Biography
Green began practicing magic at the age of 18. He competed at the 1988 FISM convention in The Hague, Netherlands, and was erroneously disqualified because the judges believed he had used stooges in his act to shuffle the cards. [5] In 1991, he performed the same act but insisted let the judges themselves shuffle the cards to prove that he wasn't using stooges. The judges then awarded him first place. [6]
Green has appeared on the fourth World's Greatest Magic television special. He lives in Gothenburg, Sweden, and lectures internationally.
He appeared at TED in February 2005, where he performed his signature card routine. [7] [8]
Privately, Green has worked 7 years as a doctor in Sweden. [9] In 2014 Green suffered a stroke that prevented him from performing lectures in the following months, but has since fully recovered. [10]
In late 2022, Swedish cardist Noel Heath released a deck of cards in collaboration with Lennart Green, Heath Backs Lennart Green ed. through his company Heath Cards.
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.
Richard Jay Potash, was an American stage magician, actor and writer. In a 1993 profile for The New Yorker, Mark Singer called Jay "perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to sleight of hand, he was known for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter. He also wrote extensively on magic and its history. His acting credits included the films The Prestige, The Spanish Prisoner, Mystery Men, Heist, Boogie Nights, Tomorrow Never Dies, Heartbreakers, State and Main, House of Games and Magnolia, and the HBO series Deadwood. In 2015 he was the subject of an episode of PBS's American Masters, the only magician ever profiled in the series.
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, Ricky Jay and René Lavand. 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.
A trick deck is a deck of playing cards that has been altered in some way to allow magicians to perform certain card tricks where sleight of hand would be too difficult or impractical.
Cardistry is the performance art of card flourishing. Unlike card magic, cardistry is meant to be visually impressive and appear very hard to execute.
David Frederick Wingfield Verner, better known by his stage names Dai Vernon or The Professor, was a Canadian magician.
Max Malini was a magician who at his peak performed for several US Presidents and at Buckingham Palace, receiving gifts from monarchs across Europe and Asia. Many magicians, such as Dai Vernon and Ricky Jay, have held him in high esteem for his skill and bold accomplishments.
A double lift is a sleight of hand maneuver used by magicians in card magic. It is a method by which the identity of the top card may be kept secret by lifting the top two cards as one, making it seem as if only the top card is picked up. Similar techniques may be applied to more than two cards to perform a triple or even quadruple lift. The term was coined by Theo Annemann.
This is a glossary of conjuring terms used by magicians.
Tom Stone is the stage name of Thomas Bengtsson, a Swedish magician, editor and author.
Lee Asher is a close-up magician noted for originating new card tricks and hypnotic sleight of hand moves. He is considered an expert in playing cards, and as a collector is especially known for his work with 52 Plus Joker, the American Playing Card Collectors Club, of which he is the serving President. He has served as a magic consultant for professional magicians such as Greg Frewin.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Michael Vincent is a British magician. He won The Magic Circle's Close-up Magician of the Year award three times.
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.
