September Mailbox

Those cards in Hofzinser’s machine; that dealer in San Francisco

Genii Editors
September Mailbox

Hofzinser’s Machine

It was super cool to see John Gaughan’s column on Hofzinser’s Card Automation (July 2025). What a treat! As your resident card nerd, I noticed that the cards in the photo were a modern French-made Grimaud deck, a company that was around in Hofzinser’s age, the 1840s and ‘50s. Hofzinser had a strong preference for Austrian cards from Anton Moser, Johann Georg Steiger, and the firm that later became Piatnik (Carl Titze & Schinkay). It’s interesting that most of these makers are still producing cards today. I love geeking over the details of this effect. Thank you to John for sharing it.

—Lee Asher 

John Gaughan responds: Thanks, Lee, for the note on the cards. It’s great to get your input on those historical decks. It was difficult to find cards that fit the mechanism properly, and I always look for cards that have some “age” to them, so they’re not a glaring white next to the beautiful old brass. That French deck worked well, but in the shop, we geek out over the gears and springs.

Great Columns, Sometimes Too Small 

I really like Rafael Benatar’s columns. 

—André Garré 

I’ve been captivated by the “Inventing Magic” column by Blake Vogt. It’s a home run. The collaborators are some of the top names and minds in the field of magic and, in an era where magicians are just copying from everyone else, this is an example of how to create original, unique magic, with just a little extra thinking and a little extra work. Bravo to Blake and I hope that it inspires other magicians.

—Benjamin Budzak

I really appreciate Genii more than ever. I enjoy Matt Pritchard and Vanessa Armstrong and all the curated content; I also like the tone that Jim Steinmeyer takes in his pieces, fresh and classy at the same time. Your editors are doing a great job. One tiny issue: The new format is sometimes harder to read without glasses.

—Markus Pfeil 

Thanks to readers for comments and suggestions. You’re going to see a variety of viewpoints cycling through the magazine as we’re giving ourselves a few extra pages of content. We agree, and we’re very proud of columnists who take on complicated, intriguing subjects in a seemingly effortless burst of creativity. Markus, yes, we sometimes adjust font size on some stories, and this can give you trouble with reading glasses. For example, the Jason Alexander interview that closes this issue is filled with his great answers. We put a little extra text on that page, and you’ll find even more text online, where the full answers have been published. That reminds us… since you subscribe to Genii, you automatically get access to geniimagic.com, our new online edition. This is a device-friendly, searchable platform with modern tools, including managing font size. We’ll continue doing our best!

Crediting Joe Pon

Thank you for featuring Joe Pon and Misdirections Magic Shop. Joe is a lovely man who radiates positivity. It’s been a pleasure to be his customer over the years.

—Kenn Fong 

Busted or Fooled?

I am truly enjoying your handiwork with the magic magazine I’ve been reading since the early 1970s. You’re doing a wonderful job without my suggestions from the peanut gallery, but how about an article featuring the real dirt on tales of professional magicians being “busted” during important performances, and how they recovered from such mishaps? My unconfirmed hunch is the real pros work past these situations.

—Rick Bagley 

That’s a good question, Rick. I suspect you’re right. The magicians I’ve worked with all got to a point—in terms of performance and experience— where those challenges seem to fall away. On the other hand, some audiences are “pretend- fooled,” not impressed by any of the magic, but nodding politely rather than engaging with the performance. Imagine the Sliding Die Box and the kids purring, “No, that’s OK. We don’t need to see the other side.” That’s a plug for one of this month’s articles, a celebration of audiences who believe that they’ve “won.”

📬 Have something to tell us?

We encourage your comments, suggestions, and prohibitions. Reach us with the speed of email at editors@geniimagazine.com. We are, as the original genie insisted, here to serve.

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Genii Editors
MailboxNewsSeptember 2025