Andre Kole

Andre Kole
Cover of Genii (1959)
Born	Robert John Gurtler, Jr. September 30, 1936 Phoenix, AZ
Died	October 17, 2022 (age 86)

André Kole (b.1936-d.2022) is an American magician and inventor of magical effects. He is also a committed Christian and is a public speaker for the evangelical group Campus Crusade for Christ International.

Biography

Inspired to take up magic at the age of seven after seeing a performance by Moxo the Magician (Mark E. Barker). By the time he was 20 he was performing his Table of Death trick on the national network television show You Asked For It.

He has performed throughout the United States and in 79 countries of the world. He has made special televised appearances that aired in 40 countries.

Among the illusions Kole is credited with devising are the Squeeze Box illusion (licensed to builder John Gaughan), and the Head Mover illusion (as performed by David Copperfield and Kirby Van Birch).

In addition to his performances, he has spent more than 20 years investigating psychic phenomena and controversial mysteries. As a part of his elaborate stage production, Kole exposes some of the fraudulent and deceitful hoaxes that he has investigated and reveals the truth behind transcendental levitation, dematerialization, the Bermuda Triangle mystery, the occult and communication with the dead and much more. He was reported in 2003 as offering 1 million dollars to the Rev. Dr. Donald Stewart if Stewart could prove a statement made in the Jamaican newspaper the Jamaica Gleaner that Satan gives supernatural powers.

He states on his website that he does not perform the classic trick of pulling a rabbit from a hat because he is allergic to rabbits.

He is the father of illusionist Tim Kole.

Awards and honors

• Al Sharpe Award for Originality in Presentation from the Texas Association of Magicians (1955)
• Inventor of the Decade by the International Magicians Society

Books

• André Kole with Jerry MacGregor, Mind Games: Exposing today's psychics, frauds and false spiritual phenomena, pub. Harvest House (February 1998), ISBN 978-1565078260
• André Kole and Terry Holley, Astrology and psychic phenomena, Published: Grand Rapids, Mich., Zondervan, (c.1998), ISBN 0310489210 (pbk.)

References

This page incorporated content from Andre Kole, a page hosted on Wikipedia. Please consult the history of the original page to see a list of its authors. Therefor, this article is also available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

• Official Website
• Cover, Genii Magazin, Vol. 23, No. 12, August 1959, OUR COVER, Review, page 438
• Cover, Genii Magazin, Vol. 43, No. 11, November 1979, Andre Kole, Some Bits of History, by Bert Easley, page 757
• Article Genii 1979 December
• Cover, The Linking Ring, Vol. 83, No. 4, April 2003, OUR COVER, André Kole, Creator and Master Illusionist, by E. Cooper Taylor III, page 51