In my late teens, coming out of a strongly evangelical family that had decided which direction I was certainly going after this life, certain people and themes were important to me. One of them was James Randi and the skeptical movement.

I've been behind on the whole YouTube thing, but these two clips bring back some strong memories, and are fascinating.

Peter Popoff
Popoff was a very popular traveling preacher who was famous for his faith healing, and for his mysterious ability to know all about everyone in the audience. Watch this clip for a fascinating insight...and one of the few times when a fake was exposed in such a way that it actually put him out of business.

Uri Geller
Uri Geller wasn't put out of business (until Michael Jackson's recent anti-semitic outbursts, Geller was working for him). He had an amazing ability to use some dumb magic tricks (is anything dumber than bending a spoon?) to get an international reputation. People probably don't remember him much today, but he really was a big deal and thanks to him much dangerous quackery lives on today. Watch this clip to see how he worked, and what happened when he went on the Tonight Show but they were prepared for him...