Card manipulation is the branch of magic that deals with creating effects using sleight of hand techniques involving playing cards. Card manipulation is often used in magical performances, especially in close-up, parlor, and street magic. Some of the most recognized names in this field include Dai Vernon, Tony Slydini, Ed Marlo, S.W. Erdnase, Richard Turner, John Scarne, and Ricky Jay. Before becoming world-famous for his escapes, Houdini billed himself as "The King of Cards". Among the more well-known card tricks relying on card manipulation are Ambitious Card, and Three-card Monte, a common street hustle also known as Find the Lady.
Coin magic is the manipulating of coins to entertain audiences. Because coins are small, most coin tricks are considered close-up magic or table magic, as the audience must be close to the performer to see the effects. Though stage conjurers generally do not use coin effects, coin magic is sometimes performed onstage using large coins. In a different type of performance setting, a close-up coin magician will use a large video projector so the audience can see the magic on a big screen. Coin magic is generally considered harder to master than other close-up techniques such as card magic, as it requires great skill and grace to perform convincingly, and this requires much practice to acquire.
Michael Ammar is an American close-up magician. He is recognized worldwide as one of the greatest living magicians.
Jay Sankey is a Canadian close-up magician and a prolific creator of magic effects. He has been an active stage performer since the mid-1980s.
Harry Lorayne is an American magician and a memory-training specialist and writer who was called "The Yoda of Memory Training" and "The World's Foremost Memory-Training Specialist" by Time magazine. He is well known for his incredible memory demonstrations and has appeared on numerous television shows including 24 times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. His book The Memory Book was a New York Times bestseller. His card magic, especially his innovations in card sleights, is widely emulated by amateur and professional magicians.
Sven Lennart Green is a Swedish world champion close-up/card magician, a title which he won in 1991 at the FISM convention in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is known for his seemingly chaotic routines which, in spite of first appearances, display great skill. His original techniques and presentation style form an unorthodox and innovative contribution to sleight of hand magic.
Allan Ackerman is an American magician who specializes in sleight of hand magic with playing cards. He has written a series of books, and performed on several instructional DVDs that teach elementary sleight of hand all the way up through advanced card work. Ackerman has also been a professor of mathematics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and in addition to card magic, he also performs coin magic.
Ed Marlo (also known as Edward Marlo) (born in Chicago, Illinois, October 10, 1913 – November 7, 1991) was a magician who specialized in card magic. He referred to himself and others of his specialty as 'cardicians'.
Tony Slydini, simply known as Slydini, was a world-renowned magician. His mastery, expertise, originality and innovative approach to close-up artistry magic, earned him a legendary reputation in the magic world. He traveled the world performing for the public as well as performing and lecturing fellow magicians. As a result, he served as an inspiration to generations of well-known magicians, celebrities and entertainers, including Doug Henning, Dick Cavett, Bill Bixby, Ricky Jay, David Copperfield and countless others. Although he was best known as a master of close-up artistry, he continually demonstrated an extraordinary performing ability and during his lifetime was responsible for a long series of books, films and publications highlighting his mastery of the magical crafts. For his work, he received the highest honors that his profession could bestow, including both the coveted Masters Fellowship Award and Performing Fellowship Award from the Academy of Magical Arts. During his lifetime, Tony Slydini was inducted into the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame as a Living Legend.
Whit "Pop" Haydn is an American magician, and the winner of seven performing awards from the Academy of Magical Arts. He has been nominated by his fellow members for "Magician of the Year" in Close-Up, Parlor and Stage, Bar and Lecturer more than thirty times. In February 2006, he also became Vice-President of that organization, and served for four years in that capacity.
David Stone is a French actor, writer, lecturer, producer and magician specialized in close-up magic and coin magic.
Larry Jennings was an American magician, best known for his card techniques. He has nine books published by, or written about him. He is also known for being close friends with fellow magician Dai Vernon.
Close-up magic is magic performed in an intimate setting usually no more than 3 meters from one's audience and is usually performed while sitting at a table.
Danny Orleans is an American magician, one of the top trade-show performers, corporate entertainers, and magical educators in the country.
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It is to be distinguished from paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world.
Étienne Pradier is a French magician and is a member of the Magic Circle with Gold Star. He is a past winner of the Blackpool Magician's Club Close-up Magic Championships and was awarded third place in the Card Magic category in the FISM world championship.
Aldo Colombini was an Italian-born magician, lecturer, author and media producer. At the time of his death he was married to Rachel Colombini, also a magician. Rachel died circa 2018, after rumors of her death circulated on the internet in 2017. When he first moved to the United States in 1993, he spoke no English. He created and marketed hundreds of magic tricks, along with numerous books and instructional videos on the topic of magic. He wrote a long-running column for The Linking Ring magazine, entitled, "As Always, Aldo".
Daniel and David Buck are American sleight of hand practitioners known for their contributions to the art of cardistry.
The art form of card flourishing, commonly referred to as cardistry, grew out of simple flourishes used in close-up magic by magicians in the 1990s to early 2000s. Chris Kenner's notable two-handed Sybil cut from his 1992 publication Totally Out of Control has carried great influence and gave birth to a series of advanced flourishes which today represents the foundation of the performance art. Sleight of hand pioneers Dan and Dave Buck popularized cardistry on the world stage with their instructional DVD releases from 2004 and 2007. Journalist Kevin Pang of Vanity Fair characterized the art of card flourishing as, "It's yo-yo tricks performed by cardsharps with the street cred of a Parkour video. There's a name for it: cardistry."
Liang-Shun Lim, known professionally as Shin Lim, is a Canadian-American magician, recognized for his use of card manipulation and sleight of hand. He is known for elaborate close-up card magic routines, during which he remains silent with the tricks set to music. He is self-taught, having learned most of his skills from watching YouTube, and has in turn shared some of his own techniques in videos on the site.
