Card magic is the branch of conjuring that deals with creating magical effects using a deck of playing cards. Card magic is commonplace in magical performances, especially in close up magic or parlor magic and street magic. Some of the most recognized names in this field include John Scarne, Juan Tamariz, and Allan Ackerman. Before becoming world famous for his escapes, Houdini billed himself as "The King of Cards".
Playing cards became popular with magicians in the last century or so as they were props which were inexpensive, versatile, and easily available. Although magicians have created and presented myriad illusions with cards (sometimes referred to as card tricks), most of these illusions are generally considered to be built upon perhaps one hundred or so basic principles and techniques. Presentation and context (including patter, the conjurer's misleading account of what he is doing) account for many of the variations.
Card magic, in one form or another, likely dates from the time playing cards became commonly known, towards the second half of the fourteenth century, but its history in this period is largely undocumented. Compared to sleight of hand magic in general and to cups and balls, it is a relatively new form of magic. However, due to its versatility as a prop it has become very popular amongst modern magicians.
Eduardo Hughes Galeano (born September 3, 1940) is a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist. His best known works are Memoria del fuego (Memory of Fire Trilogy, 1986) and Las venas abiertas de América Latina (Open Veins of Latin America, 1971) which have been translated into twenty languages and transcend orthodox genres: combining fiction, journalism, political analysis, and history. The author himself has proclaimed his obsession as a writer saying, "I'm a writer obsessed with remembering, with remembering the past of America above all and above all that of Latin America, intimate land condemned to amnesia."
Galeano was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to a middle class Catholic family of European descent (Italian, Spanish, German and British descent). Like many young Latin American boys, Galeano dreamed of becoming a football (soccer) player; this desire was reflected in some of his works, such as El Fútbol A Sol Y Sombra (Football In Sun and Shadow). In his teens, Galeano worked odd jobs — as a factory worker, a bill collector, a sign painter, a messenger, a typist, and a bank teller. At 14 years, Galeano sold his first political cartoon to the Socialist Party weekly, El Sol and married for the first time in 1959. He started his career as a journalist in the early 1960s as editor of Marcha, an influential weekly journal which had such contributors as Mario Vargas Llosa, Mario Benedetti, Manuel Maldonado Denis and Roberto Fernández Retamar. For two years he edited the daily Época and worked as editor-in-chief of the University Press. In 1962, having divorced, he remarried to Graciela Berro.
Richard Jay Potash (born 1948), better known by the stage name Ricky Jay, is an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is a sleight-of-hand expert and is notable for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.
Jay was born in Brooklyn, New York to a middle class Jewish family. His grandfather, Max Katz, was a well-to-do certified public accountant and amateur magician who introduced Jay to the profession.
At least three of his one-man shows, Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, On the Stem, and A Rogue's Gallery were directed by David Mamet, who has also cast Jay in a number of his films. Jay has appeared in productions by other directors, notably Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, and Magnolia, as well as Christopher Nolan's The Prestige.
A collector and historian of note, he was a student and firm friend of the legendary Dai Vernon, who Jay states was: "the greatest living contributor to the magical art". An avid collector of rare books (he has spent over five thousand dollars on single books alone) and manuscripts, art, and other artifacts connected to the history of magic, gambling, unusual entertainments, and frauds and confidence games, he is also opposed to any public revelations of the techniques of magic.
Angela Funovits (born on July 29, 1987) is an American Magician, Mentalist and medical student. She is best known in the US for her performances on NBC’s Phenomenon.
Funovits was born and raised in Avon Lake, Ohio. She became interested in magic at the age of 10 after watching Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed, a TV program on the Fox network that revealed the secrets of magicians. Funovits began modeling at age 11 and won the Miss Teen Cleveland pageant at age 16. She graduated from Avon Lake High School in 2005 and entered the combined B.S./M.D. program at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM), later forming a program where magicians teach magic tricks to children at a cancer support center in Cleveland.
In October and November 2007, Funovits was the only female of ten mentalist contestants on the primetime NBC series Phenomenon, which was hosted by Tim Vincent and judged by Criss Angel and Uri Geller. She finished as first runner-up on the series, after performing dangerous demonstrations of mentalism involving chain saws, knives, and fire. Funovits represented the USA in the live German TV special “Die besten Mentalisten der Welt” on ProSieben. The special was an addition to the German series “The Next Uri Geller - Unglaubliche Phänomene live”. It featured Funovits (USA), Vincent Raven (Germany), Aaron Crow (Netherlands), and Lior Suchard (Israel). Funovits has also starred in W-1, a Japanese TV special on the Fuji Television Network alongside Japanese magician Mr. Maric.
Jeff McBride (also known as Magnus; born September 11, 1959) is an American magician from Monticello, New York. He is known for his sleight of hand skills and specializes in the manipulation of playing cards, coins, and other small objects. His stage performances blend elements of kabuki, a Japanese theater form, with traditional conjuring. In addition, he is noted for his contributions to Bizarre magic.
McBride is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He established the "McBride Magic and Mystery School" to teach the art of stage magic. McBride's Magic & Mystery School is world renowned and is recognized as the foremost magical teaching institution available today[citation needed]. Eugene Burger is the Dean of the School. Guest faculty have included Teller, Lance Burton, Johnny Thompson and other magicians from all over the world. Magnus was a star performer for years in Caesars Palace's Magical Empire[citation needed]. He created and performed at the World Magic Festival at Brushwood Folklore Center in Sherman, New York in 1993 and 1994. He performs worldwide, and has produced several instructional books and videos on the subjects of coin and card manipulation, and has presented lectures on magic and theater for such groups as the Smithsonian Institution, the Society of American Magicians, and the International Brotherhood of Magicians.