Richard Kaufman

Richard Kaufman
Born	Richard Jeffrey Kaufman May 16, 1958 New York City, New York
Categories	Books by Richard Kaufman

Richard Kaufman (b.1958) is a prolific author, publisher, illustrator, and editor of books and magazines in the field of magic and is currently the publisher and editor of Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine.

Biography

Kaufman (pronounce Cowf-man) was born in New York City. He became interested in magic at age 5 after receiving some novelties from the S.S. Adams company sent by his uncle Alan Soffin. This was followed up by a gift of several magic books. Richard's father, Lewis C. Kaufman (president of B. Altman and Co.), also encouraged his interest by purchasing tricks at a magic shop, learning them, and demonstrating them to his son.

Richard slowly began spending time at several magic shops in New York City, among them Circle Magic run by Mike Tannen, Magic Center run by Russ Delmar, and Lou Tannen's Magic Shop run by the Tannen brothers Lou and Irv, and Tony Spina. By the age of 14 he was already inventing magic effects and he illustrated his first book at age 16 (Afterthoughts by Harry Lorayne).

He attended Queens College, and then New York University, graduating in 1981 with a double-major in both English and Acting (the latter after having studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting).

Cover of Genii (1987)

Kaufman illustrated many other books in the field through 1991, introducing a new style of cartoon-movement into technical magic illustration. He also began writing magic books, starting with the Interlocked Production of Coins in 1977. He self-published his first two modest books, then sought a partner for the financing required to publish larger books. Alan C. Greenberg, CEO of Bear Stearns, also a highly-respected amateur magician, brought the financing that Kaufman required and the company Kaufman and Greenberg was born. For the next 20 years it published many of the most highly-respected books in the field, capturing the sleight-of-hand methods and magic from many of the world's top magicians in printed form. In the mid-1990s, the business became Kaufman and Company and continued its successful publishing ventures.

In 1998, Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine—which had been run by the Larsen family of California since 1936, and which is the oldest continuously-published magazine in the field of magic—was purchased by Kaufman, his wife Elizabeth, and partners Jane and Daniel Solomon. Kaufman became editor in chief and president of The Genii Corporation and the magazine continues its publication, now in both printed and digital formats. Genii also operates The Genii Forum an internet discussion group open to all and MagicPedia, the largest online encyclopedia of magic.

As a highly-sought after author, Kaufman also wrote "The Project Magic Handbook" for David Copperfield; The tricks section in "Mindfreaks" for Criss Angel; "Knack Magic Tricks" for Globe Pequot Press; and numerous magic instructions for premium products offered by Royal Jello, Whisk, Burger King, and Coronet Paper Products.

Kaufman has appeared on the covers of Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine (1987); MAGIC (October 1993); M-U-M (2011) and has given presentations at numerous magic conferences including Magic-Con 2011.

Recognition of Kaufman's influence as a magic illustrator is described in The Art of Deception by Chuck Romano (1997) ISBN 0578007525.

Kaufman is also an avid Disney fan. He has visited all the Disney theme parks around the world and collects all sorts of Disney paraphernalia.

He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and daughter.

Awards and honors

• Milbourne Christopher Award (1995).
• Literary Fellowship from the Academy of Magical Arts (1998)
• J.N. Maskelyne Award from the Magic Circle (2001)
• Honorary life member of the Society of American Magicians
• President's citation from the International Brotherhood of Magicians

Bibliography

Periodicals

• 1978 Apocalypse (with Harry Lorayne, 1978)
• 1982 Richard's Almanac
• 1995 The Looking Glass
• 1999 Genii

Books Written, Illustrated and/or Published by Richard Kaufman

• 1973 Genesis Kings written by Fr. Brennan (trick)
• 1973 Rollover Aces written by Fr. Brennan (trick)
• 1975 Afterthoughts by Harry Lorayne (Illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1977 The Interlocked Production of Coins
• 1977 Balls! Lessons in Side Arm Snookery
• 1977 The Magic Book by Harry Lorayne (Illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1977 Return of the Bizarre Shrink manuscript by Paul Harris
• 1978 On the Up and Up
• 1978 The Real Secrets of The Three Ball Routines by Frank Garcia (Illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1978 The Card Classics of Ken Krenzel By Harry Lorayne (Illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1979 CoinMagic by Richard Kaufman Kaufman and Greenberg
• 1979 New Stars of Magic presents THE ULTIMATE INVISIBLE ASSEMBLY
• 1980 The Gene Maze Card Book
• 1980 The Very Best of Cups and Balls by Frank Garcia (Illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1980 Exclusive Card Miracles By Frank Garcia (Illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1981 CardMagic by Richard Kaufman
• 1981 CardWorks by Richard Kaufman
• 1982 Tom Mullica's AEROBIC (AUTOMATIC-ENTRY ROLL-OVER BILL-IN-CIGARETTE) by Richard Kaufman
• 1982 The Complete Works of Derek Dingle by Richard Kaufman
• 1982 The New York Magic Symposium - Collection 1
• 1982 The Elegant Card Magic of Fr. Cyprian by Frank Garcia (Illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1982 Kane (Illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1983 The New York Magic Symposium - Collection 2
• 1983 Richard's Almanac Volume 1 (Hardcover Reprint of Volume One)
• 1984 Abstract (Lecture Notes) By Richard Kaufman
• 1984 The Topit Book by Michael Ammar (Illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1985 David Roth's Expert Coin Magic by Richard Kaufman Kaufman and Greenberg
• 1985 Don England's Gaffed To The Hilt! By Jon Racherbaumer
• 1986 Sankey Panky Jay Sankey (bio) by Richard Kaufman Kaufman and Greenberg
• 1986 The Compleat Invocation, Vols. 1 & 2 (Tony Raven and Tony Andruzzi)
• 1986 Spirit Theater By Eugene Burger
• 1987 The Uncanny Scot: Ron Wilson Kaufman and Greenberg
• 1987 The Performance of Close-Up Magic By Eugene Burger
• 1987 Lim-Tricks By Jeff Sheridan
• 1987 Derek Dingle's Australian Poker (a giveaway when you bought a book)
• 1987 The New Jinx (Book) By Bill Madsen
• 1988 Apocalypse, Vol. 1 (Kaufman and Harry Lorayne)
• 1988 Darwin Ortiz at the Card Table by Darwin Ortiz Kaufman and Greenberg
• 1988 New Magic of Japan by Phil Goldstein and Kaufman Kaufman and Greenberg
• 1988 Sawa's Library of Magic, Vol. 1 Kaufman and Greenberg
• 1989 Williamson's Wonderson the work of David Williamson by Richard Kaufman
• 1989 The Secrets of Brother John Hamman by Richard Kaufman Kaufman and Greenberg
• 1989 The Experience of Magic (Eugene Burger)
• 1989 On The Pass (Video)
• 1990 100% Sankey by Richard Kaufman
• 1990 Gary Kurtz: Unexplainable Acts by Richard Kaufman
• 1990 The Amazing Miracles Of Shigeo Takagi By Richard Kaufman
• 1991 Life Savers By Michael Weber
• 1991 Strange Ceremonies By Eugene Burger
• 1991 Card Craft By J.K. Hartman
• 1991 Road Hustler By Robert Prus
• 1991 Houdini's Conjurers' Monthly Magazine (Reprint of Full File)
• 1991 Smoke and Mirrors By John Bannon
• 1992 Five Times Five: Japan by Richard Kaufman Kaufman and Greenberg
• 1992 The Collected Almanac (Reprint of All Three Volumes Plus Additional Material)
• 1992 The Compleat Invocation, Vol. 3 (Tony Andruzzi)
• 1992 Totally Out of Control By Chris Kenner
• 1992 Tom Mullica Starring in Show-Time at the Tom-Foolery By Richard Kaufman
• 1993 Beyond Compere By Terry Seabrooke
• 1993 Martin Gardner Presents By Martin Gardner
• 1993 Secrets Draun From Underground on the works of Steve Draun By Richard Kaufman
• 1993 Tarbell 8 (Harlan Tarbell, Steve Burton, Richard Kaufman)
• 1993 A Tarbell Scrapbook
• 1993 Ibidem, Vol 1 (reprint of issues 1-16 + color reproductions of covers)
• 1993 The Second Now You See It, Now You Don't! (Reprint of 1978 edition) by Bill Tarr
• 1993 Walt Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice (magic section illustrated by Kaufman)
• 1994 Greater Magic (John Northern Hilliard)
• 1994 Gene Maze and The Art of Bottom Dealing By Stephen Hobbs
• 1994 Paul Gertner's Steel and Silver
• 1994 Great Balloons! By Jean Merlin
• 1994 Strong Magic By Darwin Ortiz
• 1994 Mahatma (Reprint of Full File with Complete Index)
• 1995 Much Ado About Something By Karrell Fox
• 1995 Duffie's Card Compulsions By Peter Duffie
• 1995 Cardshark By Darwin Ortiz
• 1995 After Craft: More Card Trickery By J.K. Hartman
• 1995 The Discoverie of Witchcraft (Reprint, Reginald Scot)
• 1995 The Magic of Edward Victor's Hands By Rae Hammond
• 1995 The Magic of the Hands Trilogy By Edward Victor
• 1995 Facsimile 1 (Jon Racherbaumer)
• 1995 New Card Control Systems (Joseph K. Schmidt)
• 1996 Tom Mullica Lecture Notes (with Tom Mullica)
• 1996 Magie Duvivier By Jon Racherbaumer
• 1996 Lou Gallo: The Underground Man By (Kaufman and Mark Phillips)
• 1996 A Magician Among the Spirits (Unpublished First Draft by Harry Houdini)
• 1996 Séance) By Scott Davis
• 1996 Facsimile 2 (Jon Racherbaumer)
• 1996 Notes to Houdini!!! By Ken Silverman
• 1996 Stanyon's Magic (Reprint of Full File with Complete Index)
• 1996 Stanyon's Serial Lessons in Conjuring (Reprint of Full File)
• 1997 Jennings '67 by Richard Kaufman
• 1997 Arcade Dream: Ed Marlo By Jon Racherbaumer
• 1997 The Feints and Temps of Harry Riser By Ed Brown
• 1997 Folding Money Fooling By Robert Neale
• 1997 Greater Artful Dodges of Eddie Fields By Jon Racherbaumer
• 1997 Effortless Card Magic By Peter Duffie
• 1997 Facsimile 3 (Jon Racherbaumer)
• 1997 Charles Bertram: The Court Conjurer By Edwin Dawes
• 1997 Looking Glass (4 Issues edited by Kaufman, Racherbaumer, and Hobbs)
• 1997 Basic Basic Basic Card Technique (Video)
• 1998 The Book or Don't Forget to Point (Flicking Fingers)
• 1998 Vis a Vis: A Jack Avis Book By Jack Avis and John Derris
• 1998 The Mysteries of My Life: Rene Lavand By Kaufman and Lavand
• 1998 Street Magic (Reprint, Jeff Sheridan and Edward Claflin)
• 1998 Five Times Five: Scotland By Peter Duffie
• 1998 The Now You See It, Now You Don't! Notebook By Bill Tarr
• 1998 Stodare: The Enigma Variations By Edwin Dawes
• 1999 Trickery Treats by J.K. Hartman
• 1999 Artistic and Magical Life of Bob Kline By Bill King
• 1999 Genii. The Conjurors' Magazine (Edited by Kaufman as of Jan.1 1999)
• 2000 Mastering the Art of Magic By Eugene Burger
• 2000 Facsimile 4 (Jon Racherbaumer)
• 2000 Other Voices: Ventriloquism from BC to TV By Stanley Burns
• 2001 The Lost Notebooks of John Northern Hilliard
• 2002 Sexy Magic By James Hodges
• 2002 Stanley Collins, Conjuror, Collector and Iconoclast By Edwin Dawes
• 2003 David Copperfield's The Project Magic Handbook (for Project Magic)
• 2005 Seriously Silly By David Kaye
• 2005 One Hundred by Warlock By Elizabeth Warlock, Published by The Genii Corporation)
• 2006 The Vernon Touch By Dai Vernon, Published by The Genii Corporation)
• 2007 Mindfreak by Criss Angel and Richard Kaufman (Trick Section) ISBN 0061137618
• 2010 Knack Magic Tricks: A Step-by-Step Guide to Illusions, Sleight of Hand, and Amazing Feats (Photographs by Elizabeth Kaufman and Foreword by David Copperfield)
• 2011 The Berglas Effects
• 2013 Japan Ingenious (Close-Up Magic of Japan)
• 2015 TENYO-ISM, "The" big book on Tenyo
• 2016 The Secrets of So Sato by So Sato and Richard Kaufman
• 2016 Super Sized Silly by David Kaye
• 2018 Theodore DeLand Mystery and Madness
• 2020 Mr. Jennings Takes it Easy

Abandoned publications

• The Jennings Letter (1993)

Future books

Books that Kaufman has announced:

• Mr. Jennings Takes It Tough
• The Magic of Tomo Maeda
• The Magic of Tenkai
• Rene Lavand Redux
• Book of Jules Lenier's work (most likely as an ebook)
• Michael Skinner: In His Own Words, a Mike Skinner audio project
• A book on Lubor Fiedler
• A book with Dani DaOrtiz was announced in 2014. Will be one large volume that combines his theories on magic and psychology with more tricks than are in the Spanish editions.
• A book on coin magic with Miguel Angel Gea
• A rewrite of Cliff Green's Professional Card Magic

See Also

• Genii Magazine

References

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