Early years
Lee Asher was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as the older of two children. His father Mark Horowitz managed an optometric practice, but was a semi-professional magician who learned magic as a boy from Al Flosso and Lou Tannen in New York City in the 1960s.
He attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland until 1994, and in 1999 completed a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality (with an emphasis on Casino Administration) at the University of Nevada/Las Vegas. During these student years, he would often sneak into casinos like the Golden Nugget, and watch magician Michael Skinner, who would later influence his magic. He had a job doing magic demonstrations at the Magic Mansion, and from 1996 to 1997 worked at Caesars Magical Empire in Caesars Palace to perform card magic under the character title "Cardius Sharkus", working with world-famous magicians including Earl Nelson, Jeff McBride, Chappy Brazil, Joey Burton, Daryl, Michael Ammar, Jonathan Pendragon.
Magic career
Asher knew that he wanted to be a magician from an early age. His first magic gigs were wherever he could get a job on evenings and weekends, but his real passion came from inventing magic. At the young age of 15, he invented a technique titled 'The Asher Twist'. [4]
He earned first place as Junior Close-up Champion of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (1991 and 1992), and was a featured lecturer at the inaugural Session Convention, a British convention for close-up magicians, in 2006.
Since then, Lee has appeared multiple times on prime time television, on channels such as the Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, and 'The World's Greatest Magic on NBC, delivered lectures on magic around the world, and made guest appearances at magic camps [5] and magic podcasts. [6]
Asher has published extensively, including in magic industry magazines such as Trapdoor, Channel One, The Penumbra, The Magic Circle , Apocalypse, Labyrinth, and Genii Magazine . He is also part of CURIOSIDADES, a group of magicians formed by BJ Bueno to bring magic to Bueno's home country (Dominican Republic). [7]
The United States Playing Card Company is a large American producer and distributor of playing cards. It was established in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in its current incarnation in 1885. Its many brands include Bicycle, Bee, Tally-Ho, Champion, Congress, Aviator, Aristocrat, Mohawk, Maverick, KEM, Hoyle and Fournier. It also produces novelty and custom playing cards, and other playing card accessories such as poker chips. For decades the company was based in Norwood, Ohio, but as of 2009, the USPC is currently headquartered in the Cincinnati suburb of Erlanger, Kentucky.
Sleight of hand refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card flourishing and stealing. Because of its heavy use and practice by magicians, sleight of hand is often confused as a branch of magic; however, it is a separate genre of entertainment and many artists practice sleight of hand as an independent skill. Sleight of hand pioneers with worldwide acclaim include Dan and Dave, Ricky Jay, Derek DelGaudio, David Copperfield, Yann Frisch, Norbert Ferré, Dai Vernon, Cardini, Tony Slydini, Helder Guimarães and Tom Mullica.
John Scarne was an American magician and author who was particularly adept at playing card manipulation. He became known as an expert on cards and other games, and authored a number of popular books on cards, gambling, and related topics.
David Frederick Wingfield Verner, better known by his stage names Dai Vernon or The Professor, was a Canadian magician.
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.
John Carney is a professional sleight-of-hand artist, author and comic actor. He won various awards from the Academy of Magical Arts, including "stage magician of the year", "close-up magician of the year", and "parlour magician of the year". In 1988 and 1991, he won first and second place, respectively, in "micro magic" at the world Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques championships. Carney studied under sleight of hand magician Dai Vernon.
Naipes Heraclio Fournier S.A. is a playing card manufacturer based in Vitoria, Spain with a factory in Legutio. It has been owned by the United States Playing Card Company since 1986, which was acquired by Belgium–based Cartamundi in 2020.
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.
Daniel Sylvester Battagline, also known as Sylvester The Jester, is an American magician, best known for playing a cartoon character who comes to life. He has had hundreds of stage and television appearances, including NBC’s "World's Wildest Magic," ABC’s "Champions of Magic III", Jerry Lewis's Muscular Dystrophy Telethon and The Discovery Channel’s "More Science of Magic." He has performed in multiple Las Vegas shows including opening for The Amazing Johnathan, and appearing at Caesar’s Magical Empire. He also produces a series of magic products, and has been credited with creating the illustrations for various magic publications, such as the cover for The Amazing Johnathan's Every Trick in the Book, and the poster for John Carney's "Mr. Mysto" act. In 1996, he also created a prop for the television show, "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch." He has been featured on the cover of several magic and culture-related magazines, such as the September 1998 issue of Magic.
The Expert at the Card Table, is an extensive book on the art of sleight of hand published in 1902 by S. W. Erdnase, a pseudonymous author whose identity has remained a mystery for over a century. As a detailed manual of card sharps, the book is considered to be one of the most influential works on magic or conjuring with cards.
Daryl Easton, known professionally as Daryl and born Daryl Martinez, was an American magician based in Las Vegas. In his marketing he used the self-proclaimed title of "The Magician's Magician". Daryl usually went by his forename only.
Brother John Charles Hamman S.M. was a close-up magician and Marianist Brother. The tricks he invented are still an integral part of many close-up magician's repertoire. Hamman was world-renowned in the magic community. His initial interest in the art started as a child. As he recuperated from polio, he spent hours learning, practicing and inventing card tricks and other magic involving sleight-of-hand. In many cases, he "reinvented" classic maneuvers or streamlined them. He was a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the Catholic Magicians' Guild and the Society of American Magicians.
In 1970, the Jerry's Nugget Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada printed a special deck of cards that was not used in their casino, but was sold in their gift shop for fifty cents each. These decks have become highly desired by collectors due to their unique handling qualities, and almost fifty years later they now fetch upwards of $500 per deck on the second-hand market.
Shawn Farquhar is a Canadian magician and illusionist notable for his title as the "Grand Prix World Champion of Magic" from the International Federation of Magic Societies.
Mat Franco is an American magician best known for his personality driven, skill-based sleight of hand magic. He gained fame as the first magician to win America's Got Talent, in the show’s ninth season. Franco went on to produce and star in his own primetime TV specials on NBC, Mat Franco’s Got Magic. In 2015 he created and debuted his live stage show in Las Vegas, Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly, and he is currently headlining at The LINQ Hotel + Experience at the Mat Franco Theater. In addition to winning "Best Magic Show" at the Best of Vegas Awards, Franco's live production was the top-rated magic show in Las Vegas according to Billboard.com in 2021. Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly was awarded Best Show on the Las Vegas Strip again in 2022.
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.
Bruce Cervon was an American magician who was best known for his close-up magic, both through performance and invention. He published a series of books and helped to create a permanent record of the magic of Dai Vernon through The Vernon Chronicles, and Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks.
