Eugene Burger on The Best of Magic: A 1989 Lesson in Close-Up Showmanship

 Eugene Burger could turn a handful of simple props into an encounter audiences remembered. His appearance on The Best of Magic offers a look at that gift, bringing his humor and close-up magic to hosts Anthea Turner and Simon Mayo. According to the MagicWeek Video Archive, the performance originally aired on September 20, 1989.

Burger begins by answering a familiar question: does he hide things in his beard? The playful opening leads into a red sponge-ball routine, complete with his miniature version of “sawing a red ball in half.” Soon, the hosts are involved in a counting game where the answers become increasingly unreliable and the surprises build inside a participant’s closed hand.

He follows with a signed-card mystery. Turner selects a card, writes her name on it, and returns it to the deck. After further mixing, Burger places the deck on an empty glass. The routine concludes with the revelation of her five of hearts, still bearing her name.

For this writer, the appeal is in how naturally the magic grows out of the conversation. The jokes establish a relationship with the hosts, while their participation gives each surprise a personal stake.

That attention to the experience of magic was central to Burger’s career. Born in 1939, the Chicago magician became an internationally respected performer, author, and teacher. A graduate of Yale University’s Divinity School, he brought an interest in philosophy and human experience to his work and served as dean of Jeff McBride’s Magic & Mystery School in Las Vegas.

His writing also gave performers a way to examine their own work. His books include The Performance of Close-Up Magic, published in 1987, and The Experience of Magic, published in 1989—the same year as this television appearance.

In a 2001 interview, Burger explained that his work had always included a playful side. He also emphasized that learning to perform magic involved much more than understanding how tricks worked. The artistic principles he described were choices for his own performances, with room for other magicians to develop different approaches.

That perspective gives today’s performers a useful reason to revisit this clip. It invites a question about their own routines: how do the words, the personality, and the audience’s involvement help create the magical experience?

Burger died on August 8, 2017, but his performances and teaching continue to offer material for study. This 1989 appearance preserves the humor, participation, and carefully structured surprises that made his close-up work memorable.