Tthese legendary magicians have influenced countless numberS of people around the world. Click on any links to find out more about your favorite magic legend.

Harry Houdini (1874 - 1926)

Born the son of a Hungarian rabbi in Budapest, Erich Weiss rose to become the most famous name in all of magic's history! He was first inspired by reading memoirs of the famous French Magician Robert-Houdin and by adding an "i" to his name, he became Houdini. He was most famous for his spectacular escapes but also worked hard exposing fake spirit mediums, acting and producing films, flying early airplanes, collecting rare magical books and much more! Even though he was approximately 5' 4" tall, Houdini was a giant in the entertainment industry as he took challenges from the police and audience to make good his freedom from a variety of constraints. His most famous escape was the Chinese Water Torture Chamber where he would be suspended upside down in a glass-fronted tank full of water. Despite popular belief he did not die in the Chamber. His appendix was ruptured by a punch from a visiting college student backstage at a show. He developed peritonitis soon afterwards and on October 31st 1926 at 1:30pm passed on to that great theater in the sky. His name lives on however as a true symbol of magic.

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Harry Blackstone (1885 - 1965)

Born Harry Bouton in Chicago in 1885, the Blackstone name endures as one of the biggest in magic and illusion. His show featured large illusions where his assistants were sawn in two pieces, levitated and vanished to draw in the crowds. But Blackstone also featured very skillful sleight-of-hand with playing cards and silk handkerchiefs. He was a charming man and showed it at his best with his Dancing Handkerchief routine. A borrowed handkerchief became alive dancing around the stage teasing Blackstone until it was returned to the astounded owner! In the 1950's Blackstone appeared in films and on the radio. He made appearances on the Tonight Show and with Jackie Gleason. In 1960 he was honored as the featured celebrity on This is Your Life. Blackstone died in 1965 in Hollywood, California and was buried in Colon, Michigan. The town's main street is named Blackstone Ave in memory of a man who truly was a master magician!

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Dai Vernon (1894 -1992)

David Frederick Wingfield Verner was born in Canada on June 11th 1894. He was fascinated by magic from a very early age and started giving shows while still at college at Ashbury in Ottawa.   He first moved to New York City in 1913 and earned his living by cutting silhouettes at Coney Island during the summer before returning to Canada to the Royal Military College. After a stint in the army he returned to NYC in 1917. His reputation grew and in 1924 he published a little book called 'Secrets'. Astonishingly this sold for $20, a huge sum for that day! In 1941 Vernon released another book called 'Select Secrets' and in the mid 40's he released more of his material to the Stars of Magic series. Although he performed on stage, most notably with his Harlequin act, he never really liked it. His true love was close-up magic especially with cards. He often quoted that his bible was a book called 'Expert At The Card Table' and, along with magic, he had a love of the techniques of Gambling cheats. In the 1950's Lewis Ganson wrote 'The Dai Vernon Book of Magic', which is often heralded as the greatest book on close-up magic ever published. Dai spent his later years at the Magic Castle in Hollywood where he gained the title The Professor. Many great magicians would travel to see him and he inspired them all. Max Holden wrote, "I consider Vernon the greatest man with a pack of cards of the present day."   Even today there are those who say he was the very best of the best!

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Al Flosso (1895- 1976)

Born Albert Levinson to poor parents on New York City's lower east side Al Flosso grew to be a legend in Magic. Of The Coney Island Fakir World famous entertainer Joseph Dunninger said, "If there is a better all round magician I have yet to discover him!" Although only 5' 2" tall Flosso became a giant to his audiences as he honed his act in the tough carnival world of Coney Island. Flosso was also a master Punch and Judy worker and can be seen in the movie 'A Night at The Opera' starring the Marx Brothers. In his later years Al owned Flosso's Magic Shop where all the greats of the day would gather. It became 'the' place to be seen in magic! Al was at home on any stage however big or small and in 1973 became Magician of the Year after an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. At his funeral Dr. Arnold Boston said, "From ten performances a day on the platforms of Luna Park and Dreamland to numerous appearances on national television, he never gave a bad show."

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Channing Pollock (1926 - 2006)

In the 1950's a young American magician appeared on the scene with immaculate card manipulations and dove productions taking the magic world be storm. Channing Pollock totally raised the bar and is still considered by many to be the best there ever was. He dressed formally and only smiled at the end of his act taking his magic very seriously indeed. He inspired magicians worldwide including master magician Lance Burton who now headlines in Las Vegas. His main career was as a film actor but it was as a magician that he truly became alive. He has the, perhaps unfortunate, distinction of being the most copied magician of all time.

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Horace Goldin (1879 - 1939)

Horace Goldin was famous for his very fast paced magic show. Lasting almost three hours it contained hundreds of magical effects! Goldin was born in Poland under the name Hyman Goldstein and grew to become one of the most important illusionists of all time. His signature illusion was Sawing a Lady in Half which was inspired by the invention of British illusionist P.T. Selbit but very different in effect and presentation. This illusion led to bitter rivalries and when other performers began to copy it, Goldin replaced it with a superior buzz-saw version. He published his autobiography 'It's Fun To Be Fooled' in 1937 and was the subject of 'Life, Dull It Ain't' by Val Andrews in 1983.

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Kalanag (1903 - 1963)

Born Helmut Schreiber, Kalanag (Indian for Black Snake) grew to be a very successful German film producer and musician with connections high in the Nazi regime. He was said to be one of Adolf Hitler's favorite musicians! Rumors flew that he used political pressure to steal his illusion show from Alois Kassner who shortly after vanished from magic and, while on tour in America in 1949 Kalanag often had his show boycotted because of these rumors. However Kalanag also helped release magician Jac Olten from a German POW camp in 1940 giving him props, bookings and his freedom. This enigmatic performer employed 80 people in his revue and traveled with 70 tons of props including the vanish of a full sized motorcar on a fully lit stage!

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Slydini (1901 - 1991)

Tony Slydini was born in Italy under the name Quintino Marucci. His father was a gifted amateur magician who encouraged him to practice sleight-of-hand magic from a very early age. At an early age he moved to Argentina and it was there that he developed his own unique style that was to make him famous. After working for a while in the Vaudeville circuit of South America he moved in 1930 to New York City where he found work in the carnivals and sideshows. At his first appearance at a magician's convention in New Orleans in 1945 he received a twenty minute standing ovation. "Slydini's magic is different," they said! With his charm, wit and extraordinary skill Slydini was a true magicians magician. Dick Cavett once asked Dai Vernon who could still fool him. "Nobody," the professor regretfully said then added, with a smile, "Of course, Tony can!"

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Howard Thurston (1869 - 1936)

Howard Franklin Thurston was born on July 20, 1869, in Columbus, Ohio. He first studied to be an evangelical minister, but when he attended one of Alexander Hermann's dazzling performances he was inspired to become a magician instead. He started out small, manipulating cards in dime museums and variety houses, and expanded his repertoire till he had designed one of the most elaborate magic shows in history. He took good advantage of the fame associated with being named Harry Kellar's successor, and established himself as a flashy, big-scale illusionist. One of his popular tricks was to make a Whippet automobile filled with beautiful women vanish. Another was to levitate an assistant above the stage and out over the footlights where she disappeared. Using fanciful posters, custom-minted coins and targeted dream interpretation books, Thurston was very successful at publicizing his stage shows. He also used scaling cards (playing cards printed with publicity photos and advertising) during his act; he would "scale," or throw, the cards to key members of the audience. Many of these advertising materials were kept as souvenirs and are preserved to this day, giving us an accurate chronicle of his career. Thurston's friends and fans knew him as a kind man. He organized free shows for orphans and for the elderly and sick; he visited hospitals and entertained patients; and he encouraged young, aspiring magicians who came to him for advice. On April 13, 1936, Thurston died in Miami, Florida.

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Geoffrey Buckingham (1902 - 1996)

Born at St Albans, Hertfordshire, on 2 July 1902, Geoffrey's magical education started when his father took him to Variety theatres where he witnessed all the famous performers of the day, and it was a copy of Lang Neil's After Dinner Sleights and Pocket Tricks purchased from Hamley's that set him on the course of his life's love of manipulation when he saw the illustration of Nelson Downs back-palming six half-dollars. Ralph Delvin took the young Buckingham under his wing and taught him the finer points of stagecraft and presentation, after which his magical career blossomed. He was now working semi-professionally with children's parties and Masonic dinners as well as appearing on Magic Circle Banquets and shows where his manipulations of cigarettes and thimbles won especial acclaim. In 1951, at the age of forty-nine, he won the Grand Prix at the FISM Congress in Paris, the culmination of successes in European competitive magic in the years immediately following World War II and a triumphant appearance at the first Combined S.A.M. and I.B.M. Convention in Chicago in 1950. With billiard balls, coins and thimbles he charmed and amazed audiences, while the book he published in 1952 explaining precisely how he achieved such masterpieces of manipulation bore a title that did not convince most magicians that It's Easier Than You Think. © Edwin A. Dawes (2002) Quoted from A Rich Cabinet of Magical Curiosities No. 279 The Magic Circular 96, 22-25.

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