Con artist and “faith healer” Peter Popoff has been debunked by James Randi before:

Popoff is one of those guys who disappears for a little while after an incident like that — when he’s called out on his bullshit — and then comes right back to pick up where he left off. (There’s money to be had! Why leave for good?)

So when the folks at Centre for Inquiry Canada got 4 tickets from a secret source to an invite-only Popoff faith-healing Revival-o-Jesus, you knew they were going to be prepared:

Coached by Randi himself… we discussed the use of hidden cameras, how to maximize the effect of passing out critical thinking literature, and what to expect from Popoff supporters who would attemp to acquire information from the audience in advance of the show. Randi engaged with us for a half hour, during much of which he was somewhow simultaneously driving through the streets in rush hour.

The end result? It’s in this video:

While there’s no “smoking gun,” there are some despicable things seen on there, the least of which is Popoff asking each audience member to give him $1,000.

The worst moment in my mind occurs at the 5:42 mark when one man is turned away by Popoff’s people. Probably because he’s too sick to be “cured” and that would make for bad PR.



