we can because we are saving some of the great the greatest stuff for the film So what we have here is just a few interesting clips You'll see Randy his his hair mysteriously appears and disappears sometimes This is a little bit there is one clip at the end that is a little more recent which we just loved but mostly this is Some some pretty historic stuff. So why don't we just roll roll the first clip. Thanks. Okay, part is the amazing run All right, they've asked me on razzle dazzle Say to do a little bit of demonstration on how escape artists work because that's what I do for a living I have here a piece of rope embedded in my heart and Michelle would you hold on to one end of it, please? How would you hold on to the other really pull on it like you now make sure it's a good I knew she'd win. I knew it Okay, that is certainly all right just let go of the end now It's about two feet long and I'm going to ask you to tie my hands behind my back when you do it You know, don't spare the horses really pull All right, hold on to that end of it Hold on to that end of it really pull on back. Don't let the blood on your clothes. That's all right Okay, tie the other hand on top bring her up on top of tie a good tight knot there. Okay, I Don't suck for everyone to see it try to make a boy scout. No, what kind of a boy scout not that was a girl guy afraid of that Pretty heave on it now. Oh, yeah, that doesn't feel very tight put another knot top that would you please just one more Sure, I don't want to fall off from Whatever do you why do you hate me so much now? I'm gonna see if I can take this rope off It may take me a while, but I'll see how fast I can do it. Would you time you please you have a watch It took two and a half seconds, I think I deserve a large round of applause And now a little magic the amazing Randy first gained minor prominence at science nights at Oakwood College But his true fame came when he learned how to escape from sealed trunks while hanging upside down by his teeth under water Tonight he treats some aspects of seances Well, I'm going to give you a demonstration this evening It won't really prove very much except that it is possible for people to be very tricky Yeah, I don't know who wrote that introduction to Randy, but listen to that again Minor prominence at science nights at Oakwood collegiate But his true fame came when he learned how to escape from sealed trunks while hanging upside down by his teeth under water Tonight he treats some aspects of seances. Yeah, so these are early home movies that were done I think eight millimeter super eight by his friend Harry Smith In Toronto owned a magic shop and it's rare Randy without facial hair Mugging himself especially this one and I am going to show you how a fellow ties his shoelaces in the morning if he happens to be a Magician he does it like this see and that he goes to school or to work or wherever he goes But sometimes before noon his shoes will fall off. How about that? I have a pleasant evening anyway We've got an old friend back on this show fellow who's been on before and we've loved him when he's been on It's a great show for me to do because all I have to do is try to remember not to cackle too loud that is jokes And to come up for air and break for commercials, but he's absolutely marvelous. He's a wonderful man. Terrific man It was great that all kinds of mail last time he was uh, what did you say your name was? What did you tell us who you are the amazing randy ta-da the amazing randy what I think I speak for most of the group when I say What have you got to say for yourself? The you need a mic. Oh, is he we got his lab on please The clown thing that was an audition for the magic clown after the regular series It gave up some years ago another company came along and decided they would make a couple of programs with it and You should see some of the rest of it. It was even worse than that But uh, the the series did sell In rhodesia and detroit Sister cities in the magic world. Yes, exactly That's the only place it was ever seen and I hope that not too many people saw it But now they'll be seeing it a lot. Oops. So you got the gig I got the gig. Yes, but it never in the series never materialized. Oh, yeah. Oh, no. So that's it That's the only footage we have in that costume. Did you explore that character further? No, no, I abandoned that character completely. I agree. Yes Well, I think that piece of tape was worth the price of admission Well, I had I had to shave off my head, you know And it was in the middle of the winter and we shot that in Toronto, Canada They know how to do winter in Canada. I can tell you and I was born there. So I know and uh, I had to shave my head and put the the makeup on the skull cap and the whole thing and I had to go out on a wintry morning after shaving my head I thought I was going to die When you had a full head of hair and you have to go you get used to the The the weather protection that it gives you that was very painful very painful So when you involved evolved into this condition, you were previously prepared. Oh, yeah, yeah, evolution doesn't just great, so, um Let's talk about what's it been like following this guy around for two years. Um Oh, there are many ways I could answer that It's been exciting. Actually it's it's sometimes very tiring. Um, I we followed him to to Spain and Italy He's hard to keep up with Unfortunately, we couldn't afford to follow him to Australia or India Even though we would have liked to but um, it's been a really fascinating experience getting to really get to know him and davie And to see how hard he works. I mean I The problem with being a documentary filmmaker and following a subject is that you Have to really show their lives and show what they do And if it's somebody who's very energetic and very active then you have to be there For that before it during it and after it and that can be very exhausting. Um, but We've gotten to know plantation florida very well And I hope we haven't uh overstayed our welcome. It's it's you know, two years is a long time And it's it's just Just you know, it's just justin and I you know, it's just us making the film So we're producing we're shooting we're writing and we do have another editor We have an editor who's working on a full time, but it's just us two so You know, we do our number randy two to one But still uh, he can be a handful without question But he's always you know having shot a number of docs and things. He's always cognizant of the camera He's always aware that it's there. So sometimes it's hard to distinguish between james randy and the amazing randy Which is really great really great for the film That that's interesting. And so i'll put the question to you. What's it been like? Expected and or unexpected being followed around by these two for the last two years Yeah, no, uh, i'm i'm rather accustomed to this sort of thing I've had to be followed around by camera crews in in great britain and uh, and in BC australia, you know quite often So i'm rather accustomed to it, but these two fellows I gotta tell you I Trust them completely at first. I was a little leery. I wonder but they soon proved themselves to me and I have no doubts whatsoever, but they will show every bit of integrity in the way They're going to treat the the history of James randy slash the amazing randy and I have great confidence in the success of this film as well And i'm sure you'll all add to that by Buying copies of it or whatever you have to do I'm sure of that Oh, thank you. So, uh, I have great confidence. I have no doubts whatsoever So and I think it's a great time for this for this project actually, you know in the one hand Uh, you have to use Historical footage archival footage for he's been long retired from his performing career So we're going to show some of that now But on the other hand we're in a position to kind of look back right and see what's been accomplished I think if you You know, you could have made a film about him almost at any phase of his life and fill the film fill the book But now you kind of have a whole story, right? And that's I'm sure that's an ambitious story to even begin to try and tell Horribly ambitious, but beautifully ambitious and like george said it's a it's a wonder nobody has done this before It really is a wonder and I'm glad we are I don't know what we did in a past life to deserve it But we're very fortunate to be able to do it and just to kind of feel you and can you bring that card up the photo, please We um, we now have been working on the film. Is it up? We've been working on the film and there are so much there's so much from his life Not only now but in the past and the episodes and the magic and the escapes and the you know What's happening now and so we're trying to piece it all together and we're trying to figure out what to do And what not to do this last week we hold ourselves up in a cabin And we we had a cut and it's literally four hours long It's an assembly edit and it's four hours long And so we hold ourselves up with our editor and for a week We just hammered out these note cards and moved them around and fought and yelled and Screamed and tried to figure out what we can keep and what orders we want to tell of this film We we're blessed with uh and a wealth uh like an overabundance of riches and in fact It's going to be very difficult for us to Weedle it down to an hour and a half because he has lived such a rich life And there are so many great stories to tell not just the history His history as an escape artist as a magician as a skeptic and today But you know the actual the alpha project pop up, you know, there's just it could be a mini mini series You know in a way, I realize I mean we've been faced with this every year because every year for these conversations I've picked one topic one episode or one topic and you know, we did project alpha a couple of years ago and We couldn't to me to even try and cover that story in 45 minutes Was it was a challenge that you could do a whole film on the alpha project do a whole film on pop So speaking of this archival footage, you you've added together a few clips Of archival footage as far as the escape work, right? Yeah, this This is a little bit of I mean part of it is a historical biography Part of it is a contemporary story of randy's life and what's happening But this is a little bit of the uh kind of history of randy's life as an escape artist Real quick these are scenes from the film and they are rough scenes so The the the the music is scratched the picture is compressed The archival is really small so it'll be pixelated. This is not how the end product will be Please keep that in mind when you watch it Hoontini is a legend He was the first big novelty act to really become a star in vaudeville And he outshone everybody else there were imitators all over the world But they didn't come anywhere near them Well the thought naturally occurred to me that I could base a good deal of my life on harry hoontini and his adventures Perhaps do some of the things that he had done and perhaps even improve on them I wanted to break his records. I wanted to stay in a sealed metal coffin longer than he did I wanted to get out of a straight jacket faster than he did But I soon found out that was not quite the right approach. I should do something on my own My goal was to be James randy the amazing randy not an imitator of harry hoontini As an escape artist, I have broken out of straight jackets Out of chains out of leg arms and handcuffs There was nothing he couldn't get out of or make it at least seem like he was getting out of open sesame Oh Houdini's record of being buried in a coffin the clock is still going he has established a world's record In some cases 200 feet of rope wrapped up on a chair on stage You just hope that the theater doesn't catch fire because they're likely to leave you behind to fry But it's when some of the things like hanging over narga falls wrapped in a straight jacket at 20 below zero or something That gets your attention And that got my attention too That's a highlight reel that we could spend a day or make a whole film out of One quick ad we'll just pick an anecdote and one of my favorites Uh is the niagra escape Oh, yeah, and when you came down and they ostensibly put a microphone in front of you Yeah, well, first of all when they brought me down from the From the straight jacket hang you over at narga falls It was I think the 20th of january or something possibly the coldest 20th january in history And my beard was frozen to the black ski mask that they had pulled over my head I couldn't get the ski mask off for one thing. It was frozen in my breath. It congealed in the wool And uh or nylon perhaps. I don't know the budget was small, you know after all and uh, I had to rip this thing off Talk about pain. You have no idea. So I finally got out of the thing They brought me a big pan of warm water and I had to put my face down in the warm water and they were Trying to get all the ice out of my beard so I could be interviewed And I looked over the fellow's shoulder there and I saw a chinese family standing there now I have to go back a bit in time The night before they rcmp. They were a canada amount of police the the federal police in canada They had to cordon off all of narga falls the whole tourist area there At midnight the night before it got closed down. No one was allowed in. They had police cars parked everywhere I'm looking over in the morning and seeing a whole chinese family in Mao jackets yet Standing there two kids and their mother and father And I said there's some people here and fella turned around he said get them out of here get them out Now they had come down through the woods Which is an adventure greater than hanging over narga falls in your straight track In the middle of this blazing winter They had determined they were going to get on the scene and they got down there and I saw them chatting with one another And I started to laugh they said what are you laughing? I said I could just imagine now when these people go back to china They're going to start the story that you know, it's very interesting in narga falls Every january the 20th they take a guy out an old fella and they hang him over the falls and if he freezes solid It's going to be a long winter And and for all I know in china I've never heard the story having been to china several times since but I suspect someone's going to point to me in the street one day. That's the guy they hang over the falls That's great super superhuman And uh, so that well obviously I assume a substantial portion of the film will address some of these legendary stunts and scams project alpha For example and among them the peter pop off revelations. Yes Yes, of course and like he said alpha could be a whole film carlos hopes could be an entire film And pop off is one that I just absolutely love because behind the scenes of the pop-off debunking Is intrigue and suspense and men dressing up like women and men dressing up like cops and and Randy assembling a crack oceans 11 type team. So it's just full of intrigue and mystery and suspense And we're going to show you a clip right now from this Again, it is rough The just to give you a little backstory on this Peter pop off, of course was a faith healer who was belching people out of millions of dollars And there was a an event in houston and randy asked banacheck who was living in houston to go and investigate this particular tent revival roll number two three After a while, you know, I'm sitting there and after some of the emotion had died down and made pop-off said I need people to come down to collect money for him and basically had 15 buckets And I get this bucket and I'm supposed to go around the auditorium and collect money cash God is touching your nerves right now. God is touching your eyes. Just lift up your hands getting ready. Here it comes These people are throwing like five tens twenties because one of the things pop-off always tells them Whatever you give you will get back in ten four. So if you put a dollar in hey, you're gonna get 10 bucks You put a hundred bucks in Gonna get a lot more money back and these people truly believe this So I made three trips around filling my bucket up. This is 15 buckets and we're pouring the money And you know into this big thing for him. So he's walking off with all this cash from these people And as I get up close I happen to look and I notice in his ear that there's an earpiece There's no ear hole. It's a little piece of plastic in there and I come back to randy. I said, I think I know what's going on I said, what's up? He said he's wearing a hearing aid in his left ear Now a man who heals the death You wouldn't think would be wearing a hearing aid 16 27 10th street That's right So one day a randy called me and suggested that peter popoff was using a radio transmissions But they couldn't really figure out how it was done and they wanted to know if I could intercept it or detect it I had a friend luckily who was in the surveillance equipment business And he had access to a very high-tech anti-surveillance scanner Would record on a big floppy remember the old big floppy disks that would record on a floppy The frequencies that exist normally in that area sort of background noise and then I could Eliminate those when I go there for the event for the performance I would say ignore all those frequencies that are there normally and then I realized I also needed To be able to record what we heard not just detected and listen to it So I had to get another device a cassette recorder that I could hook into the scanner We knew that popoff had a big mass meeting a service as he called it happening in san francisco And we figured we'd better be there, but I was a little noticeable even in disguise. I didn't want to take a chance So I stayed away from the main action and I let alex handle the whole thing The day of the event I went there early And I was nervous And I checked and double checked all my equipment Had everything ready and then I had to take a deep breath get out of the car Pack up my stuff and walk towards the building like I belong there so It's terrific And what I really like about this is that we'll be able to get to see the story told by Multiple parties who were involved which which we don't often get to do when we discuss the popoff Affair a few years ago here on stage We we discussed it at great length and and showed a lot of the video Uh, but it's nice to have all the the parties involved in terms of the video Of course, this all leads up to the famous johnny karson reveal and when as we showed here at the time when Basically they run the tape first As it appears to the public he's doing all these mystifying readings giving people personal information where they live What's wrong with them? They have cataracts. It's not the other thing It's claiming it's the voice of god or the voice of spirit talking to him Uh, and then after showing that Randy briefly tells the story of the investigation. It says god is must be broadcasting at however many mega cycles And shows it now with the dubbed in voice that they tapped in on of popoff's wife Not only giving him the information but also in this Really degrading way to speak about the supplicants, right? Right, uh, which is appalling And of the many stories about this one that i'll ask you to briefly repeat is After that tape is shown Carson is is visibly disturbed and and he he he says it in a kind of moderate way He says well, that's disturbing to see but he's really Kind of shaken by this and that's because he didn't know What you were going to show and why did you just tell us that story? Well the day before when I went to his producer And described this to him. He reached for the phone. He said oh, we'll put this in tonight And he reached for the phone. I said wait don't tell johnny And he said oh, you know john doesn't like surprises and I said but think of the expression on his face He thought for a moment. He said okay, but it's on your head And it as it was it worked out very well But john didn't know what to expect He didn't know what the gimmick was that pop office you'd had used and he told me afterwards That he had always been puzzled about how pop off knew all this personal information and such but The thing worked out very very well And we literally put pop off onto business except the sad part is He's back in business now and doing just as well as he did way back then Incredible but true and he's got some new scam actually some some some Item that he's selling. Oh no, what miracle water and right right and miracle rice and all kinds of strange things like that And you put these felt insoles in your shoes And they've got scripture on them you see so that helps you a great deal Of course as you can imagine when you put your shoes on in the morning But he's got all kinds of gimmicks that he's selling like that And he's he's making money. He's making money hand over fist again Just the same way he was before we exposed him on Carson and I must say I'm very I'm not very enough very glad about Johnny Carson's not being with us any longer, but I'm glad that he never saw the fact That just a few years ago pop off declared something like one 1.1 million dollars more income than the year that we exposed him on the Carson show Right and Carson of course the Carson foundation being a long time supporters of the of the Randy foundation and still Yes, supportive of the foundation. Yeah, the john Carson foundation assist us greatly greatly with the TM AM meetings that we have and we're always grateful to John in absentia for helping us this way So I asked you what it's been like following this guy. Yes I asked you what it's been like following this guy around you said you could have answered it in very many ways So I'll ask at least one of you to throw me at least one anecdote of something Interesting or whatever that's come on. I'll tell you what I think is funny about Randy that we garnered is that His house is very clean and he He for Randy truth is truth, you know in time is truth I'm there probably some physicists out there who would argue with it But uh and he every clock in the house has to be set to us the exact second the exact minute And if it's not he'll get anxious about it and one day Randy and I were driving somewhere And he we drove past a community college and he just that clock that damn clock They they won't fix that clock. I've asked them I've wrote them three times and asked them to fix it And they they asked me to speak there and I told him I won't until he fixed the clock, you know, so He just I gotta tell you about that clock that heritage clock on the quarter It's it's 10 minutes slow It's a four-sided clock and the dial is the same and all but it's 10 minutes slow And I was asked to give a lecture there and I volunteered to do it because it was a community activity And I I went to see the the dean of this little college thing and I asked him about the clocks I said your clocks are 10 minutes slow. I said we do that purposely because there are very big penalties in this school for being late to school So we give them the advantage of the 10 minutes and I said, oh just like when they grow up and go into business They'll they'll get that advantage too, right? He didn't care for that very much So anyway gone again down to one so Well, that's great and that's wonderful and and the opportunity to see that kind of thing in the film I think will be delightful to see Who the guy really is on stage off stage backstage? uh, and that brings us to this that brings us to personal life real life the the the man behind the curtain and uh, michael schumer this morning Made a brief passing reference to some big news Well, uh, michael, I referred to it obliquely so to speak to be a gentleman and he always has been a gentleman certainly with me And with everyone else that I know of um, I I can take this opportunity ladies and gentlemen of confiding in you This ring is not just for decoration I I bundled myself off to washington dc About 10 days ago or so And my partner in life davie penya Is restricted in his travel right now? He had to be driven all the way from fort lauderdale to washington dc He met me there And we went into a little chapel sort of a thing there and we got married Thank you. Thank you so much Um, we did this for for legal reasons for one thing because uh, davie has some legal problems with the fact that That he is not here under proper circumstances, but hey after 27 years Of living with him. I I think I've learned a good deal about him and he about myself And we're very proud now to be married in at least washington dc And I hope that that's going to spread from state to state There are only 13 places in this country That you can actually get legally married and we chose the one that was closest to us And that's fantastic news just really fantastic thank you and thank you ladies and gentlemen So uh, and what we'll close on here is because the film is going to include information about real life and your personal life Is a beautiful little piece here you guys have put together and I think it speaks for itself Oh, okay, great Okay, so just let me know as soon as you Uh, leave the airport Okay Okay, bye. So they're waiting for luggage So Yeah, people find funny that it's going amazing But I like to call him amazing Where are you? Where are you now? What? Okay, but Did you just leave or? Oh really? Oh, okay. So you're close by Hey, I'm a bit tired, you know that Oh, so good to be back So good to be back amazing Good to be here after all that travel back amazing now. I got to show you something Yes, as you can see I got You came yes, oh Yes, and you've got to get the full effect of it now. Okay. Let me see. That's pretty awesome. Amazing Oh, this is given to me by chikato Oh, oh Nice. Oh, I remember this nice Nice What a pair And this one over here is mine. I think it's my favorite Cherry, which makes me look like the ferro Didn't you see didn't you see didn't you see it? So That's awesome, Randy. Yeah, I gotta get some silver Cane head probably sure I guess that's awesome. Yeah Are you tired? Yeah, I won't have any trouble nodding off No Not at all I just wanted to add one thing uh not to that clip specifically but we were We we did a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the film Thank you. Yes To anyone here who donated to help us make this film we we really really appreciate it And we're really really sorry that we haven't gotten the rewards out yet We've been sending some out but as Tyler said it's really the two of us and we have thousands and thousands of signed books and Coasters and amazing decks of cards that we are having manufactured and I just wanted to like both Thank you and apologize Because it has been in the works and we're you know working 24 hours to do everything just make the film and Get out the rewards and if you did not have the chance to contribute to the Kickstarter You can still contribute to the project So you go to an honest liar dot com an honest liar dot com if you leave out the and it's very convenient Then you get to my website, which is honest liar dot com And we might talk about that in the film, but it's an honest liar dot com Thanks to the both of you so much for doing this. I can't wait to see the film I'm sure everybody here feels the same way. Thanks so much James Randy. Thanks a lot