Paul Gertner is an American close-up magician from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. He is best known in the magic world for his ''Steel and Silver'' book and set of DVDs.

Magic career

Paul Gertner's interest in magic began as a child, borrowing library books on the subject. He claims his interest in magic began with his father, who created "magical" home movies using special effects and an 8 mm video camera. When he was sixteen, Gertner worked nights at the Forks Hotel in Buffalo, New York, learning a great deal about how to interact with an audience and the psychological side of performing. His mentor there was the Forks' owner, legendary bar magician Eddie Fechter. From the mid-1970s on, Gertner performed mostly corporate gigs and trade shows, and has worked for a variety of companies, including IBM,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...

, and

US Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

. Paul Gertner has appeared on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' three times, and was a guest on episode 1437 of ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' debut ...

''. He has also appeared on '' Penn & Teller: Fool Us'' five times—a first for the show—and successfully fooled the hosts twice. He has a wife named Kathryn and a daughter and a son named Beth and Bill. He also has four granddaughters.

Competition act

Paul Gertner is famous for his competition act, which he used to win first place at the Las Vegas Desert Seminar $10,000 and first place at FISM, arguably the largest magical competition/convention there is. The act consists of three different routines: That's Ridiculous, The Steel Cups and Balls, and Ring on Hourglass. That's Ridiculous comprises coins appearing magically underneath playing cards placed on a table. This routine is fast-paced and energetic, with the rapid-fire production of six

half dollar The term "half dollar" refers to a half-unit of several currencies that are named "dollar". One dollar ( $1) is normally divided into subsidiary currency of 100 cents, so a half dollar is equal to 50 cents. These half dollars (aka 50 cent pieces) ...

s, two silver dollars, and finally an oversized giant half-dollar in only a few seconds. The Steel Cups and Balls is Paul Gertner's approach to the classic

cups and balls The cups and balls is a performance of magic with innumerable adaptations. Street gambling variations performed by conmen were known as Bunco Booths. A typical cups and balls routine includes many of the most fundamental effects of magic: the ba ...

routine. Three steel

ball bearing A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...

s vanish and appear in and around three steel cups. The routine ends with several massive, heavy ball bearings being produced from the cups and dropping to the table with a large thud. Part of the trick's surprise is that one of the bearings is too big to fit in the cup, despite having just been produced from it. Finally, a ring borrowed from a spectator that was vanished at the beginning of the act appears on the middle of a beautiful

hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, sand clock or egg timer) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) ...

used to time the act. The glass of the hourglass actually has to be smashed with a hammer to make the removal of the ring possible.

Published works

Gertner's most popular published work is ''Steel and Silver'' ( Richard J. Kaufman, 1994), which Gertner claims to be the fastest-selling magic book in history. This book has also been released as a DVD set by L&L Publishing.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gertner, Paul Living people 1953 births American magicians People from Pittsburgh Academy of Magical Arts Close-Up Magician of the Year winners Academy of Magical Arts Lecturer of the Year winners