The Pacific Coast Association of Magicians is an association of magicians. It was founded in 1933; [1] the first president was Lloyd E Jones. [2] It has chapters in Japan, Hawaii, California, and western Canada, and holds an annual convention. [1] The third of these, in 1935, was held at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood, and was attended by Bess Houdini, widow of Harry Houdini. [3] In 2018 the convention was held in Bakersfield, California. [1] [4]
From September 1936 to August 1937 the magazine Genii , published by William W. Larsen, was the official organ of the association. [5]
Harry Houdini was an American escape artist, illusionist, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician Robert-Houdin (1805–1871).
David Frederick Wingfield Verner, better known by his stage names Dai Vernon or The Professor, was a Canadian magician.
Milt Larsen was an American actor, writer, performer, lyricist, magician, businessman, speaker, and the creator of The Magic Castle, a private club for magicians and enthusiasts.
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.
The Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) is the oldest fraternal magic organization in the world. Its purpose is "to advance, elevate, and preserve magic as a performing art, to promote harmonious fellowship throughout the world of magic, and to maintain and improve ethical standards in the field of magic." To promote these endeavors the S.A.M. presents awards and fellowships in recognition of outstanding achievement in the Art of Magic.
International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) is an organization for both professional and amateur close-up and stage magicians, with approximately 15,000 members worldwide. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Missouri. There are over 300 local groups, called Rings, in more than 88 countries, largely concentrated in cities of the United States and Canada. The organization publishes a monthly periodical entitled The Linking Ring, which features tricks, coverage of shows and events in the magic community, and interviews with magicians.
A magic convention is a gathering of professional magicians, magical hobbyists, dealers, collectors of magical apparatus, books and ephemera, and other students of the art of magic. It provides a place for lectures of subjects related to the craft, as well as a series of sample performances of noted or innovative techniques. Many conventions also hold competitions to judge who excels at a particular style, and present awards in various categories such as sleight of hand, card tricks, mentalism, and stage illusions. The largest magic convention is The Blackpool Magician's Convention which is attended by over 3,500 magicians.
Dorothy Dietrich is an American stage magician and escapologist, best known for performing the bullet catch in her mouth and the first woman to perform a straitjacket escape while suspended hundreds of feet in the air from a burning rope. She was the first woman to gain prominence as an escape artist since the days of Houdini, breaking the glass ceiling for women in the field of escapes and magic.
The Hollywood Knickerbocker Apartments, formerly the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel, is a historic former hotel, now a retirement home, located at 1714 Ivar Avenue in Los Angeles, California.
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.
Kevin James is an American magician, known for creating several unique magical effects, such as the "Floating Rose" which is performed by David Copperfield.
Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine is a magazine devoted to magic and magicians. It is a monthly magazine first published in September 1936, currently edited by Richard J. Kaufman and owned by Randy Pitchford. The magazine is based in Washington, DC.
William Larsen Jr. was co-founder and president of the Academy of Magical Arts, better known as Hollywood’s Magic Castle, with his brother Milt Larsen and wife Irene Larsen. Born in Pasadena and a graduate of Occidental College, Larsen began his career in television at CBS, working his way up to associate producer of “Playhouse 90" and the Danny Kaye and Jonathan Winters variety shows. In 1953, after the death of his father, attorney and magician William W. Larsen Sr., he became editor and eventually publisher of Genii, The Conjurors Magazine, a publication for magicians founded by his parents in 1936. Larsen and his brother, Milt Larsen, realizing a dream of their father’s, founded the Magic Castle in 1963, a private dining and performance club for magicians that now has more than 5,000 members. Not long after the Magic Castle opened, Bill married Irene Larsen on November 10, 1963. Along with Milt Larsen, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Joe Berg (1903–1984) was a professional magician and magic dealer who lived and worked in Chicago, Illinois and Hollywood, California.
The Sphinx was a monthly magic magazine published in Chicago from March 1902 through March 1953 by William J. Hilliar.
The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in the world."
John A. Daniel (c.1931-2011) was magician and a collector and dealer of magician memorabilia, Baranger Motion machines, vintage electric trains, toys, antique carousels and other collectibles.
Lloyd E. Jones (1906-1984) was a magician, pharmacist, book dealer and publisher.
Bernard Morris Leon Ernst most well known as Bernard M. L. Ernst was an American lawyer, magician and associate of Harry Houdini.
Gerald Vincent Heaney was a stage magician and magic supplier from Berlin, Wisconsin, United States. "Heaney the Great" and his magic show toured North America for a number of years during the mid 1900s.
...and the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians, of which he was first president in 1933.