While the name, Wesley James, may not yet be familiar to all magicians, that’s about to change. His background is both extensive and varied. Over his roughly 50 years in magic, 25 as a full-time professional, he has performed nearly every type of magic from Close-up to Illusions, from Kid Shows to Corporate parties, and nearly everything between.

“ONE OF THE BEST!!!” - Dai Vernon, March 1970

“ONE WHO CAN HOLD HIS OWN WITH THE BEST” - Frank Garcia, Nov. 1972

“EASILY THE BEST CLOSE-UP PERFORMER OF THE YEAR” - Peter Pit, July 1991


Along the way, his name has appeared fairly extensively in Magic’s literature. However, until his retirement, in 1982, he was far more involved in performing then in circulating his name among magicians. For many years he refused to lecture for magicians, being unwilling to expose the wealth of original material that were the tools that enabled him to earn his living. Now, having retired, he shares his secrets freely and has lectured extensively throughout the North East, where he resides. He has, however, performed and lectured at the Magic Castle, the TSD Convention in New Orleans, the ONYX Convention in Colorado and in Las Vegas.


“ONE OF THE FINEST LECTURES I'VE EVER ATTENDED” - Larry Jennings, July 1991

“HIGHEST RATING EVER . . . FOSTERS THE IMPRESSION OF PEOPLE HAVING A GOOD TIME TOGETHER” –
Hal Zeve, Magic Manuscript, Jan. 1990

“STRONG MAGIC, ENTERTAININGLY PERFORMED . . .VERY, VERY NICELY DONE AND LO AND BEHOLD--WES IS FUNNY TOO!” - Paul Cummins, ONYX, Oct. 1999

During most of his years, he performed primarily at Trade Shows and Colleges but he was also the developer of and a principal in New York’s Magic Towne House in the early seventies. (The Magic Towne House created a Magic Castle like establishment on the East Coast.) That venture probably exposed his name to the magic fraternity more then any other single undertaking.

“I ENJOYED HIS SHOW TWICE . . . I KEPT LOOKING FOR A MOVE, SUDDENLY THERE WAS MAGIC” –
Bill Larsen, July 1991

Individuals who are newer to Magic will know the name, Wesley James, by the contributions he has allowed to appear over the years, i.e., “The Touch Change” and “Twisting on Victor” in Kaufman’s CoinMagic and mention of his effect, “Forgery,” in Peter Samelson’s Theatrical Close-up and Darwin Ortiz’ At the Card Table. Those that have been in magic longer or who are steeped in card magic will know his work from Karl Fulves’ Epilogue, in which a number of his creations saw print, including “L.S.D. Aces” and “The Kannibal Kings and Koins.” His material has also appeared in Harry Lorayne’s Apocalypse, Frank Garcia’s Super Subtle Card Magic (Coming Up in the World) and in M-U-M while it was under the late Leslie Guest’s editorship (The WJ Front Bottom Deal). In more recent years, his contributions have appeared in many of the best cutting edge forums, with extensive material in Ken Simmons’ ONYX and Aaron Smith’s Mr. Gadfly but also in more mainstream publications, such as Genii’s Magicana, while under Jim Patton’s authorship.

“DAMN! THIS GUY'S GOOD, VERY GOOD!” - Ken Simmons, April 1999

Among his numerous marketed effects are “Wishuffle” which has been continuously available from Hank Lee or Magical Tools since the mid-seventies and “The Polygraph Deck” which has been available, sporadically, since the late seventies. More recently, he has released “Ring Flite Professional” and “The Impressionists” through Magical Tools and “Pristine” through Ken Simmons’.

His first book, Pasteboard Perpensions, sold out its first printing without a single ad and one of his more recent books, The Magical Record and Thoughts of Wesley James did the same. His lecture notes, Stop Fooling Us!, Selling the Tough Stuff and Make Me Care, are considered among the finest ever offered. His first major work, Enchantments I (nearly 500 pages), has recently been published by Stephen Minch’s Hermetic Press. In addition, Wesley's cutting edge work with coins will be available in a work titled “Hard Currency” in late 2004.

“A MODERN CREATOR AND PERFORMER WHO HAS REPEATEDLY SHOWN HIS ABILITY TO MAKE IMPORTANT AND LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS” – Stephen Minch, Dec. 2003

“ONE OF THE GREAT MINDS AND TWO OF THE GREAT HANDS IN MAGIC” - Matt Field, Feb 1998

With the recent release of his newest book, Enchantments, I'm sure this is one guest you don't want to miss!