According to The Washington Times, Brad Meltzer’s recently released novel The Escape Artist is his “best book in years.” In it, a military artist and a mortician unravel a grand conspiracy that leads back to Harry Houdini. Now, there’s no harm in fictionalizing the lives of celebrities, especially in a world where Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter exists, …

Wayne Shifflett is the current owner of the Mingus Magic Shop in Reading, PA. He learned a cups and balls routine from the previous owner, LeRoy Mingus, back on January 8, 1968. 50 years later, Shifflett has practiced and taught this same routine to so many other people that the trick has become synonymous with …

It’s rare that I get to put any of the stories here on GeniiOnline into a personal context, mostly on account of my personal context being “remains indoors at all times,” but my mum and I are actually regular viewers of Good Morning Britain. So, imagine my consternation when it turns I’d slept through an …

Magicians exist in that weird space between wonder and ennui. The audience reaps the benefits of magicians’ hard work as they experience moment after moment of amazement, but the job itself can be a thankless grind. A touring magician might be away from home as much as 200 days in a year, doing the same …

Chris Ramsay was in hot water recently, when a tutorial video he uploaded featured a trick created by another magician without credit or permission. While he’s since deleted the offending video, apologized for the oversight, and has decided to stop doing magic tutorial videos at all, it’s re-opened discussion on an important debate: are YouTube …

Note for Genii readers: the password is the same as for previous videos, but in all lower case. Not a Genii reader? Here’s how you can fix that.  We here at GeniiOnline have been faithful disciples of Steve Valentine over the past month, dutifully passing on his wisdom when it comes to pulling coins from bread …

Last month we reported on the sad passing of June Horowitz, the first woman to serve as president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. She was 104 years old.   Randy Vander Wal, the current president of IBM Ring 211, was on hand to witness one of Horowitz’ last tricks, one learned during a nigh century-long romance …

As you may have seen yesterday, March is the month of Magic on the Go here at GeniiOnline, but you may be wondering what the heck it is. Ok, it’s a service that gives you access to a bunch of videos and suchlike, but surely that’s only useful if your aim is to perform magic …

The Magic & Mystery School’s Magic and Meaning Conference is right around the corner and still accepting registrations for what is sure to be an enlightening and entertaining weekend of magic and instruction. Running from October 18-21 and held at the Sunset Station Hotel in Las Vegas, the Magic & Meaning Conference is a small, exclusive …

Johnny Thompson really does put the “great” in The Great Tomsoni. He’s performed under that moniker for many years, in addition to creating beloved magic tricks and acts, teaching magic, and mentoring some of the best in the business. Thompson took some time out of his current work, which includes producing Penn & Teller: Fool …