Brother John Charles Hamman S.M. (September 3, 1927 – December 5, 2000) was a close-up magician and Marianist Brother. The tricks he invented are still an integral part of many close-up magician's repertoire. Hamman was world-renowned in the magic community. His initial interest in the art started as a child. As he recuperated from polio, he spent hours learning, practicing and inventing card tricks and other magic involving sleight-of-hand. In many cases, he "reinvented" classic maneuvers or streamlined them. He was a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the Catholic Magicians' Guild and the Society of American Magicians.

Career

Hamman created more than 100 card magic tricks throughout his career. Among the many tricks he invented, he is best known for the Hamman Count, a sleight-of-hand in which cards are falsely counted to give the impression that the magician holds more, or less, than he actually does. He authored many books and videos on magic and was invited to many local, national and international level (including FISM) magician gatherings to display his prowess and ability with cards. In 1995, Bro. Hamman was the first living magician to be honored during the first St. Louis Magical Heritage Awards, the "Hall of Fame" for local magicians. Professional magicians referred to Bro. Hamman as the "Magical Marianist." In his acceptance speech, Hamman explained the key to a successful magic performance: His first major publication was "The Card Magic of Bro. John Hamman, S.M.," published by

Paul LePaul Paul LePaul (August 2, 1900 – June 8, 1958) was an American magician. Career LePaul was born Paul Shields Braden in Olney, Illinois. He grew up in St. Louis, Mo. He started his professional career around 1920, doing a manipulative act entire ...

in 1958. In his foreword, LePaul wrote, Among magicians, Bro. Hamman is still known as a Magician's Magician. The highest honor the magic community can bestow on one of its own, it refers to one's ability to amaze even fellow conjurers. Despite this, his first love was doing magic for his students. Bro. Hamman was also a skilled Gospel Magician. He frequently used his magic to teach some important aspect of Catholic

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

to his students.

Personal life

Bro. Hamman was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Godfrey and Olivia (''née'' Ruoff) Hamman. He was one of two boys and a girl. The Loretto Sisters and Sisters of Saint Joseph taught him at St. Luke and St. Rose grade schools before he entered McBride High School in September, 1941. Influenced by Fr. John G. Leies and by his older brother Donald, who was already a Marianist candidate, the young John became a postulant at Maryhurst in 1942. He pronounced first

vows A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a weddi ...

at Marynook in Galesville, Wisconsin, on August 15, 1945, and final vows on July 10, 1951. In 1995 he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his religious profession as a Marianist. Bro. Hamman earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Dayton in 1948 and an M.A. in English from St. Louis University in 1963. In the fall of 1948 he began his teaching career at

Central Catholic Marianist High School Central Catholic High School, is a Catholic, all-male, non-boarding college preparatory school located in the River North District of Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio. History The school began as ...

in San Antonio, where he taught English. A year later he was assigned to

St. Michael's High School St. Michael's High School is a private Catholic junior/senior high school located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is privately run under the auspices of the international Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, better known as the De ...

in Chicago, where he stayed for two and a half years. In January, 1952 he was assigned to DeAndreis High School in St. Louis for the spring semester. Following this brief assignment, Brother John went to

Coyle High School Coyle is a surname of Irish origin. People sharing this surname *Andrew Coyle (contemporary), British law professor and prison official *Anthony Coyle (American football) (born 1996), American football player * Bill Coyle (baseball) (1871–1941 ...

in August, 1952. Shortly thereafter, in October of the same year, he was diagnosed with a severe case of polio. He spent two years at Maryhurst recuperating. Due to his illness, Bro. Hamman was only able to teach on a limited schedule. He was assigned to St. Mary's High School in 1954. After seven years, he returned to Central Catholic High School for a year before going to St. John Vianney High School in 1965. He was able to continue teaching there until he retired in 1986. Due to declining health and congestive heart failure, he was assigned to the Marianist Residence in San Antonio in 1995.

Death

Bro. John Hamman died on December 5, 2000 at the St. Joseph Healthcare Center in San Antonio, Texas, at age 73. He is interred in the Marianist Cemetery on the campus of St. Mary's University in San Antonio. Bro. John's personal letters, documents, poetry, and writings are held at the

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in San Antonio, Texas, close to St. Mary's University.

Famous quotes

Original magic tricks

* 1-2-3-4 Ascanio * 1-2-3-4 Mates * 12345 Peek Thought * Acey-Deucy * Adventures of the Spotted * Alternative triplet * Amorphous Ace, The * Axes and Jaxes, The * Billy the Kid * Blind Chance * Blushing Joker * Chameleon Blues * Chinese Shuffle * Computer Deck * Cream Rises to the Top * Deck in Parvo * Devilish Miracle Retold * Diminishing Card to Dollar * Disobedient Cards, The * Do as I Do Aces * Double Take * Double-Deal Aces * Double-Deal Vanish * Eight Ball Queens * Fabulous Expanding Card * False Witness, The * Fan-to-See * Final Aces * Five Kings Royal * Flash Poker * Flight of Four * Flip Flop Aces * Four Pocket Mirror * Four-tunate Choice * Go Fish * Hal-Deuce-Ination * Hamman Count * Hippity-Hop Kings * Homing Card, The * Homing Card to Ter-ick-ific * Houdini Escapes * Interplay * Invisible Card, The * Jacks Come Back, The * Kings Through The Table * Knavish Deuces, The * Ladies Man, The * Liar's Lie * Lie Detector Case, The * Lolopolooza Hand, The * Magic Box * Magic Cards, The * Magician Matches Spectator * Magician Over Gambler * Marx Brothers, The * Micro-Macro * Multiplying Kings, The * My Lucky Day * Mystic Nine, The * Old Classic, The * Opposite Pockets * Out of Print * Peek Look Think * Pesky Card, The * Phoenix Four * Pickpocket * Pinochle Trick, The * Poker Palm Shift * Queens and Nines * Revenge on the Pink Panthers * Rook's Tour * Routines with Queens and Nines * Royal Gambol * Runic Nines * Sealed-Room Mystery * Second Deal * Seeing with the Fingertips * Seven O'clock Trick * Seven, The * Signed Card, The * Skipping Jacks * Spectator Outdeals * Magician ... Almost * Stun-sational * Tell-Tale Tongue * Thought Card in Case * Thought Cards Across * Three Guesses * Thunderstruck * Transparent Cards * Triple Cross * Triple Match * Twins, The * Twisting Revisited * Two-Card Trick, The * Two-Shuffles Harry * Underground Transposition * Universal Card * Up the Down Sleeve * Vanishing Cream * Watch me like a Hawk * What and Where Test * Wild all the Way * Wild Card * Zarrow shuffle (Hamman's Version)

Bibliography

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Videography

Notes

References

External links

Bro. John Hamman at MagicPedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamman, John Charles 1927 births 2000 deaths American magicians Marianists Gale College alumni University of Dayton alumni People from St. Louis People from San Antonio People from Trempealeau County, Wisconsin Catholics from Texas Catholics from Wisconsin Catholics from Missouri