Long well-known to the underground cognoscenti, this may be the breakout year for Denis Behr. Last November, he was one of the first performers at Brooklyn’s prestigious new boutique magic venue, 69 Atlantic, with sold-out shows and multiple standing ovations, garnering him a favorable mention in The New York Times. This past July in Turin, Italy, he was recognized with the Max Maven FISM Award for History, Research & Scholarship for his Conjuring Archive website. Who is he really, this teutonic titan of pasteboard prestidigitation?
His father was an Olympic swordsman, winning a silver medal in épée fencing at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, but Denis Behr never wielded a sword himself… not even a card sword! He once had a library of over 3,000 magic books, but got rid of half of them… just to make room for more! Although he stands more than 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 209 pounds, his primary assistant—a rubber band named Herbert—weighs less than an ounce. Where others give their new decks eight out-faro shuffles to maintain new-deck order, he gives his deck 52 in-faro shuffles instead.
He might just be the most interesting man in magic.