My latest project is finally complete! After a year of planning, I’m proud to announce the release of my new ultra-luxury deck of playing cards. Think Federer’s tennis racket, Baryshnikov’s dance slippers, Perlman’s violin. For a close-up magician like me, an essential tool of the trade is a good deck of cards—and none measured up. […]
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On Feb. 6, 1922, 27-year-old magician Dai Vernon broke this rule before the toughest of audiences: Harry Houdini. The bold gambit was one of the most storied events in the modern history of magic. Houdini, 47, was not only the world’s most famous magician but also its most famous debunker. He bragged he could figure out any illusion he saw three times, and he repeatedly proved second and third demonstrations unnecessary. Houdini had an enviable reputation as a card manipulator, and after diversifying into escape artistry, he had begun a third career exposing so-called “spirit mediums,” conjurers and seers. Some of the conjurers used elaborate setups, but Vernon challenged Houdini with nothing more than a blue-backed deck of Aristocrat playing cards. […]
I lost track of time at my dinner with David Berglas. So did he, apparently, as he shared wonderful stories of his lifetime of experiences in magic, and also several amazing card tricks. I had brought my own deck of Tally-ho cards, and David performed a rapid-fire series of think-a-card tricks, the likes of which […]
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