As I have stated before, one of the great benefits of being a member of The Magic Castle is experiencing performances one doesn’t get to see on a regular basis. This includes magic from highly respected performers who aren’t constantly popping up on the lineup of one in every three magic conventions, and—as with Hide from Japan (whom I wrote about in the June 2026 issue)—those who operate in another country or a similarly inaccessible location that prevents one from witnessing them in action. It was the latter case recently at The Castle when I saw Guy Hollingworth and Artem Shchukin during the same week.
Guy, hailing from England and a practicing barrister by trade, is known in the magic world as the author of the classic text Drawing Room Deceptions and the more recent follow-up, More Drawing Room Deceptions. In the mid-‘90s, Guy appeared on World’s Greatest Magic wherein he performed Reformation, his original torn-and-restored card effect in which he very visually restored the pieces of a signed and torn card one by one at his fingertips, and magicians lost their minds. Being a British barrister informs Guy’s performance style and patter. Always nattily dressed, his presentations are sophisticated and meticulous, but not without a hint of humor, and his routines are steeped with an intelligence that makes them complex, but entertainingly coherent.