Biographies & History in Magic & Conjuring: page 2

This multi-part article starts with some historical perspectives and then is largely about the evils of gambling. However, it has a section on crooked play which is interesting for historical reasons. The topics covered in the section are:

• Reflectors
• The Longs and Shorts
• Convex and Concave Cards
• Pricked Cards
• The Bridge
• Skinning
• Shuffling or Weaving
• The Gradus, or Step
• Palming
• The Telegraph
• Dice and Dice Boxes
• Unequal Dice
• Loaded Dice
• Cogging, now called Securing
• Scratched Dice
• The Doctored Dice-Box
• Sauter La Coupe (the pass or shift)

1st edition 1837, PDF 73 pages.

A docu-drama (dramatized documentary) on the identity of the mystery author of a classic book on sleight-of-hand with cards.

The best magicians of the 21st century set out on a journey to search for the lost author of the most legendary book about the art of sleight of hand. S.W. Erdnase is the pseudonym of the man thought to be the most notorious card shark of the 19th century. His book The Expert at the Card Table is now considered the card conjurer's bible, making it compulsory reading for any magician. It took more than 30 years after its publication for the true value of the book to be appreciated. His true identity remains...

If he'd had a touch of larceny in him, he could have been the number one card sharp of all time. Instead, the author of these fabulous memoirs, born to a mother who considered gambling the "devil's tool," puts his extraordinary gifts to far different purpose.

He has used his incredible gambling sense, his miraculously dexterous fingers, his brilliant mathematical mind, his fascination with carnival and gambling life, to become America's number one authority on gambling and odds.

He was the greatest practitioner and analyst of card and dice sleight of hand. His artistry impressed FDR as...

This is a unique and beautiful ebook that chronicles the fascinating life of Paul Rosini and explains much of the exceptional magic he performed during his career.

Illustrated with rare photographs and beautiful illustrations, this entertaining book relates Rosini's rise to fame in American nightclubs in the 1930's until his untimely death in 1948. Rosini was a master magician and had no equal. His brilliant magic coupled with his sparkling sense of humor, and compelling personality, made him one of conjuring's highest paid entertainers!

In addition to Rosini's life story, detailed explanations...

The Amazing World of John Scarne holds revelations and experiences in gambling, magic, carnival and show business; together with startling disclosures about hypnotism, extra-sensory perception and other mental effects.

The once world's number one expert on gambling tells in this no-punches-pulled, startlingly frank book the whole inside story of gambling, and reveals all the dodges, gimmicks and tricks used by cheaters at dice, cards, roulette and other games of chance. His sensational revelations extend also to magic and escape tricks, to the chicaneries of carnivals and even to the blasting...

Wayne Dobson has had a life full of incredible highs and hard-to-bear lows, and in this candidly written ebook, he lays it all before you. The full story is here charting his meteoric rise to international fame and TV stardom in which, when he was at the height of his powers, he became a household name in the UK and was seen as a genuine alternative to Paul Daniels as a mainstream TV magician, right through to his valiant and uncomplaining struggle with MS. It's a tale of courage, is often very funny, and it is always fascinating.

As well as Wayne's life story this excellent ebook provides...

This is the story of an Austrian inventor, his patent, and his appliance to make objects and people invisible on demand.

In the 1930s the Austrian press was excited about the invention of "invisibility rays" by an Austrian inventor. The invention was licensed by the company Semperit (the largest car and bicycle tire manufacturer in Austria) and exhibited at a trade show where it became a sensation and was viewed by hundreds of thousands of visitors. During that trade show, the inventor made for the first time also people invisible. He applied and received a patent in Great Britain for his...

An informal history of gambling in America from the colonies to Canfield.

Inside flap:

If you want to break into the TV market you have to listen to this. Anthony Owen is currently the most successful TV magic producer in the UK and has worked on the Derren Brown shows, Monkey Magic, Dirty Tricks, The Real Hustle, and many more. And even if you are not trying to become a TV magic star you will hear a lot of great advice for anybody who wants to make a living with magic.

"I thought CDs were out as a way of learning about magic, but this one by Anthony Owen proves I was wrong. You just have to hear him speak to get the full inspirational effect of his amazing story. This is...

Way back in 2005, I began broadcasting a world-first: an hour dedicated to magic, live from London. At the time, I was presenting my breakfast show on commercial radio. Every Monday evening at 7pm GMT, the airwaves went live with Radio Magic. Each episode featured a ten-minute interview with a famous star of magic (see The Magic Interview Series ebook). As a spin-off from that year-long project, I recorded a few long-form interviews with magicians and these recordings became available as CDs: thus, the Magic Interview Series was born. Looking back, I was podcasting before podcasts! Now, for the first time ever, these...

Bob Gill has succeeded in producing a practical guide to the literature of magic for performers, students and librarians. This was, and still is, the only bibliography of performing magic in the English language to contain fully annotated entries evaluating the literature. It includes many rare and difficult to find publications, excluding material only of doubtful merit. It lists and describes over 1000 books and pamphlets on conjuring published up to 1975. Each book listed contains a description of contents and an assessment of value to performers, as well as bibliographical details.

The...

The only biography of the master magician and spy instructor John Mulholland including his work for the CIA.

"John Mulholland is surely one of the most fascinating personalities in magic history. For his work to advance conjuring as a recognized art, he deserves tremendous respect, and no serious student of magic will want to skip this book." - Michael Claxton, Magic Magazine, Feb 2009.

"I can even imagine him up in heaven huddling with Christopher, Houdini, Blackstone and Thurston as they discuss your biography. Their applause is loud enough to be heard on planet Earth." - Maurine Brooks Christopher

"I am an avid reader of books, all...

This is the audio-book version of The MagiCIAn: John Mulholland's Secret CIA Life. Listening time over 9 hours. The author, Ben Robinsion, reads the entire book. Additionally he also reads ten letters to and from Mulholland previously unpublished and not part of the book or ebook. Here is the first half of the first chapter:

"John Mulholland is surely one of the most fascinating personalities in magic history. For his work to advance conjuring as a recognized art, he deserves tremendous respect, and no serious student of magic will want to skip this book." - Michael Claxton, Magic Magazine, Feb 2009.

"I can even imagine...

Joe Karson, of course, invented the famous "Zombie" floating ball, but there was quite a bit more to Karson than just that.

The ebook is divided into two main sections; Karson's biography and Karson's creations (books, tricks and commentary). It has 29 photos, most not seen in many years. Besides extensive research in New England public records, several people who knew Karson were also interviewed, both magicians and laymen. Some of the well known magic personalities interviewed were; John Calvert, Jim Cellini, Ray & Ann Goulet, Jay Marshall, Sidney Radner, Nick Ruggiero, Les Smith, Tony Spina, Ben Stone, Parker...

Known as The Tabman, Tabby Crabb moved through the innercircles of Close up and comedy magic for two decades both with his skill at crafting magic accessories like the famous Tabman Tables, Casino Chips, Knife through Arm, fine hardwood magicians' Wands and much, much more and appearing onstage and backstage with Amazing Johnathan and Kozak the Magician. Additionally Tabman spent five years as the hotel shows director for The International Brotherhoond of Magicians.

This ebook tells the truth about many relationships in the magic field. Relationships with customers like Max Maven, Harry Anderson...

This ebook is a treat for any magic historian as well as for anybody who likes to learn more about the history of the cups and balls. A collection of 20 woodcuts, copper engravings and oil paintings from the 15th and 16th century depicting conjurers with cups and balls is described in great detail by Kurt Volkmann, the president of the German Magic Circle from 1952-1958.

For example, you will find the famous oil painting "The Juggler" by Hieronymus Bosch as well as an imitation and a very similar copper engraving. Read what we can learn from the various depictions of the cups and balls. One...

The authorized book of Rovi's life, philosophy, and magic. The first part deals with Rovi's life from birth, through military service and marriage all the way to his success in magic. A fascinating story with over 50 tricks including the much-requested "Cowboy Trick." Wonderful effects for a variety of skills. Many sleights are thoroughly explained and discussed, including Rovi's fabulous forces, pass, side slip, peek and top change. Many of these ideas appeared in print in this book for the first time.

Wonderful illustrations by Tony Dunn; produced and partly edited by Anthony Brahams.

1st edition 2000, The...

A silent film record of Dai Vernon's visit to Britain in 1958.

If you have only read about the Professor Dai Vernon but never seen him in real life, then here is your chance for a glimpse into what he was like. You will see him sightseeing and you will see him perform several of his feature routines such as the Symphony of the Rings, card production, color change, wand spin vanish and more.

• Portsmouth: H.M.S. Victory and Dicken's Birthplace
• Polo at Cowdrey Park
• Stratford-on-Avon
• Fellow Magicians
• Leipzig's Card Levitation
• Card Production
• The Symphony of the Rings
• Colour Change
• Wand spin Vanish
• Jumping Jack
• Charlie Miller's Diminishing Cards ...

"Mark is one of the truly interesting characters in the world of showbusiness. He has a brilliant yet wicked sense of humour, and is often misunderstood by his peers. As someone who has known him for much of his life, I consider him to be a man of incredible talent as both a performer and grafter [demonstrator]. He is extremely resourceful, and is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to magic and other branches of entertainment. His life is truly one of mystery and intrigue, and he is a wonderful raconteur as will be seen in the pages of this masterpiece. I would consider Mark to be a true showman, and...

This ebook presents an analytical review of works on card cheating that are written in English and published before 1900. Given this scope, The Reference Guide to Early Works on Card Cheating takes 151 publications, and documents the card cheating techniques that they describe. Only card techniques discussed in the context of cheating at card games are considered. The 146 defined techniques are used to evaluate the publications based on their breadth and their contribution to the literature. The breadth is indicated by the absolute number of techniques each work describes, and the contribution...

There are not many short biography compilations in magic and this one by Goldston is still one that is being consulted frequently. The most extensive one is by Bart Whaley (Who's Who in Magic) but while Whaley covers many more magicians he does not include portraits. Goldston includes many portraits of magicians and his biographical sketches can sometimes be much more extensive than in other such compilations. Goldston groups magicians as professionals, semi-professionals, and amateurs. He covers 90 professional magicians, 50 semi-professional magicians, and 69 amateurs.

1st edition 1934, 114 pages; PDF...

This is the long-awaited follow up to the first volume. It is a quality soft back publication, perfect bound. It contains a lot of information that arrived too late for inclusion in the first volume. We are grateful to all those who have helped us produce this set of books on the Remarkable Chan Canasta.

• Publisher's Introduction
• Further Discoveries by David Britland
• Chan Canasta article (reprinted from Magic Magazine)

The first volume can be found here: Chan Canasta: A Remarkable Man Volume 1

1st edition 2001, 45 pages.

Martin Breese recorded this interview on September 16th 1977, but never released it. He passed on the reels to me with the instruction to release them whenever I wish. Topper Martyn was an extraordinary showman, magician, juggler and musician. Learn about his life and the lessons he learned.

An ebook honoring those great women in magic, some from the past centuries. A world survey of "Those Beautiful Dames." Featuring among others Debbie Henning. Dan Waldron has a section on the Blackstone Saga, covering the magical life of Harry Senior, then the Blackstone, Jr. we know. Beautiful and talented women figured in both their lives, with Gay Blackstone a star in the Blackstone show. Marion Nicola writes of her show and life with the Great Nicola, Val Andrews covers many famous lady assistants. Carol Roy, Mrs. Electric releases the inside story of their adventures in odd parts of the...