Kaufman in 2017 | |
Born | May 16, 1958 (age 60) New York City, United States |
---|---|
Occupation | Writer, illustrator, publisher, magician |
Alma mater | Queen's UniversityNew York University |
Genre | Magic |
Website | |
richardkaufman.com |
Richard J. Kaufman (born May 16, 1958) is an author, publisher, illustrator, and editor of books and magazines in the field of magic.
Richard Kaufman was born in 1958 in New York City. He became interested in magic at age 5 after his uncle sent him some novelties from the S.S. Adams Company. His father, Lewis C. Kaufman, encouraged his interest by purchasing tricks at a magic shop, learning them, and demonstrating them to his son.[1]
By the age of 14, Kaufman was inventing magic effects and he illustrated his first book at age 16.[citation needed] He attended Queens College, and then New York University, graduating in 1981 with a double-major in both English and Acting.[citation needed]
Kaufman illustrated many other books in the field through 1991, popularizing a style of cartoon-movement into technical magic illustration. He also began writing magic books, starting with the Interlocked Production of Coins in 1977. He self-published his first two books, then sought a partner for the financing required to publish larger books. Alan C. Greenberg, CEO of Bear Stearns, also a highly respected amateur magician, brought the financing that Kaufman required and the company Kaufman and Greenberg was born.
In 1998, Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine was purchased by Kaufman, his wife Elizabeth, and partners Jane and Daniel Solomon. Kaufman became editor in chief and president of The Genii Corporation and the magazine continues its publication, now in both printed and digital formats. Genii also operates The Genii Forum[2] an internet discussion group and MagicPedia,[3] an online encyclopedia of magic. The magazine was sold to Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software in July 2017. Richard and Elizabeth Kaufman continue as Editor and Art Director.[citation needed]
Find great deals for Beckman Coulter N5 Submicron Particle Size Analyzer. Shop with confidence on eBay! When using this equipment, pay attention to the instructions on the warning labels attached. Mobility of the particles can be measured from the frequency shift. Beckman coulter n5 manual transmission.
Kaufman wrote 'The Project Magic Handbook' for David Copperfield; the trick section in 'Mindfreaks' for Criss Angel and 'Knack Magic Tricks' for Globe Pequot Press.[citation needed]
Recognition of Kaufman's influence as a magic illustrator is described in Chuck Romano's book, 'The Art of Deception' (1997) ISBN0-578-00752-5.
Kaufman has appeared on the covers of Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine (1987); MAGIC (1993); The Magic Circular (2006); M-U-M (2011) and has given presentations at numerous magic conferences including The Los Angeles Conference on Magic History, The Magic Collectors Association, and Magic-Con 2011.[4] He has received the 1997 Literary Fellowship from the Academy of Magical Arts (the Magic Castle),[5] the J.N. Maskelyne Award from the Magic Circle in London in 2001,[citation needed] and the Milbourne Christopher Award in 1995. He has also been made an honorary life member of the Society of American Magicians,[citation needed] and has received a president's citation from the International Brotherhood of Magicians.[citation needed]
Kaufman writes for the Pop Culture website Boing Boing.[6]
Edited by Richard Kaufman:[7]
Written, illustrated, and/or published by Richard Kaufman:[7]
Future books that Kaufman has announced:
Darwin Ortiz (born 1948) is a magician, who is an authority on gambling and card manipulation.
Ortiz was born and raised in New York City, where he had a keen interest in card tricks since childhood. In 1974, he dropped out of NYU Law School and pursued card magic full-time. During that time, he initially supported himself playing blackjack (using card counting techniques) and as an instructor at Harry Lorayne's memory school in New York City. Ortiz is a contemporary and close friend of the influential US coin magician, David Roth, and was initially mentored by the seminal British/US close-up performer, Derek Dingle.
Ortiz later became a consultant to a number of casinos in the United States, Europe, Africa, UK and Australasia, and was a regular featured presenter for a succession of years at the World Gaming Congress in Nevada.
Ortiz is the author of books on gambling and magic. The most recent book on his original routines was Lessons in Card Mastery. His book Strong Magic focuses on practical presentational techniques for close-up magicians. The book has been broadly embraced by the professional and amateur magic community but initially met with negative reviews from the two major US trade publications MAGIC and Genii. Demand for the book has been high, despite the initial inability of the original publisher to reprint the text. Ownership of the copyright has recently returned to the author (along with two other books Darwin Ortiz At The Card Table and Cardshark) and the books are once again being made available to the trade.
Ortiz's second book on magic theory, Designing Miracles is an exposition on the design of powerful magical effects, and is subtitled Creating the Illusion of Impossibility. The book posits and analyzes various theories regarding the perception and cognition of lay audiences and provides practical examples and advice on the construction of effects, aimed at maximizing their impact and deceptiveness to a lay audience.
Ortiz's major work for the lay public on gaming protection is Gambling Scams 1984. He also authored an influential annotation of S. W. Erdnase's The Expert at the Card Table titled The Annotated Erdnase in 1991 which was published to the magic trade.[1]
Ortiz currently resides in Washington, D.C.