Louis Lam

Louis Lam
Born	July 31, 1903 Amsterdam, Holland
Died	March 20, 1943 (age 39) Sobibor, Poland
Nationality	Dutch
Categories	Books by Louis Lam

Louis Lam (1903-1943) was a Jewish magician, born and raised in Amsterdam Holland where he learned the job of a Trade Correspondent.

Biography

He was a partner of fellow Dutch magician Henk Vermeyden. Louis was also a friend and great admirer of The Great Levante and became a member of the London's "Institute of Magicians".

Lam was co-founder of the Dutch magical magazine TRIKS. The first edition of TRIKS, the magical monthly, appeared in April 1941 until 1943 until forbidden by the Germans.

In 1943,during the height of World War II, Louis was seen for the last time in Holland. At that time, he was required by the Nazis to document the Jews rounded up for deportation. In the end, he is also arrested by Nazi police and deported to the "transit camp" at Westerbork in Holland and then sent to the Sobibor concentration camp in Poland where he later dies.

David Berglas stated about Louis Lam in a Genii 2007 May article that: "He was a partner of Henk Vermeyden, the Dutch dealer, who we heard years later was anti-Semitic and somehow 'acquired' Louis Lam's props which then appeared in Kalanag's show. That was the story that made the rounds at the time.

Books by Louis Lam

• Brunel White Presents Would You Believe It? (1935)
• Watch Me Closely (1937), L. Davenport & Co. "A number of card tricks and effects exactly suited to your needs" - Chiefly mental effects and tricks with cards.
• Be Deceived (1939) L. Davenport & Co.

Marketed Tricks

• "Mentalla" (1937?) - This is a pamphlet of eight printed pages explaining a mental effect. By the ingenious system explained in this book, the magician can discover the playing cards six different people have chosen.

Contributions

• Fast Ones by Joe Ovette and Louis Lam (1940)
• Expert Card Mysteries By Alton Sharpe (1969)
• TELEVISION ACES by Ian Adair (Inspired by Stanley Collins and Louis Lam.)

Products

• The Film Star "Magicmentality" Effect Devised by Louis Lam. Perfected by Brunei White (1935)
• Eyepopper

References

• New Phoenix no. 353, January 1961, page 242.
• Hannes Höller "European Jewish Magicians, 1933 - 1945". Trans. Colin Bierton. Dusseldorf, Germany: 1999
• Genii 1945 November
• Whaley, Bart. Who's Who in Magic, An International Biographical Guide From Past to Present. Wallace, Idaho: Jeff Busby Magic, Inc., 1991
• Genii Forum
• Holocaust timeline
• Westerbork camp

Special thanks to the Conjuring Arts Research Center's searchable database,AskAlexander, in researching this topic.