I met Randy with Michael Shermer of Skeptics in the 1980s. They were working with my Lorimar TV executive wife to produce a Skeptic program. TV watching people generally prefer their illusions, however, and we could not sell it to a network.
I remember seeing a great film Randy did on the Philippine "bloodless surgery" healers. They looked to be miraculously removing cancerous tissue from a patient's abdomen without leaving a wound or scar. They just palmed chicken gizzards and a little blood, and made it seem real. The Randi video may well have been what ended the craze.
A few years ago, Shermer and Randi were planning a fire walking Skeptic event. After they looked at the price of liability insurance, it was canceled. I was disappointed as I would have walked the coals along with the rest.
I admire Randi's fine work in exposing academic rationalizing---such as the way he exposed how "psychics" duped Duke University researchers. I even include reference to it in my book, "Destiny and Civilization: the Evolutionary Explanation of Religion and History," (Authorhouse publishing) page 305.
charles