Anecdotal biography which follows Dai Vernon from his birth to his arrival in Hollywood in 1963 to his becoming Resident magician at the world famous Magic Castle. You will feel as if you are sitting with Dai at the Magic Castle while he shares the stories and experiences of his lifetime. Don't miss this revealing history that can make you a better magician and a better performer. The story of the greatest natural magician the world has ever seen - Dai Vernon - with 67 historical photographs and 326 fascinating pages. Written by Keith Burns and Bruce Cervon

Contents:

Foreword by Richard Buffum

Introduction

Magic's Past and Future

My First Hundred Years

PART ONE 1896 - 1916
I Try to Fly and Other Early Memories
My Father's Principles for Life
My Father and My First Magic Tricks
My First Playing Cards
Learning about Silhouettes
My First Magician
Going Backstage
Some Thoughts on Thurston
My First Trip to the Pawn Shop
Mother and Magic
The Carnegie Library in Ottawa
Magic Books
My Attack on Magic
Practice
Know the Terms
You Should be an Engineer
Cliff Green
New York and Coney Island
Carny Games
Carnival Talk
Larry Grey, the Dizzy Wizard
My Brother Napier and the Army

PART TWO 1917 - 1939
New York 1917
New York's Magic Shops
Powers' Magic Shop
Harry Kellar and Thurston
The Short Card
Doc Elliott, He Played with a Full Deck
The Inner Circle
"Just Think of a Card ... "
"The Tricks of the Greeks"
Gamblers
The Three Card Monte
The Masked Man. One of My Heroes
Hofzinser. Another of My Heroes
On Using Trick Cards
Jeanne Comes into My Life
Women in Magic
Nate Leipzig
My First Professional Engagement
The Union League Club
Cardini
Doc Tarbell
Jud Cole
Horace Goldin and the Unusual Cane
Alfred Benzone. "Originator of Ectoplasm"
The Man Who Fooled Vernon
Malini's Misdirection
Malini. Still Another Hero
Malini and the Queen
On Meeting Thomas Edison
Silhouettes and Agents
Mr . Houdini and Madame Houdin
More Memories of Harry Houdini
Houdini and Spiritualism
Ted "Male" Vernon
Cuba
Sawing a Woman in Half in Cuba
My Black Magic in Cuba
Sam Margules and Dickie the Dunce
Mentalists
Touring America
Jarrow and Van Hoven
Dai Yen or Dr Chung
Fred Keating
Mr. Shock and the Rubber Bands
Dad Stevens - "The Mysterious Kid"
The Fabulous Center Deal
Charlie Miller. "I'm a Dice Man"
My Life as Edward Brown
J. Warren Keane
William J. Hilliar
Harry Blackstone
Vernon in Print
Jean Hugard
The Wonderful Faro Box
Paul Fox and FDR
Neepie
The Cigarette Trick
Frank Tobey's Gambling Furniture
Garnet Lee. the Chinaman's Toy
Secrets
Australian Slang
Effects Defined
Entertaining the Rich
The Linking Rings
My Brother Napier Dies

PART THREE 1939 - 1963
My Harlequin Act
Doves Steal the Show at the Rainbow Room
Compeer. the Monkey
How I Became "The Professor"
Fu Manchu
The Mind-Reading Box
On the Same Bill with Charlie Chaplin
Dante
Sam Horowitz Becomes Me!
From Blueprints to Broken Arms
Citizenship
Shade
With the USO in World War II
Dan Cummings
Milbourne Christopher and the Cuban Lottery
Annemann's Bullet Catch
Annemann's Suicide
Roy Benson
On Being Natural
Cruising
A Couple of Funny Moments
The Old Vaudeville Formula
Old Cards...New Cards
Authority
The Father of the Modern Lecture Series
Great Tricks
Simple Ideas Drive People Crazy
"A Pocket Trick"
How to be Effective
Classics
An Original Thought
Art in the Craft
Traveling Magicians
Through the Looking-Glass
The Pass
On Performing
What's Wrong with Magic
My Family
Afterword

INDEX

PHOTO CREDITS