Amedeo's Continental Magic

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Frank Garcia
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Frank Garcia

Cover of Genii (1977)
Born Frank Garcia
May 8, 1927
Died July 15, 1993 (age 66)
Categories Books by Frank Garcia
Frank Garcia (b.1927-d.1993) was a very popular magician who was known as "The Man With The Million Dollar Hands." His specialty was gambling scams and cheating.

Biography
The son of Spanish immigrants, Garcia decided to become a magician after seeing a performance of Fu Manchu.
As "The Gambling Investigator" he demonstrated and exposed cheating methods at tradeshows and to law enforcement organizations throughout the United States and on television shows.
He was co-founder (with George Schindler) of the New York School for Magicians.

Bibliography
Frank Garcia's Sponge Balls (1959)
Frank Garcia's Billiard Balls (1960)
Marked Cards And Loaded Dice (1962) which was later released as How to Detect Crooked Gambling: Marked Cards and Loaded Dice (1977)
MacDonald's $100 Routine - New Stars of Magic (1972)
Million Dollar Card Secrets (1972)
Farky Hollis Predicts (1972)
Super Subtle Card Miracles (1973)
Amedeo's Continental Magic (co-authored with George Schindler) (1974)
All In A Nutshell (1974)
Magic With Cards (with George Schindler)(1974)
Encyclopedia of Sponge Ball Magic (1976)
Wild Card Miracles (1977)
How to Detect Crooked Gambling: Marked Cards and Loaded Dice (re-release of Marked Cards And Loaded Dice) (1977)
Don't Bet On It! (treatise on the three card monte) (1978)
Real Secrets of the Three Ball Routines (1978)
Bullseye (with Fr. Cyprian) New Stars of Magic (1978)
The Very Best of Cups and Balls (1979)
Exclusive Card Secrets (1980)
Exclusive Card Miracles (1980)
The Elegant Card Magic of Father Cyprian (1980)
Close-Up Magic of Frank Garcia, Part 1 & 2 (1982)
References
Photo Genii 1953 April
Cover Genii 1977 September
Obit Genii 1993 September
Richard Kaufman's personal remembrance of Frank Garcia appeared in MAGIC, September 1993, page 51.

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Garcia, Frank
(1927-1993)
Son of Spanish immigrants. He decided to become a magician after seeing a performance of Fu Manchu (David Bamberg).
Frank Garcia was a very popular magician who was known to magicians and gamblers as "The Man With The Million Dollar Hands." One of his specialties was gambling scams and cheating. As "The Gambling Investigator", he demonstrated and exposed cheating methods at tradeshows and to law enforcement organizations throughout the United States.
His best-known books about gambling include: Marked Cards and Loaded Dice (1962) which was later released as How to Detect Crooked Gambling (1977), All in a Nutshell (1974) and Don't Bet on It (1978).
Garcia also wrote many other books on magic: Million Dollar Card Secrets, Super Subtle Card Miracles, The Very Best of Cups and Balls, and Encyclopedia of Sponge Ball Magic.

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AMEDEO VACCA was perhaps best known in magic circles as having been "HOUDINI'S advance man"; the chap who would make arrangements for the great escape artist and magician prior to his arrival at theatres, making sure the logistics and the props were well co-ordinated. But he was much more than that. They met at a magic shop in 1921, where HOUDINI first impressed him, and then he impressed HOUDINI by refining a trick he had shown him--straight away!

A few years later, VACCA began collaborating with HOUDINI on a number of illusions, most notably his "Submerged Coffin". VACCA would attend the performance of his "creation", assisting HOUDINI in a critical way--but the star of the show didn't want anyone to make the connection between the two of them, lest the secret be revealed; so he insisted that they not be seen in public together. VACCA'S 'day job' was at a barber shop and that's where the two men discussed business: on either side of a barber's chair!

"VACCA" as he was known during his early career as a magician, gained a good deal of fame from his performance of HOUDINI'S "Needle Trick" after his mentor passed on. Still later (then known as "AMEDEO"), he was reputed for his "Smoke from Mouth Trick", in which he swallowed lighted cigarettes and blew smoke from his lips. ROBERT RIPLEY personally insisted that he perform the effect several times, before styling him "THE HUMAN VOLCANO" and depicting him in his "BELIEVE IT...OR NOT!" series in 1947. The routine is included in this volume, along with 46 others.

The book was designed to open out and lie flat whilst the practitioner studied his craft.

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George Schindler
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George Schindler

Born March 31, 1929
Brooklyn, New York

Categories Books by George Schindler
George Schindler (b.1929), known in the whole magic world as Mr. Showbiz, is a seasoned entertainer specializing in corporate magic, trade shows, and sales meetings.


Contents
1 Biography
2 Awards and honors
3 Books
4 References
Biography
Schindler has appeared movies such as Shandu the Great, in Woody Allen’s “New York Stories” and produced his own “World of Illusion” show. He was a consultant to David Mamet on “Oh Hell!” and the New York Opera Company’s presentation of “The Consul.”

In 1973, he became co-founder of the New York School for Magicians.

Awards and honors
Christopher Award for Lifetime Achievement in Magic.
Dean of the Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.)[1]
Books
Magic With Cards with Frank Garcia (1975)
Magic With Everyday Objects (1976)
Basic Balloon Sculpture (1983)
Presto! Magic for the Beginner (1977)
Ventriloquism - Magic With Your Voice (1979)
References
↑ Dean of the Society of American Magicians