Magic School Teachers

Faculty

Jeff McBride

Widely acclaimed as the most innovative and exciting star of magic in our time. In addition to his work as a performer, McBride is in demand as a teacher and lecturer for magicians and lay audiences. With Eugene Burger he conducts regular intensive Master Class session in Las Vegas, and has lectured for groups as diverse as the Smithsonian and the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Eugene Burger

When the leading international trade journal MAGIC magazine compiled its list of the most influential magicians of the twentieth century, Eugene Burger was included for his ability to "arouse feelings of astonishment, as well as a host of other indescribable sensations." He has written sixteen best-selling books for magicians, starred in five critically acclaimed instructional video tapes, and lectured to magicians’ groups in over a dozen countries.

Tobias Beckwith

Trained in the performing arts first as an actor/ dancer at Temple University, then winning his Masters Degree in Directing and Design from the University of Pittsburgh, Tobias went on to teach various performance disciplines there for a several years. Moving to New York, Beckwith enjoyed a career on the production and management teams of some of the world's longest running shows: The Fantastiks (Sullivan Street Playhouse), Sweeney Todd (on Broadway and 1st National Tour), and Oh! Calcutta! (on Broadway and International Touring).

For the past 18 years he has worked exclusively in the world of magic, as manager and producer for Jeff McBride, Marco Tempest and other leading magical performers. Having been extensively trained in every aspect of live show production, Beckwith continues to be actively involved in the creation of magic with many prominent magical artists.  He recently authored the book, "Beyond Deception: The Theory & Practice of Creating Original Magic."

Bryce Kuhlman

Bryce Kuhlman is an odd experiment in the fusion of art and science.  His early performances won him many local and national awards and paid for two college degrees – not in theater but in software engineering and robotics.  Those nights he wasn’t performing, one would find him tucked away in a dark room hacking the code together for some new project.  He currently runs a corporation that specializes in custom software and web design for entertainers and theatrical venues.

Larry Hass, Ph.D.

Dr. Lawrence Hass is Professor of Humanities at Austin College (in Sherman, Texas), where he teaches classes in aesthetics, phenomenology, the history and theory of magic, and magic performance.  He is also an accomplished performer who has worked his artistic wonders from coast to coast in such leading venues at the world famous Magic Castle and the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas.

Larry is also a columnist for MAGIC magazine and the author of the acclaimed book for magicians, Transformations:  Creating Magic Out of Tricks.  Finally, Larry is the Founding Director of the Theory and Art of Magic, an enterprise that creates magic events-performances and lectures-to educate the general public about the depth, complexity, and artistry of magic and produces books, workshops, educational programs, and conferences for magicians designed to help them achieve excellence in their work as performers.

Robert E. Neale

Robert E. Neale is a free-lance writer, magician and author of numerous books and essays on psychology and religion, as well as a prolific inventor and author of magic tricks and origami folds. Among his publications in magic are Bunny Bill; Transaction; Trapdoor Card; Tricks of the Imagination; Folding Money Fooling; Life, Death & Other Card Tricks; and with Eugene Burger, Magic and Meaning. He has also just completed an instructional video, Celebration of Sides: the Nonsense World of Robert Neale. Dr. Neale lives and invents in Vermont.

George Parker

George Parker is an internationally much asked for stand-up magician and corporate lecturer. As a modern Magician and corporate Alchemist he travels all over the world performing his theatrical one-man show ‘The 5th Element, a story about Life, Love and Magic told in illusions’, short stand-up shows and corporate Lecture-shows© about the creative process. He gives new meaning to the role of the magician and alchemist in present-day-life: as a trickster he turns the world and your thinking inside out and upside down using skilful and deceptive trickery and stand-up comedy; as a sorcerer he shows us how we create our own reality new and comments from that perspective on events in the world; as an oracle he helps you to look beneath the surface of everyday life; and as a wise man in development he knows that it’s easy to be smart but it’s a struggle to be wise.

His shows are a mix of those different aspects and speak to the imagination of many people. Often they will focus on business issues like vision, communication, strategy, creativity, marketing or teamwork. At other times they’re centered around mystical and mysterious subjects like Alchemy and the history of the Mage. Not only does he incorporate his vast knowledge about transforming our inner and outer reality in his shows he’s also the author of highly acclaimed books on creativity like the beststeller Het Kleine boek van de Creativiteit and Het Grote Boek van de Creativiteit.

Adjunct Faculty

Max Maven

The late Orson Welles wrote that Max Maven has "the most original mind in magic." He's published over 1700 creations in the conjuring literature, and been an advisor to over a hundred television shows. As a consultant he has worked with David Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, Doug Henning, Penn & Teller, Lance Burton, and many others. He has also directed revue shows for several major American gambling casinos.

Recently, Magic magazine, the leading intraprofessional conjuring journal, published a list of the 100 most influential people in the field of theatrical magic during the 20th century. Included on the list is Max Maven, cited for "entertaining and astonishing audiences with his bizarre brand of mental magic.... [M]ost of Maven's mind-boggling feats are accomplished through psychological subterfuge that he himself has cunningly created... If mystery does indeed give magic its meaning, then the enigmatic persona of Max Maven makes us ever mindful of the art that is hidden in the mystery of magic."

Randy Wolf

Professor Wolf, beginning in 1999, pioneered a minimally invasive VATS approach for the surgical treatment of lone AF. He has performed over 600 Wolf miniMAZE procedures and has taught the procedure to over 500 heart surgeons from 20 countries. He has been visiting professor in 18 countries, including Oxford University, University of Tokyo and Peking University. Dr. Wolf was the first North American heart surgeon to perform DaVinci cardiac surgery. He is a Past President of the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery (ISMICS), current President of the 21st Surgery Cardiothoracic Club, and President of Asian Affairs, Dataquest Healthcare Partners. He served as Professor of Surgery, Ohio State University (1998-2003) and Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Cincinnati (2003-2007), and the inaugural Ethicon-Endosurgery Chair for Innovation in Surgery (2004-2007). He has over 100 peer reviewed papers and textbook chapters, and served as Co-editor of Innovations (2005-2007). When not in the operating theatre or lecturing, he performs stage and close-up magic.

Tom Meseroll

Thomas Chilton Meseroll has been a performing magician for 40 years and a martial artist for 35 years. He is a proud member of the Society of American Magicians, the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the Magic Collector’s Association, the Magic Circle in London, and the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle) and is known as “The Magus: Master of Martial Magic” for his incorporation of martial arts in magic. He has been performing magic and martial arts around the USA for over forty years. In 2007 he won the Close-Up Magician of the year for the Southern California Assembly of the Society of American Magicians: An award won previously by Dai Vernon and Al Goshman. Tom has been a martial arts practitioner for 35 years and is an expert in Okinawan weaponry, a Black belt in Tang Soo Do, and a Brown belt in Shotokan. He is the recent author of a novel entitled MAGUS: Master of Martial Magic, The Magician's Primer. He is also currently a Director of Engineering in the Space & Intelligence sector of the aerospace industry.

Mario Morris

Mario possesses the ability of superior street performing skills and specializes in busking, comedy magic, escapology and the art of cons/scams. His signature street magic effect is the cups and balls routine.  Mario has performed at hundreds of venues across the world. He is an expert in teaching the subject of Street Theatre. He has taught at the European Juggling Convention (twice), and the British juggling Convention (Four times).  He has also the founder and teacher of the "School of Busking" - a yearly training and resource center held in the UK, offering courses in the art/history of busking and how to become a busker.

Bob Fitch

Bob Fitch has worn many hats in his lengthy professional career (actor, director, magician, singer, dancer). He  counts twenty-seven Broadway Shows, including, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Whoopi Goldberg, and The Will Rogers Follies as Clem, Will's father.  His direction received a MAC Award (NY Cabaret) for Jeff McBride's Mask, Myth, And Magic. He created the coffee cup illusion for the second David Blaine TV Special.  He has dozens of TV commercials to his credit utilizing magic, juggling, fire-eating, dance and physical comedy. He is well known for his coin, topit and holdout work.

Bob and his wife Pauline, run a yearly Performance Workshop for Professional Magicians. He has coached  performers such as David  Copperfield  and  Jeff McBride.

Dirk Losander

Once upon a time in a small village called "Winkels" there lived a boy who had a dream that magic was real. His grandfather told him of wonderous things that existed in the world outside this little village and in other worlds beyond. "Magic is like a bubble" he said "and if you can suspend a bubble in time just for a moment, you can see all the potential of what can exist and experience the essence of real magic, than it will stay with you forever, even after it has vanished." And so with a dream and a vision in his heart, this young boy grew up to become the man who creates magical dreams from "thin air"...!

Jay Ungar, M.D.

“Bringing Magic to Life” is not only the title of his book but his personal philosophy as well. Jay, AKA Ragnu (the OK), has been both a physician and “full time” magician for the past 30 years. He is a dedicated internist and geriatrician in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, an Assistant Professor for Tufts Medical School and an avid and accomplished “24/7” magician too. Jay combines his dual passions for Magic and Medicine in almost everything he does. He considers magic the “whipped cream and cherry on top” of his patient encounters and offers it up whenever the timing and circumstances are right. Jay believes that “it truly humanizes the visit” and “the real Magic is not in the tricks, but in the Connection they create.”

His handsomely produced, newly published book -- “Bringing Magic to Life” -- is widely acclaimed and garnishing glowing reviews. It’s a passion-filled account of his magical/medical intersection and it brims with hilarious stories, insightful essays and unique presentations designed to “infuse Magic into one’s Life and Life into one’s Magic.”

Alan Ackerman

Allan Ackerman is an American magician who specializes in sleight of hand magic with playing cards. He has written a series of books, and performed on several instructional DVDs that teach elementary sleight of hand all the way up through advanced card work. Ackerman has alsobeen a professor of mathematics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and in addition to card magic, he also performs coin magic. He has studied under Ed Marlo, the famous Chicago cardician, and now lives in Las Vegas.