John Lovick begins his great cover story with an obvious point: It’s damned unusual for a magician to have a successful, 50-year career in front of the public. In fact, Penn & Teller probably don’t need much more praise, or endorsement, or explanation beyond that stark fact. They did it. But you’re about to read how they did it, early in their careers. It was with a surprising mix of popular culture and counter-culture, of playing the parts of the heroes and the villains. There’s no one better than John Lovick to tell this story; he’s been researching their work and collaborating with the team for years. Don’t miss this amazing bit of history: “Penn & Teller: From the Beginning.”
The story is perfectly supported by some recent history, a peek at the behind-the-scenes personalities and procedures that define the Penn & Teller television series, Fool Us. It’s written by our editor at large Chloe Olewitz, who was employed as an associate package producer—working on the video segments about contestants—on season 7 of the show. For an insider’s view of how the show gets produced, turn to “Fool Us Made this Magic Moment.”
In addition to those special stories, I’d point out the magic pages, In Practice, where the Spanish sleight-of-hand magician Sara Rodríguez invites you to a conversation about the Tabled Faro—a notoriously delicate, difficult, and decisive example of card handling. Even if you never try it, her description (translated by Noah Levine) is appropriately quirky and completely fascinating—a little work of art about this maneuver. Sara Rodríguez: “My Take on the Tabled Faro Shuffle.”
Last month we were informed of the death of Eberhard Riese, “Ebs” to his friends. I was lucky to have known him through my friendship with several German magicians. He was a creative powerhouse—a quiet, masterful teacher and director who guided many magicians to successful, award-winning acts and important careers in magic. Topas, his good friend and protégé, kindly wrote this month’s obituary for Genii. In corresponding with me, Topas shared a story about the relentless rehearsals that went into his first manipulation act:
During that time, Ebs visited the house where I lived with my parents many times a week. He would lie on the floor of our living room, watching for body loads peeking out from under the jacket. I remember how he trained me to smile on command. This was tough for me. Ebs pointed out a wooden statue on the wall of our living room, a beautiful naked lady in an elegant position. Ebs said: “Look at her, now smile!” I never asked my parents why they kept this statue on the wall, but it certainly helped my rehearsals.
For July, Shawn McMaster and Krystyn Lambert wrote about a very special anniversary. The AMA Junior Society is celebrating their 50th year. (We might wonder what was happening in 1975 that managed to team Penn with Teller, and Diana with Cary Grant!) Krystyn offered a final “ta-dah” by writing about the whole experience first-hand: what it was like to be one of the lucky ones who made it into the club.
When Blake Vogt began his surprising and popular column for Genii, he quickly roped me in. This month Do Not Pass Go, the trick we created in an hour, is described. The process was a lot of fun, mostly because Blake is so easy to work with and is so wonderfully creative. He has successfully made me feel guilty for ever idling away an hour on some worthless diversion—watching television or browsing through a bookstore. From now on, I’ll tell myself, “Wow, that could have been a new trick!”
I interviewed Blake about the process for his month’s Genii Speak, and he has some very interesting things to say about how he thinks about magic. Be sure to visit this month’s Genii Speak video.
Also there, you’ll find my interview with Annanya George in Dubai, who talked about his approach to magic, his challenges, and some of his experiments in the art. His column also appears in this month’s magazine, and you should follow the link to his amazing video projects.
If you’ve never met either of these magicians… just find click here for Blake Vogt and here for Annanya George. If you have met them, I know you won’t need to be told twice. You’ve already clicked.
Finally, don’t miss the special insights sprinkled through the month of July. You’ll get a chance to stand at the magic counter with teenaged David Regal. (I suspect it’s a little bit like standing at the magic counter with grown-up David Regal.) You’ll have a front row seat for Inés’ close-up performance. You’ll join Jason Bishop’s touring show. You’ll share a conversation with actor Rich Sommer, and the questions and answers from the brilliant magician Billy Kidd, pictured below.
And, although “push-button” magic is generally considered a vague sort of insult about mechanical tricks, you might turn to the back of the magazine, where John Gaughan explains the astonishing push-button masterpiece created and performed by one of the masters of sleight of hand, Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser.
In our department of Corrections, we’ve tried to be very careful about magic credits, especially when we’re discussing new ideas that can quickly fly back and forth in some of our columns. But we’ve now been made aware of a few “deep bows” that should have been offered. Shortly after we published Tony Chang’s Vanishes a Dime in the May 2025 issue, Tony got in touch to say that after more than 12 years of performing and thinking about this effect, he’d forgotten that the core trick and presentation were originated by his close friend Eric Hu. Thank you, Tony, for adding this credit (and for guiding us through your bits of finesse, including the reset technique). Thanks to Eric, too, for being extremely gracious and understanding.
Also, if you were intrigued by Blake Vogt and Dan White’s Gaffed Blindfold in the April 2025 issue, Yuki Kadoya pointed out a more elaborate precedent, a pin-hole blindfold with tape. That’s Toru Suzuki’s Para-Sight. It’s published in Wizardism—The Collected Works of Toru Suzuki (Tenkai Prize Series No. 27. by Tomoyuki Shimomura, published by Tenkai Prize Committee, 1995).
Technology. Sheesh. (Be sure to read Billy Kidd’s opinion of technology in magic.) I wrote a book about the American author Charles Fort, who was a true contrarian and avoided technology. In the 1930s, he wrote, “Whoever discovered the uses of coal was a benefactor of all mankind, and most damnably something else. Automobiles, and their seemingly indispensable services—but automobiles and crime and a million exasperations. There are persons who think they see the clear advantages in the use of a telephone—then the telephone rings.”
But we can’t avoid technology. We’re about to embark on an important part of our evolution with our new website. Watch for geniimagic.com announcements in the magazine. It will be a site that brings the entire world of Genii to our readers—indeed, the entire world of magic. It’s been a lot of work, and it’s been fascinating watching the process.
So yes… you can concentrate on the wiring, the relays, the telephones, the repair people, the busy signal… but as I might have told Charles Fort, when it actually rings, go ahead and pick it up. Because someone wants to talk to you. In addition to our magazine, we know this is going to be an exciting part of our future.