Ed Marlo (also known as Edward Marlo) (born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, October 10, 1913 – November 7, 1991) was a magician who specialized in card magic. He referred to himself and others of his specialty as 'cardicians'.

Career

One of the most notable names in card magic, Marlo himself coined the term ''cardician'',Biographies Page KLM
/ref> a term which has since been used for performers who do

card magic Card manipulation is the branch of magic that deals with creating effects using sleight of hand techniques involving playing cards. Card manipulation is often used in magical performances, especially in close-up, parlor, and street magic. Some ...

exclusively. His first publication in 1938, ''Pasteboard Presto'', merely hinted at the bulk of work which was to follow. The many sleights he created have changed the face of

. One notable example is his snap change, used in

David Blaine David Blaine (born April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist, endurance artist, and extreme performer. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance and has set and broken several world records. Early life Blaine was born and ra ...

´s ''Street Magic Special''. Marlo was a prolific publisher of card magic, but he was not without controversy. Many of his students found success as creators and performers of magic such as the world-famous Bill Malone. Ed Marlo was also noted for his ever present toupee. Marlo wrote over sixty books and manuscripts, and contributed over 2000 tricks in the field of card magic. He did not limit himself to cards as he also authored works on

coin magic Coin magic is the manipulating of coins to entertain audiences. Money Magic, pp. 175-221. Because coins are small, most coin tricks are considered close-up magic or table magic, as the audience must be close to the performer to see the effects. T ...

and

dice magic Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing ...

. His most famous works are ''The Cardician'' and ''Revolutionary Card Technique'', the latter of which was originally published as a series but later compiled into one weighty tome. He also wrote a series of private manuscripts that were circulated only among the top card magicians of the era. Titles included ''Riffle Shuffle Systems'', ''Patented False Shuffle'', ''Faro Controlled Miracles'' and others. They are extremely rare and highly sought after. Edward Marlo also authored a number of magazines titled, ''Marlo Magazines''. These items are more like books as each one is more than two hundred pages. They are extremely rare and costly, when they come up for sale. Edward Marlo gave lectures and performed rarely, and only a few times outside of Chicago. Professionally, Edward Marlo was a machinist. He made modifications and configurations to the machines in the shop so that they could produce eight hours of work in less than one hour. Ed kept this information to himself, his boss would believe that progress at the end of each work day was that of eight hours, when in reality it only took one hour, and the other seven hours of every day, Ed Marlo was getting paid to play with his cards. His favourite card was the seven of diamonds. His wife would always make sure a certain amount of sevens of diamonds were in his jacket.

References

*Marlo's work can also be found in ''Expert Card Mysterys'' by Alton Sharpe.

External links

Chicago round table (with Ed Marlo footage)BiographyAndi Gladwin's article on studying Edward Marlo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marlo, Ed 1913 births 1991 deaths American magicians Academy of Magical Arts Literature & Media Fellowship winners

Career

See also

References

External links