Our 80th anniversary year here at Genii continues with our cover story on master magician David Ben and his recent show Hocus Pocus in Toronto. Magic seems to be flourishing almost under the radar with numerous shows in smaller venues. David has done many short-run productions and appeared on our cover in 2000 in an article about his show The Conjuror. He has performed several other shows since then, and he returned to the stage this winter—I sent sleuth Noah Levine to pry some words of wisdom out of Mr. Ben. He succeeded, and David also explains some titbits you’ll enjoy (with videos in our digital edition).

For those quirky folks who are intrigued by the things you can and can’t do with mirrors, Richard Wiseman and David Britland do their best to convince you that they’ve solved a long-standing mystery involving a little-known illusion of Robert Harbin’s. You can read all about “The Transparent Man” (and watch the video).

A master of mentalism, Bob Cassidy, died in February. He was a highly influential man in his field and Luke Jermay memorializes him in this issue. My longtime friend Daryl committed suicide in The Magic Castle on the same day that Cassidy died. To say that people were shocked is an understatement. We have two obituaries for Daryl, the first by Dustin Stinett and the second by Michael Ammar. I’ve included a few videos in our digital edition of Daryl performing to celebrate his style, personality, and ingenuity.

The columns commence with John Gaughan’s “Chamber of Secrets,” which plays and old tune with “The Organ Pipes.” Jim Steinmeyer returns with a lovely piece of standup magic that packs small and plays big, in which a spectator is cut in two in “Conjuring.” Two intriguing card tricks of the miracle class, with no sleights, appear in Helder Guimarães’ “Invisible Threads” and David Britland’s “Cardopolis.” The effervescent Bob Read returns to Paris, and Cristo, in “Hidden Treasures.” Eugene Burger reflects, quite wisely, on just what makes Dai Vernon still so resonant in our magical culture in “Eugene’s Notebook” (with video). Jonathan Pendragon, having decamped across the country to the wilds of Vermont, concludes his series on “Interlude” in “Panmagium.” David Kaye tantalizes you with a question he never answers, but it has something to do with the demise of the circus, in “The Expert at the Kids’ Table.” Tom Stone graces us with an absolutely astonishing Do-As-I-Do version of Oil and Water in “Lodestones”—please watch the video before reading the method and tell me that you weren’t fooled. In “Magicana” John Guastaferro describes three solid effects using playing cards, bottle caps, and a really good idea with a Torn and Restored Newspaper … watch the video first! We’re still Slanting with Jon Racherbaumer; we’re still hearing about the Magic Castle with Daniel Ulin; and this month we’re reading about new books via Kainoa Harbottle, new tricks via David Regal, and new videos from Dustin Stinett. I think we missed winter, but spring is here!

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I love the effect by Helder Guimaraes. Nobody is talking about it. Good news for people who are going to work on it and present it. And it tells again that if you want to hide something, publish it.

I'm just wondering if the duplicate cards in the dealing process really pass unnoticed.

Yes, they are unnoticed. This principle has been used for years in tricks by others.