Its good to know the background of past professionals...All these texts were excerpts from an online source (Magic Directory). Just some information for new magicians. Have fun!
Edward Malkowski (Ed Marlo)
10th October 1913 - 7th November 1991
Anyone experience in magic, especially card magic, has come across the name of Ed Marlo once or twice. Marlo was so obsessed with card magic that he coined the term cardician. His first publication in 1938, Pasteboard Presto, served as a precursor to his forthcoming career. One of his most famous card sleights, the snap change, was used in David Blaine's Street Magic special. Marlo has written over sixty books, many wonderful manuscripts, and contributed to over 2000 tricks in the field of card magic. His 1953 book, The Cardician, is one of his most famous books describing his presentations, effects, sleights, and other closely guarded card secrets. His Revolutionary Card Technique series provides any card magician with everything that could ever be needed to perform his exquisite repertoire. It was reprinted with the help of Bill Malone and David Ben. He has also authored respected works on coin magic and dice stacking.
Marlo would take a deck of cards everywhere because he could "pick up a fresh deck for a nickel ad create a lot of magic with it." However, saying that he was obsessed wouldn't be enough.
One night on his birthday two magicians and their wives took Marlo and his wife to dinner. On the way to the hotel restaurant, one of the magicians in the car told Marlo about a new trick he had seen. Marlo quickly pulled the deck out of his pocket and began figuring out an explanation for it.
As everyone hopped out of the car in the parking garage, the driving magician handed his keys to the valet. As the group was walking into the hotel, one of the magicians suddenly stopped and asked: "Hey - where's Ed?"
The group frantically ran back to the garage to find the valet who had parked the car. "Excuse me - did you see the older gentleman who came with us?" The valet shook his head. "You mean the guy with the cards? Yeah - he's upstairs in the car. I left him in the back seat playing with his cards!"
The magicians ran up two parking floors and found the car. There was Ed Marlo sitting in the back seat with his cards. They painfully opened the door and cried, "What are you doing, Ed?!"
"Working on the twentieth method," was all he said.
Ed Marlo had a happy marriage to Muriel Meyer, his grade school sweetheart and the only woman he has ever dated. He was a proud husband, father, and grandfather. He was proficient at ping pong, baseball, and an excellent singer. He was an expert on western memorabilia at his time, and had a fascination with gunslingers. On one Chicago Magic-Land event, the show was outdone by Muriel performing the magic and Eddie singing.
David Kotkin (David Copperfield)
16th September 1956 -
Born September 16, 1956, young David Kotkin was performing professionally in his home town of Metuchen, New Jersey, at the age of twelve. Soon thereafter, he became the youngest person ever to be admitted to the Society of American Magicians. By sixteen, he was teaching magic at New York University.
Audiences around the world have hailed David Copperfield over as the greatest magician of our time. After years of successful network specials and extensive touring, more people than any other magician in history, including Houdini, have seen David Copperfield worldwide. His critically acclaimed Broadway show "Dreams & Nightmares" broke all box office records during it's run in New York City. Such international magazines as Vanity Fair, Esquire, Architectural Digest, Paris Match, and Germany's Bunte have graced their covers with his image and his story. His magic crosses cultural lines. Forbes magazine has increased his ranking from eighth to the sixth highest grossing entertainer in the world, ahead of Madonna, Kevin Costner, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
David Copperfield has elevated the art of magic to new heights, redefining this ancient art along the way. Where others think, "it can't be done," David's approach is "Yes it can!" Vanish the Statue of Liberty, Walk through the Great Wall of China, Soar through space with the greatest of ease, to David Copperfield, his passion for magic is everything. "The secret," says David, "is to consider nothing impossible, then start treating possibilities as probabilities. If I am in the impossible business, and I am, then I want to go beyond impossible."
He has broken the mold of the master magician: soft spoken, witty, engaging, and supremely entertaining. His modern approach to a very old art has transformed the way the world looks at magic. He celebrated feats and sense of theater have won The Magic of David Copperfield dozens of Emmys, and have led him to be twice named Entertainer of the Year. His tour has set countless box office records across Europe, North and South America and Asia. Recently, London's Madame Tussaud's honored David Copperfield with a flying likeness in wax. He is the only living magician to receive his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In France, the French government knighted him, receiving the Chevalier of Arts and Letters, the first ever for a magician.
Alex Elmsley
2nd March 1929 -
Born March 2, 1929, Alex Elmsley, a British magician and computer programmer, is most widely know to magicians for inventing the Ghost Count or Elmsley Count. Alex himself is a quaint old English gentleman with a voice slightly reminiscent of Boris Karloff. He walks you through performance and patter with a style that makes you feel comfortable and at ease, even though there is some serious magic happening beneath the scenes. Elmsley is one of few magicians to examine the properties of shuffling, which mathematicians such as Martin Gardner and Persi Diaconis have investigated. He has long been recognized as one of the most brilliant innovators of card and close-up magic. He has invented several sleights and hundreds of tricks.
He wrote three sets of lecture notes in the past. His first was "Low Cunning" (1957). He then revamped these notes with changes to content for the USA to "Low Cunning" (1959). His final set of notes was "Cardwork" (1975).
He also has two books "Collected Works of Alex Elmsley". His lecture notes are included in these books. In the contents over 200 original tricks are presented plus a never before printed essay on presentation, psychology, and misdirection. Some of the tricks include "Card To Pocket", mind reading effects, tricks with coins, and such classic tricks as between Your Palms "Puncture" and "Point of Departure" which has been a figure of mystery for decades. Between these covers a legend of magic comes to life
His video series "The Magic of Alex Elmsley: The Tahoe Sessions" features four videos of Alex and his magic. His legendary Torn And Restored Newspaper and Cups And Balls routines are here. There are also some card manipulations for vanishes, etc as well for the card players.
One of his tricks in his Dazzle Act or the Cardworks act, "Fate Datebook" was improved by Paul Green to become a self-working trick book to be performed by any magician.
Alex is still active in magic but not publishing. He did a few lectures last year at conventions and clubs. He meets weekly with Jack Avis & John Derris.