On This Day in Magic History: Texas Association of Magicians Turns 80

 Today marks an important anniversary in the history of American magic. On September 1, 1946, the Texas Association of Magicians officially came into existence at Herman Yerger’s lodge in Austin, Texas.

Now celebrating its 80th anniversary, TAOM has grown from a friendly Labor Day gathering into one of the country’s most enduring and respected magic organizations.

The Labor Day Picnic That Started It All

The story of TAOM began with Austin magician and druggist Herman Yerger. Along with his wife, Emilie, Yerger had performed magic in a traveling tent show, at carnivals, and inside vaudeville theaters. He was also a tightrope walker until a fall left him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair.

Despite that life-changing injury, Yerger remained dedicated to magic and the fellowship shared among magicians.

During World War II, Austin did not have its own formal magic club. Local performers were invited to attend meetings with magicians in San Antonio, with some of those gatherings also taking place in Austin.

Yerger eventually came up with the idea of holding an annual Labor Day weekend picnic for his magic friends. He purchased property near Austin and added a clubhouse, an outdoor stage, and a barbecue pit.

Invitations were sent to magicians throughout the area, and the first picnic was held in 1944.

A Magic Organization Is Born

The gatherings quickly became popular. By the second picnic in 1945, an impressive 169 people were in attendance.

Participants soon suggested transforming the annual picnic into a formal statewide organization for magicians. Yerger was reportedly hesitant at first, but he eventually supported the idea—especially after it was proposed that he serve as its first president.

According to TAOM’s first newsletter, the Texas Association of Magicians officially came into existence at Yerger’s lodge on September 1, 1946.

The organization’s second business session was called to order the following day at Austin’s Stephen F. Austin Hotel. In 1947, Fort Worth hosted the first convention promoted exclusively under the Texas Association of Magicians name.

Eight Decades of Texas Magic

Over the following decades, the TAOM convention traveled among major cities throughout Texas while maintaining its traditional place on Labor Day weekend.

The gathering eventually grew to attract more than 1,500 magicians, dealers, lecturers, performers, collectors, and magic enthusiasts. Its conventions have provided generations of performers with opportunities to learn, compete, share ideas, discover new magic, and form lifelong friendships.

What started as a picnic among a group of magic friends became an annual tradition that has helped preserve and strengthen the art of magic throughout Texas and beyond.

Herman Yerger could not have known how far his simple Labor Day gathering would go. Eighty years later, however, the fellowship he encouraged continues to bring the magic community together.

Happy 80th anniversary to the Texas Association of Magicians!

Dean Gunnarson Takes James Randi’s Place for Houdini’s Milk Can Escape

 In 1987, a young escape artist named Dean Gunnarson received the kind of opportunity that could either launch a career—or end in disaster.

Gunnarson was appearing on the television special The Search for Houdini, hosted by William Shatner. The program explored the life and legendary escapes of Harry Houdini, with magician and skeptic James “The Amazing” Randi scheduled to recreate Houdini’s famous Milk Can Escape.

However, when Randi was injured shortly before the performance, Gunnarson was unexpectedly asked to take his place.

This was not a routine Gunnarson had spent months rehearsing. According to accounts of the event, he had never performed the Milk Can Escape before and had only seen the apparatus for the first time the previous day. Nevertheless, he accepted the challenge and prepared to attempt one of the most recognizable—and dangerous-looking—escapes in magic history.

Recreating a Houdini Classic

Houdini introduced his original Milk Can Escape in 1908. During the stunt, he was handcuffed and lowered into an oversized metal milk can filled with water. The lid was secured with locks, leaving Houdini trapped inside and unable to breathe.

Advertisements for the escape famously warned audiences that “Failure Means a Drowning Death.”

For Gunnarson’s televised performance, his hands were secured before he climbed into the water-filled container. The lid was placed over the can and locked as the assembled crowd watched.

Once a curtain surrounded the apparatus, the waiting began.

The performance was especially tense because Gunnarson’s head start came only moments before the lid was closed. Without the ability to take another breath, every second inside the can mattered.

After a suspenseful wait, Gunnarson emerged safely, completing the escape and earning an enthusiastic response from the audience.

The Night That Changed Gunnarson’s Career

The special aired on October 31, 1987—the 61st anniversary of Houdini’s death. What began as an unexpected replacement appearance became a major turning point for Gunnarson.

The performance introduced him to an American television audience and helped launch an international career built around increasingly dangerous escapes. He would later escape while suspended 726 feet above Hoover Dam, perform over alligator-filled waters, free himself during a 13,500-foot airplane jump, and survive numerous buried-alive and underwater challenges.

Gunnarson’s story makes this footage particularly fascinating. Viewers are not simply watching another recreation of a Houdini escape. They are seeing a young performer step into a difficult situation at the last moment and deliver the performance that would help define the rest of his life.

More than three decades later, Dean Gunnarson remains closely associated with the dangerous art of escapology. However, it was this water-filled milk can, an injured James Randi, and an unexpected opportunity on The Search for Houdini that introduced him to audiences across the United States.

Jonathan Burns Serves Up Hilarious “Magic With Cheese” on Penn & Teller: Fool Us

 Magician and comedian Jonathan Burns proved that almost anything can become a magic prop—even individually wrapped slices of cheese.

During his appearance on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Burns walked onto the stage carrying a lunch box and announced that he planned to perform an original illusion called “Magic With Cheese.” What followed was a wonderfully strange combination of sleight of hand, comedy, and processed dairy products.

Burns began by removing several slices of cheese from the lunch box and inviting host Alyson Hannigan to join him. He then performed his own unusual version of the classic “Cards Across” plot, replacing the playing cards with slices of American cheese.

The premise was simple: Burns placed some of the cheese into Alyson’s hands while holding the remaining slices himself. Without apparently going near her, one slice mysteriously traveled from his packet to hers.

The magic was strong, but the routine’s real charm came from Burns’ commitment to the ridiculous premise. Every pun, facial expression, and awkward interaction helped transform a familiar piece of magic into something completely fresh.

Penn Jillette complimented the routine and explained that he and Teller frequently experiment with performing card tricks using objects other than playing cards. Despite all their brainstorming, however, they had never considered using cheese.

Burns did not receive a Fool Us trophy, but Penn described the performance as “absolutely fabulous.” More importantly, the routine became an audience favorite and demonstrated an important creative lesson for magicians: sometimes you don’t need to invent an entirely new trick—you simply need to find a new and entertaining way to present it.

Jonathan Burns has built his career by combining comedy, creativity, contortion, and audience interaction. His television appearances have included America’s Got Talent, The Late Show with David Letterman, and The Late Late Show with James Corden. He has also performed at hundreds of colleges and appeared at events around the world. Jonathan Burns’ official website

The “Magic With Cheese” performance originally aired during Season 4 of Penn & Teller: Fool Us on July 20, 2017. Years later, it remains a funny and memorable example of how an imaginative presentation can breathe new life into a classic magic plot.

Unboxing an 83-Year-Old Magician’s Collection — Box #1

 I just received a magic collection from an 83-year-old magician in Texas, and in this video we’re opening the box and discovering what’s inside together!

Many of the magic tricks and collectibles you see in this video will be available for sale at MagiciansMagicShop.com at great prices. 👉 Check back daily! New, used, vintage and hard-to-find magic is added to the shop regularly, and items from this collection will be listed as I go through everything. Some items are one-of-a-kind or only available in very limited quantities, so once they’re gone, they’re gone! 🎩 Visit MagiciansMagicShop.com and see what’s new!

Sylvester the Jester: The Magic World's Real-Life Cartoon

 There have been thousands of magicians who have pulled rabbits from hats, produced playing cards and made objects disappear.

Sylvester the Jester did something completely different.

He turned himself into a cartoon.

Daniel Sylvester Battagline, better known throughout the magic world as Sylvester the Jester, created one of the most original characters ever seen on a magic stage. Combining magic, comedy, mechanical inventions, artwork, sound effects and the physics-defying insanity of classic animation, Sylvester didn't simply perform magic tricks.

He attempted to bring a cartoon character to life.

The result was an act unlike almost anything else in magic.

Inspired by Doug Henning

Daniel Sylvester Battagline was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1961 and grew up in Berlin Center, Ohio.

His fascination with magic began when he was around 15 years old.

One of the pivotal moments came when the young Dan watched Doug Henning perform on television. Henning's colorful and joyful approach to magic helped ignite an obsession that would ultimately determine the direction of Battagline's life.

He began devouring the few magic books available in his school library and experimenting with effects of his own.

Even as a teenager, he was already performing. He won his high school's talent show twice and staged an hour-long benefit magic show to raise money for a neighborhood friend suffering from leukemia.

Magic had taken hold.

But Battagline wasn't destined to become a conventional magician.

Art, Theater and Magic Collide

Battagline went on to study Fine Art and Theater Arts at Youngstown State University.

That artistic training would become enormously important.

He wasn't simply interested in learning how existing magic tricks worked. He wanted to design, build, draw, engineer and invent.

After relocating to Los Angeles, Battagline became involved with the Magic Castle community and attracted the attention of some of magic's legendary figures.

Among them were Larry Jennings and Dai Vernon.

Battagline's creative approach to sleight of hand and magic methods earned him considerable respect among knowledgeable magicians.

But his biggest creation wasn't a single trick.

It was Sylvester.

Becoming a Real-Life Cartoon

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Battagline began developing an extraordinary stage character inspired by the cartoons he'd loved growing up.

What if a cartoon character could somehow step off the television screen and walk onto a theater stage?

Cartoon characters don't obey the normal laws of physics.

They get flattened.

They stretch.

They explode.

Their eyes pop out.

Smoke pours from their ears.

They can be electrocuted, decapitated or blown apart—and moments later they're perfectly fine.

Battagline set himself an almost impossible challenge:

Figure out how to do those things live.

Using his artistic ability, mechanical knowledge, magic techniques, costuming, acting and precisely timed sound effects, he created Sylvester the Jester: The Human Cartoon.

Suddenly audiences could watch a flesh-and-blood performer apparently behave like an animated character.

His eyes could bulge impossibly from his head.

His jaw could drop.

Smoke could pour from his ears.

Objects could appear from seemingly impossible places.

And Sylvester himself could endure the kind of ridiculous physical disasters normally possible only in animation.

The magic wasn't simply added to the character.

The magic made the character possible.

One of Magic's Great Inventors

Behind all the craziness was an exceptionally inventive magician.

Battagline created numerous original effects, props and techniques that became known throughout the magic community.

Perhaps the most famous is the Appearing 10-Foot Pole.

A performer apparently produces an absurdly long pole from nowhere—exactly the kind of impossible visual gag that belonged perfectly in Sylvester's cartoon universe.

He also created or developed effects and techniques including Makin' Sparks, The Volcano, the Appearing Sledgehammer, Appearing and Vanishing Baseball Bat, and his influential sleight-of-hand technique known as The Sylvester Pitch.

His creations demonstrated something important about Battagline's approach to magic.

He didn't merely ask:

"How can I perform this trick differently?"

He seemed to ask:

"What have I never seen anyone do before?"

Then he figured out how to do it.

Television and Las Vegas

Sylvester's originality eventually brought him international attention.

He appeared on television programs including NBC's World's Wildest Magic, ABC's Champions of Magic, the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, and Discovery Channel programming.

He also performed in Las Vegas, including appearances at Caesars Magical Empire, and worked with another famously unconventional comedy magician, The Amazing Johnathan.

International audiences embraced the character as well.

Sylvester toured extensively around the world, performing his unusual brand of visual magic and comedy for audiences in dozens of countries.

Because so much of the act relied upon visual comedy, exaggerated movement and sound effects, the character could cross language barriers in a way many traditional comedy acts couldn't.

A cartoon doesn't need much translation.

Winning the Golden Wand in Monte Carlo

One of the highlights of Sylvester's career came in 1998 at the Monte Carlo Magic Stars festival.

Performing before an audience that included Monaco's royal family, Sylvester received the prestigious Baguette d'Or — the Golden Wand.

The award was presented by Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.

He also received the event's audience or people's-choice honor.

For a performer whose act initially seemed almost too strange to categorize, it was significant recognition.

The magic world had caught up with Sylvester the Jester.

More Than a Performer

Battagline's creativity extended far beyond his own stage act.

He was an accomplished artist and designer who created artwork and visual material for other performers.

His work included designs associated with The Amazing Johnathan, John Carney and Kevin James.

Kevin James later remembered Battagline as a classically trained artist, magician, inventor, cartoonist, animator and storyteller.

Battagline could conceive an idea, draw it, engineer it, build it and then figure out how to turn it into entertainment.

That's an unusually broad combination of talents.

Recognition From the Magic Castle

Over the years, Sylvester received numerous nominations from the Academy of Magical Arts at Hollywood's Magic Castle, including recognition in stage, parlour, comedy and lecture categories.

Then, in 2023, the Academy of Magical Arts honored Sylvester the Jester with its Creative Fellowship.

It's difficult to imagine a more appropriate award.

Creativity was at the center of virtually everything he did.

Remembering Sylvester the Jester

Daniel Sylvester Battagline died in 2026, leaving behind one of the most unusual creative legacies in modern magic.

There will undoubtedly be other comedy magicians.

There will be other inventors.

There will be performers who combine magic with clowning, mime, theater and visual effects.

But there was only one Sylvester the Jester.

His career is also an important lesson for magicians.

It's easy to look at successful performers and ask:

"How can I do what they're doing?"

Sylvester's career suggests a much more interesting question:

“What can I do that nobody else is doing?”

Daniel Sylvester Battagline found his answer.

He became a cartoon.

And in doing so, Sylvester the Jester became one of the most original characters the magic world has ever seen.

What Does God Want For Christmas? by Duane Laflin – Gospel Magic Christmas Routine

Now available at www.magiciansmagicshop.com 

 Bring a meaningful message of faith to your Christmas magic program with What Does God Want For Christmas? by Duane Laflin.

This beautifully illustrated gospel magic routine was created especially for the Christmas season. Using a set of seven large, colorful picture cards, the magician takes the audience through a fun and engaging presentation centered around an important question:

What does God want for Christmas?

The cards feature familiar images including toys and other Christmas-gift ideas, building interest as the performer works toward the final message. The routine concludes with a powerful lesson designed to turn an entertaining magic presentation into a memorable Christian message.

This is an excellent addition to Christmas programs at churches, Sunday schools, Christian schools, children's ministries, family events, and gospel magic shows.

Includes:

• 7 beautifully illustrated cards
• Complete written instructions
• Instructional DVD
• Christmas-themed gospel presentation
• Created by Duane Laflin
• Original Laflin Magic product

Condition: Brand New / Unopened Old Stock

Duane Laflin is well known in the gospel magic community for creating routines that combine entertaining visual magic with clear, easy-to-understand Christian messages. What Does God Want For Christmas? is a particularly useful routine because it gives performers a ready-made seasonal piece that can become a featured part of a Christmas program.

A wonderful Christmas routine for the Christian magician or children's ministry performer!

On This Day in Magic History: Stanley Collins Was Born — August 31, 1881

 On August 31, 1881, a magician was born in London whose ideas would continue to find their way into the hands of magicians more than a century later.

His name was Stanley Martin Collins.

Collins may not be as familiar to the general public as Harry Houdini or Howard Thurston, but among serious students of magic—particularly card magicians—his contributions earned him an important place in magic history.

He was a performer, inventor, author and passionate collector of magic literature.

And there's a good chance you've encountered at least one of his ideas.

From Watching Magic to Performing It

Stanley Collins was born in Rotherhithe, London, England, on August 31, 1881.

Like so many future magicians, Collins became fascinated with the art after seeing other performers.

One particularly important influence was the legendary Chung Ling Soo.

Collins eventually began performing under the stage name “Loo Sing” around 1905 before establishing himself as a successful society conjurer.

But Collins wasn't simply interested in performing existing tricks.

He wanted to create them.

That desire would produce several ideas that became part of the larger vocabulary of magic.

Have You Ever Performed the Jumping Rubber Band?

Here's where Stanley Collins' influence becomes especially interesting.

Take an ordinary rubber band.

Place it around two fingers.

Close your hand.

Open it again—and suddenly the rubber band has apparently jumped to the other two fingers.

It's one of those wonderfully simple pieces of impromptu magic that generations of young magicians have learned.

Stanley Collins is credited with inventing the Jumping Rubber Band in 1911.

Think about that for a moment.

More than a century later, magicians are still performing a trick Collins created using an object that can be found in almost any home or office.

Sometimes the simplest magical ideas have the greatest longevity.

Collins' Aces Becomes a Card-Magic Classic

Collins was particularly innovative with playing cards.

His work with the four Aces led to what eventually became known simply as “Collins' Aces.”

In the routine, the four Aces apparently vanish under remarkably fair conditions.

The underlying concept proved so strong that generations of card magicians developed their own approaches and variations.

Collins' work attracted the attention of some of the greatest magicians of his era.

Legendary card magician Nate Leipzig reportedly described Collins' approach as the finest four-Ace trick in existence.

More than 100 years later, variations of Collins' Aces continue to be studied and performed.

That's a remarkable legacy for any magical creation.

Working Alongside Houdini

Collins also had an interesting connection to another magician whose name remains known around the world.

Harry Houdini.

In 1911, the Magicians' Club of London was established.

Houdini became its president.

Stanley Collins served as secretary.

The organization brought together prominent figures from the magic community during an extraordinary period in the history of the art.

For Collins, it was another indication of the position he had achieved within British magic.

An Inventor With an Unusual Mind

Cards weren't Collins' only area of experimentation.

He developed magical effects based on mechanical and hydraulic principles, constantly searching for unusual ways to create impossible-looking phenomena.

His creations included ideas involving cards, coins, rubber bands and larger pieces of apparatus.

Collins seemed particularly interested in approaching magical problems differently.

That's an important distinction.

Some magicians become remembered primarily for how beautifully they performed.

Others leave their mark through the ideas they give to future magicians.

Collins did both, but his creative thinking became an especially important part of his legacy.

Stanley Collins the Author

Fortunately, Collins didn't keep all of those ideas to himself.

He wrote extensively about magic.

His books included:

Original Magical Creations
Deceptive Conceptions in Magic
Collins' Card Conceits
A Conjuring Mélange

He also contributed material to one of the most famous books in the history of coin magic: J.B. Bobo's Modern Coin Magic.

Collins' articles appeared in numerous influential magic publications, including The Sphinx, The Jinx, Hugard's Magic Monthly, The Pentagram and The Linking Ring.

Through those writings, his ideas could travel much farther than Collins himself ever could.

A Collector Preserving Magic's Past

There was another side to Stanley Collins that deserves recognition.

He was an avid collector of rare and antique magic books.

That may sound like a small detail, but collectors have played an enormously important role in preserving the history of magic.

Long before information could be digitally archived, rare books, programs, correspondence and other materials could easily disappear when a magician died.

Collectors preserved those pieces of history.

Collins became known not only for creating new magic but also for appreciating and preserving the magic that had come before him.

It's a fitting combination:

Inventor and historian.

He looked backward while simultaneously pushing magic forward.

A Legacy That Still Jumps From Finger to Finger

Stanley Collins died on May 22, 1966, at the age of 84.

But his ideas didn't disappear with him.

Card magicians still discuss Collins' Aces.

Collectors still seek his books.

Students of magic history still encounter his name.

And somewhere today, there's probably a beginning magician putting a rubber band around two fingers, closing their hand and watching it mysteriously jump to the other side.

That magician may have absolutely no idea who Stanley Collins was.

But they're helping keep his magic alive.

On this day, August 31, we remember the birth of Stanley Collins—a magician whose clever ideas have survived for well over a century and continue to influence the art of magic today.