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.

Double Silk Load Genii Tube by Duane Laflin – Laflin Magic

Now available at www.magiciansmagicmagicshop.com 

 A fantastic piece of practical stage and parlor magic from Duane Laflin and Laflin Magic!

 
The Double Silk Load Genii Tube takes the classic Genii Tube principle and adds an extra surprise. The polished metal tube can be opened and displayed in a convincing manner to apparently show that there is nothing inside. Close the tube and suddenly produce a large quantity of silks, streamers, spring flowers, or other lightweight production items.
 
But you’re not finished!
 
After the first production, the tube can once again be displayed as apparently empty, closed, and used to make a second production. The double-load design gives you the opportunity to create a much larger and more impressive routine than with a standard Genii Tube.
 
According to the original instructions, this special version was made exclusively for Laflin Magic. It’s an easy-to-operate piece of apparatus that’s particularly well suited for stage shows, children’s shows, churches, schools, and family entertainment.
 
Condition: Excellent pre-owned condition. The polished metal tube shows only light signs of handling and looks extremely nice. Please see photos for exact condition.
 
Includes:
• Double Silk Load Genii Tube
• Original Duane Laflin instructions
• Original packaging
 
Please note: Production silks, streamers, flowers, etc. are not included unless specifically pictured.
 
A great opportunity to add an older Laflin Magic prop to your working collection—especially one complete with its original instructions.

Remembering Dr. Silkini: The King of the Midnight Spook Shows

 On this day in magic history, October 5, 1980, magician Jack Baker—better known to generations of thrill-seekers as Dr. Silkini—passed away.

His name may not be as familiar to today's general public as Houdini, Blackstone or Thurston, but during the golden age of America's traveling midnight ghost shows, Dr. Silkini was one of the biggest names in the business.

His legendary Asylum of Horrors combined magic, monsters, comedy, audience participation and good old-fashioned scares into an attraction designed to make an entire theater scream.

And when the lights went out, anything could happen.

Who Was Dr. Silkini?

Dr. Silkini was the stage character created by magician Jack Baker, who was born John Kessler around 1913 or 1914.

Baker's entrance into professional magic reportedly happened almost by accident.

While selling a trade publication in Minnesota, Baker learned that a magician called The Great Melroy had failed to appear for a scheduled performance. Baker knew some magic and volunteered to take his place.

It wasn't necessarily an auspicious debut.

Looking back on that first performance, Baker joked that while he thought he was terrific at the time, he was probably terrible.

Fortunately, he kept going.

Eventually Baker, his wife and his brother-by-adoption Wyman developed the show that would make him famous.

Dr. Silkini's Asylum of Horrors.

Welcome to the Asylum of Horrors

Beginning around the late 1930s, Asylum of Horrors became part of a fascinating form of American entertainment known as the Midnight Spook Show.

These weren't simply magic shows.

They were theatrical experiences combining illusions, horror, comedy, monsters, strange characters, fake séances, audience participation and frightening publicity.

And they usually began around midnight.

That late starting time was actually brilliant business. Movie theaters could host the shows after their normal evening screenings, turning hours when the theater would otherwise have been empty into another source of revenue.

Dr. Silkini became one of the masters of the format.

His show traveled throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe, bringing audiences into theaters with promises of ghosts, monsters and supernatural terror.

When the Theater Went Completely Dark

One of the defining features of the old ghost shows was something known as the blackout.

Every light in the theater would suddenly go out.

Not dim.

Not theatrical darkness where you could still make out the stage.

Dark.

Then the chaos started.

Ghosts and monsters could seemingly appear around the theater. Strange things might touch audience members. Screams would spread through the crowd.

Dr. Silkini had an especially devious way of taking advantage of the darkness.

The performers would threaten to throw live snakes into the audience.

Then the lights would go out.

Instead of snakes, a wet or damp rope could be thrown into the crowd.

Imagine sitting in total darkness after you've just been told snakes are loose in the theater—and suddenly something cold and wet lands across your lap.

The secret may have been simple.

The reaction certainly wasn't.

Frankenstein Joins the Show

Dr. Silkini's attraction also became famous for its monsters, particularly Frankenstein's Monster.

The character became an important part of Asylum of Horrors, and advertisements could make the show sound less like a traditional magic performance and more like a live horror movie.

That was part of Baker's genius.

He wasn't simply selling magic tricks.

He was selling an experience.

Audiences were promised something dangerous, frightening and completely different from an ordinary night at the movies.

Once inside, they received magic, comedy, monsters, audience participation and enough theatrical chaos to give them something to talk about afterward.

One of the Biggest Ghost Shows in America

Dr. Silkini's success became enormous.

At its height, Asylum of Horrors became one of the best-known and most financially successful midnight ghost-show attractions in the country.

The operation grew so large that Baker wasn't necessarily the Dr. Silkini audiences saw every night.

Multiple touring companies could be on the road simultaneously, allowing the attraction to appear in different theaters and cities under the Dr. Silkini name.

According to an article published by the Society of American Magicians, Baker eventually built seven different touring units, each capable of playing a different theater.

He even developed an advertising strategy in which one large advertisement could promote appearances at numerous theaters simultaneously—a technique sometimes called a “piggyback” ad.

This wasn't just a magician traveling around with a trunk full of tricks.

Dr. Silkini had become a brand.

Magic, Horror and Showmanship

The secret to Asylum of Horrors wasn't necessarily sophisticated magical technology.

It was showmanship.

Baker understood anticipation.

Tell an audience that something terrifying is about to happen.

Let their imaginations begin doing the work.

Turn off every light in the theater.

Then give them just enough sensory information to convince themselves that the impossible—or the horrifying—is happening around them.

It's a principle magicians still use today.

Sometimes what an audience imagines is more powerful than anything a performer could actually put onstage.

Dr. Silkini understood that extremely well.

The End of an Era

Baker eventually stepped away from the ghost-show business during the 1960s and became involved in film production and distribution.

But he wasn't finished with Dr. Silkini.

He revived Asylum of Horrors in the 1970s, bringing the attraction back for another generation.

On October 5, 1980, Jack Baker died after suffering a heart attack.

But even Baker's death didn't completely end Dr. Silkini.

The rights to the show were later acquired from Baker's widow, and versions of the Dr. Silkini ghost show continued to appear after his death.

The character had become bigger than the man who created him.

Remembering the King of the Midnight Spook Shows

The old midnight ghost shows have largely disappeared from American entertainment, but their influence is easy to recognize.

Modern haunted attractions, horror-themed magic shows, immersive theater and even the tradition of cult midnight movies share some of the same DNA.

And among the performers who helped define that strange mixture of magic, comedy and horror, Dr. Silkini remains one of the most important.

For decades, Jack Baker traveled from theater to theater convincing audiences that monsters were loose, spirits were appearing and snakes might suddenly be crawling through the seats.

The methods may have been tricks.

But for a few minutes inside a completely dark theater, the screams were very real.

On this day in magic history, we remember Jack Baker—Dr. Silkini—the King of the Midnight Spook Shows, who died October 5, 1980.

Adelaide Herrmann’s Lost Legacy Takes Center Stage Tonight in New York

 One of the most important women in the history of magic is returning to the spotlight tonight.

On October 5, 2026, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is hosting a special program devoted to legendary magician Adelaide Herrmann, once celebrated around the world as the “Queen of Magic.”

The event, titled “Memoirs of a Magic Queen: Restoring Adelaide Herrmann's Lost Legacy,” features magician, historian and author Margaret B. Steele, who has spent decades researching Herrmann's extraordinary life.

The program coincides with Steele's new book, Queen of Magic: The Wondrous, Unstoppable Adelaide Herrmann.

For students of magic history, it's another important step in restoring a magician whose fame once rivaled some of the biggest names of magic's Golden Age.

Who Was Adelaide Herrmann?

Born in 1853, Adelaide Herrmann became one of the most celebrated female magicians of her era.

She originally performed alongside her husband, legendary magician Alexander Herrmann, known around the world as Herrmann the Great.

Together they presented spectacular magic during an era when elaborate stage illusion shows were among the biggest forms of popular entertainment.

But Adelaide's story didn't end when her husband died.

It entered an entirely new chapter.

Widowed at 43, Adelaide stepped into the starring role herself.

Instead of disappearing from the stage or remaining someone's assistant, she became the headlining magician.

For approximately three more decades, audiences knew her as the Queen of Magic.

Bullet Catches, Cannonballs and Grand Illusions

Adelaide Herrmann wasn't presenting a timid magic act.

Her performances included spectacular illusions and dangerous feats.

Among the most famous was the Bullet Catch, one of the most notorious effects in the history of magic.

She also performed as a human cannonball and presented the large-scale illusions audiences expected from the great touring magic productions of the era.

Her career ultimately spanned nearly six decades.

And yet, as the generations passed, much of Adelaide's story faded from popular memory.

The Mystery of a Lost Memoir

Perhaps the most fascinating part of the story happened after her performing career.

Adelaide had been working to preserve the Herrmann legacy by writing her memoir.

She was reportedly close to completing it when she died in 1932 at the age of 78.

Then something extraordinary happened.

The manuscript disappeared.

For decades, the firsthand story of one of magic's most important performers was essentially lost.

Then, in 2010, the missing memoir resurfaced.

Its discovery helped spark renewed interest in Adelaide Herrmann and provided historians with an invaluable window into her life and the Golden Age of Magic.

Margaret Steele Helps Restore the Queen of Magic

Magician and historian Margaret B. Steele has spent approximately 25 years researching and collecting material connected to Herrmann.

Her new edition expands Adelaide's story with historical material including newspaper and magazine articles, correspondence, interviews and more than 100 rare images.

Tonight's presentation at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will go beyond simply discussing the book.

The program is scheduled to include an illustrated presentation, magic performances, rarely seen Herrmann memorabilia and a book signing.

It's fitting that an entertainer who once commanded enormous audiences is once again receiving attention more than 90 years after her death.

Giving Adelaide Herrmann Her Place in Magic History

Magic history is filled with performers whose names were once famous but slowly disappeared as generations changed.

Adelaide Herrmann deserves better.

She wasn't merely the wife of a famous magician.

She wasn't simply an assistant.

When circumstances forced her to decide what came next, she became the star.

She carried the Herrmann name forward, headlined her own performances and demonstrated that a woman could command the same stages and present the same spectacular magic traditionally associated with male illusionists.

Tonight's event isn't simply about remembering an old magician.

It's about restoring an important piece of magic history.

More than a century after audiences watched her perform seemingly impossible feats, Adelaide Herrmann—the Queen of Magic—is still finding her way back into the spotlight.

“The Disappearing Man” Brings Live Magic and a Magician’s Comeback Story to the Stage

 Magic and theatre have shared a stage for centuries, but an upcoming British production is taking that relationship in an interesting direction by placing a professional magician—and real live magic—at the center of a dramatic story.

The Disappearing Man, a new play by award-winning writer Kenny Emson, is preparing to premiere at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in England on October 15, 2026.

Produced by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and HighTide, the production combines family drama, comedy, theatrical storytelling and live magic performed onstage.

Meet Bazza Cadabra

At the center of the story is a wonderfully named magician: Bazza Cadabra.

Bazza was once a successful illusionist, but his best days appear to be behind him. Twenty years after his prime, he returns to Clacton-on-Sea determined to make one final comeback and prove that he still has what it takes to command an audience.

But getting back into the spotlight isn't his only challenge.

The story also explores Bazza's troubled relationship with his son and the family he left behind.

Throw in a flashy younger magician and a new manager, and Bazza finds himself fighting not only for his career but also for the relationships that disappeared while he was chasing success.

Real Magic Will Be Part of the Show

For magicians, one of the most interesting aspects of the production is that the magic isn't simply part of the storyline.

Audiences will actually see live magic performed during the play.

Actor Matt Bardock, known for television appearances including Casualty and A Touch of Frost, plays Bazza.

And he has apparently had quite a bit of magic to learn.

Bardock has revealed that the production includes card magic, flower productions, juggling and even a Bullet Catch sequence.

That means the show's creative team faces an interesting challenge: the magic needs to work as genuine theatrical magic while still serving the characters and story.

The production's illusion design is being handled by John Bulleid and Gareth Kalyan.

Magic as a Way to Tell a Bigger Story

While the production should contain plenty for magic fans to enjoy, The Disappearing Man isn't simply a magic show disguised as a play.

The creators describe it as a story about legacy, illusion and second chances.

Those themes fit the world of magic surprisingly well.

What happens when a performer's identity has been built around applause and suddenly the applause stops?

What happens when the next generation arrives?

And how much can someone sacrifice in pursuit of the spotlight before the price becomes too high?

For Bazza Cadabra, one last great illusion might be about far more than making something disappear.

It might be about figuring out whether some of the things that disappeared from his own life can still be brought back.

From Hornchurch to a UK Tour

The Disappearing Man will premiere at Queen's Theatre Hornchurch, where it runs from October 15 through October 31, 2026.

After its initial run, the production will tour the United Kingdom during November with scheduled stops in Blackpool, Guildford and Peterborough.

It's always interesting to see magic move outside the traditional magic-show format.

Here, audiences won't simply be watching a magician perform tricks.

They'll be watching a story about what it means to be a magician—the ambition, competition, sacrifice, aging, family relationships and irresistible desire to get back under the lights one more time.

For magic fans, The Disappearing Man could be one theatrical production worth keeping an eye on.

David Parr Fools Penn & Teller with a Trick Born from a Broken Leg

 Sometimes the best magic comes from the most unexpected circumstances.

When Chicago magician David Parr stepped onto the stage of Penn & Teller: Fool Us, he brought with him an original card routine, a small bell, and a goal shared by every magician who appears on the show: fool two of the most knowledgeable magicians in the world.

By the end of his performance, that's exactly what he did.

Parr appeared during Season 4 of Penn & Teller: Fool Us in the episode appropriately titled “Does This Trick Ring a Bell?” With host Alyson Hannigan joining him onstage, Parr presented a wonderfully theatrical card routine called “Follow the Leader.”

Rather than simply demonstrating a series of card moves, Parr turned the routine into a game.

Hannigan was instructed to watch carefully, wait for the sound of a bell, and then follow Parr's actions. What followed was a charming mixture of magic, comedy and increasingly impossible card transformations.

And the bell kept ringing.

A Routine Created During a Difficult Recovery

After the performance, Parr revealed that the trick had an unusual origin.

About a year before appearing on the show, Parr had been hit by a car outside an airport in Chicago. The impact broke his leg in two places and left him unable to walk or drive for approximately three months.

Rather than allow those months to go to waste, Parr gave himself a project.

He decided to focus his energy on developing one completely new piece of magic that he could perform once he recovered.

The routine Penn & Teller had just witnessed was the result of those three months of work.

It's a great example of how limitations can sometimes fuel creativity. Parr took a period when performing wasn't possible and turned it into an opportunity to create something new.

The result eventually landed him on one of magic's biggest television stages.

Penn & Teller Start Eliminating Methods

Then came the moment every Fool Us performer waits for.

Could Penn & Teller figure it out?

Penn began going through the possibilities.

There was no deck switch.

They didn't believe Parr was using marked cards.

They ruled out double-backed cards.

They ruled out double-faced cards.

Then Penn essentially admitted they had run out of ideas.

They had no idea how David Parr had done it.

That meant only one thing.

David Parr had officially fooled Penn & Teller.

The audience erupted as Parr was awarded the coveted Fool Us trophy and earned the opportunity to perform in Penn & Teller's Las Vegas show.

More Than a Clever Card Trick

What makes David Parr's performance so enjoyable isn't simply that the method fooled Penn & Teller.

It's the presentation.

Parr has long approached magic as a form of storytelling, and that philosophy is clearly visible here. Instead of presenting a technical card demonstration, he gives the audience something easy to understand: watch what happens, listen for the bell and follow the leader.

That simplicity makes the increasingly impossible moments even stronger.

It's also an important lesson for magicians.

A routine doesn't necessarily become memorable because it uses the most complicated method. Audiences remember moments, characters and stories.

Parr created all three.

Even the story behind the creation of the trick adds another layer to the performance. What began as a way to stay creative during months of recovery ultimately became the routine that fooled two of the most experienced magicians in the world.

David Parr Would Return to Fool Us

This wasn't the end of David Parr's relationship with the show.

Parr later returned to Penn & Teller: Fool Us in 2020, appearing alongside Jandro, Magical Katrina and Daniel Roy.

But his first appearance had already secured his place among the show's successful Foolers.

And Penn & Teller's reaction says almost everything you need to know about how deceptive the routine was.

After trying to eliminate the methods they thought Parr might have used, they were left without an explanation.

For a magician appearing on Fool Us, there probably aren't many sweeter words to hear.

Watch David Parr Fool Penn & Teller

Watch “Penn & Teller: Fool Us – David Parr Fools Penn & Teller” below and see if you can follow the cards more successfully than Penn & Teller did.

And perhaps the biggest lesson from the performance isn't the secret behind the trick at all.

David Parr took three months when he couldn't perform and used them to create.

That creation eventually took him all the way to Las Vegas—and earned him a Penn & Teller: Fool Us trophy.

Not bad for a trick that began while recovering from a broken leg.

Dorothy Dietrich Turns the Tables on Robert Klein in Classic TV Magic Appearance

Long before seeing a woman headline a major magic performance became more common, Dorothy Dietrich was already challenging expectations about what a magician was supposed to look like—and who was supposed to be inside the box.

A classic television clip featuring Dietrich alongside comedian Robert Klein offers a great look back at that groundbreaking period in her career.

Appearing on Robert Klein Time, Dietrich takes one of magic's most recognizable illusions and turns the traditional roles upside down. Instead of appearing as the magician's glamorous assistant waiting to be divided into pieces, Dietrich takes command of the illusion while Klein becomes the one placed in jeopardy.

She saws Robert Klein in half.

It's funny television, but there's also something historically significant happening beneath the comedy.

Turning a Magic Tradition Upside Down

For generations, the "Sawing a Woman in Half" illusion had been one of the defining images of stage magic. The magician was typically a man, while a woman served as the assistant placed inside the apparatus.

Dietrich intentionally reversed that image.

She became known for putting men into the box instead, including celebrity volunteers such as Klein. It was part of a career in which Dietrich repeatedly refused to accept that women in magic belonged exclusively in the assistant's role.

Her appearance with Klein demonstrates how effectively she could make that point without turning the performance into a lecture. The audience simply sees a confident magician controlling the stage while the male television host suddenly finds himself playing the role traditionally given to a woman.

And Dietrich clearly has fun with it.

At one point she jokes to Klein:

"Just think how famous I'll become if this doesn't work."

It's exactly the kind of line that makes the routine work on television—the danger is played for laughs while Dietrich remains firmly in control.

Dorothy Dietrich's Place in Magic History

The Robert Klein appearance represents only one chapter in a remarkable career.

Dietrich became one of the most prominent female magicians and escape artists of her generation, appearing on numerous television programs and specials. She developed an act incorporating stage magic, illusions, escapes and animals, while establishing herself as the star rather than someone's assistant.

Her accomplishments eventually went far beyond sawing men in half.

Dietrich became famous for performing dangerous escapes and was the first woman to successfully perform the Bullet Catch, one of magic's most notorious and dangerous feats.

She also performed an upside-down straitjacket escape while suspended high in the air from a burning rope—continuing a tradition associated with Harry Houdini while establishing an identity entirely her own.

Her connection to Houdini eventually became another major part of her life's work. Along with fellow magician Dick Brookz, Dietrich became closely involved with preserving Houdini's history and operates the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

More Than Just a Funny Television Clip

Watching vintage magic performances can sometimes reveal much more than the trick itself.

This Dorothy Dietrich appearance is a perfect example.

On the surface, it's an entertaining segment featuring a magician, a comedian and a classic illusion.

But viewed decades later, it also captures a magician quietly breaking one of the longstanding stereotypes of the profession.

Dietrich didn't walk onto the stage as Robert Klein's assistant.

Robert Klein became hers.

That simple reversal helped make an important statement: a woman didn't have to be the person getting into the box.

She could be the magician running the show.

And Dorothy Dietrich certainly was.

Watch Dorothy Dietrich and Robert Klein

Check out the vintage clip below to see Dorothy Dietrich turn the tables on Robert Klein and perform this classic piece of television magic.

Watch: “Dorothy Dietrich on Klein and Out”

For students of magic history, clips like this are worth preserving. They don't just show us how magic was performed on television—they remind us of the performers who helped change what audiences expected a magician to be.