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Herb Zarrow

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Herb Zarrow
BornHerbert G. Zarrow
November 04, 1925
Paterson, New Jersey
DiedMay 11, 2008 (age 82)
Resting placeCedar Park Cemetery, Paramus, New Jersey
Known forZarrow Shuffle

Herb Zarrow (1925-2008) was an American magician, who was influential in the profession for his inventions of unique sleight of hand and card tricks. Best known for his Zarrow Shuffle, his skills are held in the highest regard in professional magicians' circles. A large book about him was published in 2008 and written by David Ben, titled Zarrow: A Lifetime of Magic.

Biography

Zarrow credited Dai Vernon for changing his outlook on magic which was described in The Vernon Chronicles, Vol. 3.

He is most noted for his Zarrow Shuffle which he originally called "Full Deck False Shuffle" around 1940 and eventually published it in 1957 in Phoenix magazine. This sleight has been called one of the best card discoveries of the 20th century. Persi Diaconis in his introduction to Dai Vernon's Revelations wrote: "Zarrow's shuffle may very well be the single most important practical card move invented since Erdnase." The Shuffle and it's history were the cover story of the Genii 2008 February issue.

Zarrow contributed many routines and sleights to publications including the Tarbell Course in Magic, Modern Coin Magic and The Linking Ring

He created: Herb Zarrow's Switch Change (in Tarbell Seven), Herb Zarrow's Trapeze, Herb Zarrow Retention Pass, Zarrow Block Addition, Starfish Copper/Silver (in CoinMagic by Richard Kaufman), Matched Revolvers, Universal Count Grip (which appeared in the September 1995 issue of M-U-M) and Zarrow's Revolving Aces. It is believed that Mr. Zarrow was also the first to create a Double and Multiple Buckle.

Zarrow appeared on the April, 2001 cover of The Linking Ring after being honored at the 2001 annual Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic convention for a lifetime of contributions and achievements. [1][2][3][4][5]

Published routines

Honors and Awards

References

  1. http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=165335
  2. http://www.magictimes.com/archives/2001/2001-04-25-spotlight.htm
  3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarrow_shuffle
  4. Obit Genii 2008 July
  5. Obit Herald News on May 13, 2008 [1]
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