Doug Edwards: Walking Home From Tannen's

Doug Edwards, the recipient of Tannen's Magic 25th Louie Award in 2007, is seen here walking home from Tannen's Magic in NYC. He has just purchased a magic effect from us. Can you guess what it could possibly be?

J.J. Abrams: The Mystery Box

J.J. Abrams traces his love of the unseen mystery -- the heart of Alias, Lost, and the upcoming Cloverfield -- back to its own magical beginnings, which may or may not include an early obsession with magic, the love of a supportive grandfather, or his own unopened Mystery Box.

"As a boy, JJ Abrams was fascinated with magic. As a television writer, director, and producer, he has beguiled audiences with a masterful use of suspense, plot reversals, and special effects."



To order a Tannen's Magic Mystery Box click here!

Magic Class Feedback: Winter Session

At Tannen’s Magic we just concluded another of session of magic classes. The Magic Classes are held in the store after hours on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The classes were taught by Rich Kameda (Beginner Magic and Card Magic) and David Ferst (Coin Magic). Listed below are some of the comments from students from the Beginner Magic Class taught by Rich Kameda

• “Rich was great, patient, and a good teacher.”
• “As a beginner, I was greatly impressed with the knowledge I came away with.”
• “What did you like? The amount of time that was taken for each student’s questions and I never felt out of place. The pace was excellent and I learned a lot.”
• “I liked the variety of tricks.”
• “Classes were intimate, clear; very well explained and fun. Each subsequent class included review of previous tricks.”
• “I liked the individual attention given to the students.”
• “Rich is a clear and entertaining teacher and a great magician too.”

If you’re interested in the classes more classes will be held at Tannen’s Magic in May. Come join us!

Louis Tannen: Valentine's Day

Did you know the founder of Tannen's Magic was born on Feburary 14, 1909.

Orson Welles: A Jennifer Ward Interview

Editor's Note:
As Orson Welles was not one to grant interviews, this rare exception for Tannen's Magic and magicians everywhere gives one last peek into the mind and magic of Mr. Welles who unexpectedly passed away two years later on the 10th of October, 1985. Here is an excerpt from the interview:


Logically we begin with magic, a Tour de Force he attributes to building a thread of commonality between he and his father. "My father loved magic and bought me a couple of big illusions when I was a young boy. In those days we had Thurston and all those great stage magicians. I started doing sleight-of-hand when I was 11 or 12. The first thing I wanted to do was the boxes (that's what Thurston did). I loved Houdini but he wasn't an illusionist; he was a challenger. He challenged the audience. He didn't seduce them. He set up a kind of Olympic game and then won it at the end ... he was dynamic ... he had a kind of contempt for illusionists."

If magic bound the young Orson to his father, it also served as the catalyst that catapulted the dashing young magician and his dazzling array of assistants (Rita Hayworth, his second wife, Marlene Dietrich and Agnes Moorhead) to a certain degree of prominence. It was Rita, by the way, who accompanied him around the World War II Theater while entertaining thousands and thousands of G.l.'s.

"I've never done much amateur magic because I don't have friends who like magic very much. I regard magic as an art and as a form of entertainment. I regard magic as any other form of theater. If I play to an audience of magicians I don't feel like I'm playing to an audience. They're an audience of experts looking for things that don't interest me at all. Curiously, their reaction is always too kind. If an act is halfway good they say it's great. You're not getting the feedback from a real audience that you ought to get."

Copyright © 2008, Tannen's Magic, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Purchase Orson Welles F for Fake DVD.