Jerry Andrus (January 28, 1918 – August 26, 2007) was an American

magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

and writer known internationally for his original

close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long s ...

sleight of hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...

tricks and

optical illusion Within visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide v ...

s, such as the famous "Linking Pins".

Early life

Andrus was born January 28, 1918, in

Sheridan, Wyoming Sheridan is a town in the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Sheridan County. The town is located halfway between Yellowstone Park and Mount Rushmore by U.S. Route 14 and 16. It is the principal town of the Sheridan, Wyoming, Micropol ...

. At the age of 10, he moved to

Albany, Oregon Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, just ...

, where he lived until his death in 2007. At 12, Andrus became interested in the art of illusion when he saw a performance of a reformed "

spiritual medium Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...

". He joined the International Society of Junior Magicians when he was 16 and soon became known as a "magician’s magician".

Career

Magic

A self-taught magician, Andrus preferred to develop his own style rather than learn the craft as traditionally handed down from other magicians, eventually becoming world renowned as one of the "best and most-influential 'close-up magic' performers ever." He was known to many accomplished contemporary magicians, such as

Lance Burton William Lance Burton (born March 10, 1960) is an American stage magician. He performed more than 15,000 shows in Las Vegas for over 5,000,000 people until retiring after 31 years in 2010. Professional history Burton first became interested in mag ...

Doug Henning Douglas James Henning (May 3, 1947 – February 7, 2000) was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician. Early life Henning was born in the Fort Garry district of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and began practising magic at Oakenw ...

, and

Penn & Teller Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since the late 1970s. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic. The duo ha ...

, for this unique brand of close-up, sleight-of-hand magic. International card magicians knew Andrus for his "Master Move", a sleight-of-hand classic "

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits *Mountain pass, a lower place in a mountai ...

" without "necessary false movement". An early member of

The Magic Castle The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in t ...

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, Andrus performed there semi-annually until shortly before his death.

Illusions

Andrus created his illusions in his Oregon home, which he nicknamed "The Castle of Chaos" in reference to the numerous items he collected over the years with the hope of using them to "make something spectacular". In 1954, Andrus created the famous "Linking Pins", a close-up illusion in which closed safety pins are rapidly linked together in twos, threes and chains.

Skepticism

An avowed

scientific skeptic Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refe ...

and

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

, Andrus often lectured at scientific and skeptic conferences, using his optical illusions and magic tricks to demonstrate the ease with which the mind can be fooled by the eye. He discussed a form of cognitive science that attempted to explain that because the mind is working on an unconscious level, it can be fooled into misperceiving apparently normal sensory experiences.

List of works

Books and lecture notes

*''Andrus Deals You in'' (1956) *''Sleightly Miraculous'' (1961) *''Special Magic'' (lecture notes for 1974 Japan Tour) (1974) *''More Sleightly Slanted'' (lecture notes) (1977) *''Andrus Card Control'' (with

Ray Hyman Ray Hyman (born June 23, 1928) is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, and a noted critic of parapsychology. Hyman, along with James Randi, Martin Gardner and Paul Kurtz, is one of the founders of the ...

) (2000) *''Kurious Kards and $5 Trix'' (2001) *''Safety Pin-Trix''

Videos/DVDs

*''Jerry Andrus: A Lifetime of Magic – Volume 1'' (2001) *''Jerry Andrus: A Lifetime of Magic – Volume 2'' (2001) *''Jerry Andrus: A Lifetime of Magic – Volume 3'' (2001)

Media

Documentaries

*''A Thing of Wonder: The Mind & Matter of Jerry Andrus'' (2002) *''Andrus: The Man, The Mind and the Magic'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrus, Jerry 1918 births 2007 deaths American magicians American skeptics American inventors American writers American agnostics People from Albany, Oregon People from Sheridan, Wyoming