We have all had magicians that showed us stuff when we were starting out in magic. Call them mentors, teachers, friends...

Who are the ten best close up magicians that inspired you and showed you things when you were starting out. This is for all around close up magic. Not cards.

Don Alan - Great everything!
Bob Rath - Shellgame and cups and balls.
Steve Taylor - All around great magician.
Lee Darrow - Showed me a lot of close up - matrix - cups and balls - color changing knives and inspired me to learn hypnotism.

Bill Malone - great with coins as well as cards.
David Roth - coins and the chop cup.
John Shirley - Great close up and one of the first formal close up acts I had seen in the early years.
Terry Vecky - One of the best all around close up entertainers - cups and balls with pool balls as loads. A great coins to glass routine

Billy Bishop - who did about 12 close up effects and they all were miracles.
Bill Weimer - who is one of the most inventive magicians I ever me who did a cup and ball routine called cups and Owls. And loaded balls with the pictures of the three stooges on them as a final load. Pluss he was a great all around close up guy.

All these people did magic and they all had something to do with my magic thinking in close up magic.

Thanks gang!

Who inspired your magic thinking and why?

It’s not possible to rank these influential magicians so I’ll simply list them in the order in which I encountered them or their magic.

Michael Skinner – the second magic lecture (and first sleight of hand lecture) I ever attended. I learned that it’s not what you do, but that you love what you do and impart that love to your audience. He also epitomized what Leipzig said about the audience liking to believe that they have been fooled by a gentleman.

Michael Ammar – Another fine gentleman whose “no mercy” philosophy taught me that if you’re going to do an effect you should work to find the best method and not settle for what “gets by” an audience.

Derek Dingle – Though I never met him his Complete Works taught me a lot about constructing an effect. He was the master of the multiple and kicker endings. The last trick in his book taught me the most important lesson: make sure they remember your name.

Eugene Burger – Taught me how to draw in an audience, and make sure they feel respected and entertained as well as mystified.

John Carney – Taught me how to appreciate the classics and to think of my magic as art rather than craft.

Jamy Ian Swiss – Taught me that there uncompromising passion for your work is important if you want to continue to grow.

Tommy Wonder – Another mentor that I’ve never met. From his books and videos I have learned that if you really care about an effect no amount of practice, preparation or effort is too much. And that a really good trick is never finished.

Simon Lovell & David Acer- I met both Simon and David at PCAM in 2004 and from both of them I learned that a unique comedic personality doesn’t have to overshadow your magic. It’s possible to be funny, original and still do butt-kicking sleight of hand.

Michael Close – This his who I’d like to be when I “grow up”, which is kinda sad because he’s about four years older than I am… He epitomizes every lesson I learned from the other teachers.

This is surprisingly close to my list of folks:

Carney - The most influential to me. Work on misdirection and love of the classics.
Close - Building a routine and covering all your bases.
Lovell - You can entertain a huge audience with a deck of cards.
Ammar - Great teacher and great respect for the art.
Skinner - Be yourself and love what you're doing.

One of my first mentors was a coworker name Bob Weinman. Very good card man.

Most of my inspiration was from books, some videos.

Dai Vernon - patter and natural handling.
Frank Garcia - class act.
John Carney - philosophy about magic.
J.C. Wagner - I just like his routines.
Eddie Fechter - rough and ready approach.
Michael Close - creativity.
David Roth - graat coin stuff of course.
George Shindler - sharp wits and funny.
Tom Mullica - unigue comedy.

... all for different reasons.
So many others both old and new that inspire.

Don Alan and Albert Goshman!

Best regards,
Glenn Godsey

Slydini, Don Alan, David Roth, Harry Anderson, Tommy Wonder, Dean Dill, Al Goshman, Doug Brewer, Dai Vernon....

And last but not least my personal friend in magic Eric Jones. He has made me think harder and gotten my brain working harder than anyone. When we get together, the ideas run, the magic creates itself and I owe him a debt of gratitude.

JRB

Jonny Paul, and Dai Vernon.

I'd have to say our very own, Whit Haydn.

Aaaah, a list! Fun!

-Tommy Wonder. Simply a Beautiful Magical Mind.
-Juan Tamariz. An Insane Magical Mind!
-David Williamson. My rolemodel when it comes to making expert sleight of hand look effortless, with emphasis on entertainment.
-Armando Lucero. Highest aestetical sleight of hand I've ever seen. And a brilliant innovator.
-Eugene Burger. Who can make more magic without any sleight of hand then 10.000 fingerflickers.
-Tom Mullica. Peeing my pants...while maintaining strong magic.
-John Carney. Sincere as both performer and teacher. Makes you love the classics again!
-Paul Harris. Most original thinker.
-Max Maven. Most insane, outspoken and best defined Character I've seen on stage.
-Fred Kaps. All-time hero and rolemodel.

I'm very fortunatue to have known and "grown up with" some incredible magicians. Here are ten with whom I became friends early on:

Al Cohen
Barry Taylor
Jack Birnman
John Kennedy
Allan Hayden
Tim Conover
Larry West
Bob Kohler
Bob Sheets
Glenn Farrington
Erdnase (muh ha, muh ha ha, muh ha ha ha)

I'd have loved to have seen Erdnase, Vernon, Jennings, Scarne, Slydini, Malini, heck, Houdini...
I have the book Secrets, by Carney, and it is wonderful. The palming and introduction sections are great! I'd love to see him perform though.

Bill Anderson - started me in magic
Glenn Haywood - funny, skilled (I was his assistant early on)
Harold Agnew - taught me first sleight of hand
Senor Mardo - taught me cups and balls
Lloyd Jones - took me in and let me read any of his books
Ken Brooke - taught me a lot about funny
Fred Kaps - taught me to keep thinking
Dai Vernon - encouraged me
Persi Diaconis - showed me what real chops are and critiqued my work
Emile Clifton - coached me on presentation
Slydini - taught me how to handle coins
Jay Marshall - my role model
Carl Ballantine and Roy Benson - showed us different ways to be funny
Juan Tamariz - taught me you can fool folks under cover of being funny

My Top 10 One's who've taught me a trick or two and more.

Pete Biro
Gary Plants
Howie Schwarzman
Paul Kozak
Harrisonn Carroll
Frank Garcia
Ray Mertz
Lou Gallo
Scotty York
T A Waters

that's the ten that come to mind right off the top of my head. If I have left anyone out, please forgive me.

-=tabman

Scotty Yorks
Bob Sheets
Mike Close
Juan Tamariz
Eugene Burger
Max Maven
John Carney
David Roth
Tom Mullica
Simon Lovell
plus bonus: Michael Skinner and Jamy Ian Smith


I love them all and have learned thing from each.

Max Malini
Max Maven
Gazzo
Cellini
Eugene Burger
John Carney
Juan Tamariz
Tommy Wonder
Charlie Miller
Denny Haney
Johnny Thompson

I know they aren't all close up guys (and I know that it's actually 11), but I have learned and continued to learn a lot from all of them. . .and probably about 100 others that aren't at the top of my mind at the moment.

Mark

Rmax: Gp see Carney next weekend. He is at the Actor's Forum in North Hollywood, in his one man show Carney's Cabaret, and it is brilliant. Only $15 to get real close and see a wonderful show.

For more info: http://www.carneymagic.com/WonderCab.htm

Don't miss this show, it is one of the best magic performances you will see in a long time.

Thanks for the heads up, Whit. I have made the reservation. I can't wait!

A 10 on a scale of 10 for sure... as good as it gets. Carney is awesome with his acting hunk doing impression of Faucett Ross teaching him some magic.

My List:

First and Foremost:

Patrick Drake - Started me in magic and is may mentor today. beautiful performer and technician.The person I have to thank most in magic.

Shoot Ogawa - Taught me that facial expression is very important and that creativity is adding, polising is taking away.

Jason Latimer - Taught me thatyou can use stage technique in close-up and that the simpler the better.

Dai Vernon - For saying "Be Natural" and "Use your head" - Words to live by.

Tommy Wonder - For inspiring thoughts and for teaching me the power of framing.

Jeff Pinsky - For being such a nice guy and for continuing magic in Canada.

Jay Sankey - For being such a goof.

Steve Brooks - For creating and managing the online bible of magic.


That's only 8 but that's OK.

Ben

Don Alan

Dai Vernon

John Cornelius

Roger Klause

John Carney

Whit Haydn

Paul Green

Chuck Smith

Bobby Bernard

Mike Rogers.

All of them for different reasons. All because they helped me personally in one way or another, either working on a specific move or sleight, or by influencing my thinking.