Lawrence Hass

Lawrence Hass
Born	Lawrence Robert Hass 1960
Website	http://www.lawrencehass.com/

Dr. Lawrence Hass, Ph.D., is an American magician, philosopher, and Dean of McBride’s Magic & Mystery School. He is well known as the “Philosopher Magician”. He has won multiple awards as a performer, writer, and inspirational teacher of magic.

Biography

Dr. Hass was born in 1960.

As a boy and teen, his primary interests were in music and theater. He became interested in magic when he saw David Copperfield fly on television in 1994. Shortly thereafter, he met Eugene Burger, and they became close friends and eventually show partners and collaborators on programs, lectures, and books.

After earning his Ph.D. in 1991, Dr. Hass joined the faculty at Muhlenberg College (Allentown, PA) where he taught philosophy and then, later, magic performance classes for 18 years. He founded and produced the Theory of Art and Magic Program at Muhlenberg College, the first ever college-level program designed to celebrate magic as universal performing art and fundamental human phenomenon. The program was offered for 10 years (1999-2009).

After meeting Eugene Burger, in 1995, Eugene introduced him to Jeff McBride and Max Maven. All three of these master magicians would have a profound impact on Larry’s career in magic.

In 2009, Dr. Hass left Muhlenberg College and joined the faculty of Austin College as a Professor of Humanities. In 2010, he retired from acadamic scholarship and classroom teaching to pursue magic full time as a performer, teacher, author, and publisher. In 2010. he joined the faculty of McBride’s Magic & Mystery School in Las Vegas, where he served as Associate Dean from 2008 to 2017. In 2017, shortly after the passing of Eugene Burger, Dr. Hass succeeded Burger as the Dean of the Magic & Mystery School.

Dr. Hass is a prolific author and has collaborated with other magicians on numerous magic books, many of which have been published by his Theory and Art of Magic Press (founded in 2007). After the publication of his first magic book in 2007, Transformations, he has traveled the world performing his artistic magic at nightclubs, theaters, universities, public conferences, corporate events, and countless magic convention. He is widely recognized as a masterful teacher of magic.

He has performed at many prestigious venues, including ten bookings at the world-famous Magic Castle. In 2019, he premiered his full-evening show Magical Life in Memphis, TN, and from May 2023-July 2023, he reprised the show for an acclaimed extended run at the Rhapsody Theater in Chicago, IL.

Books, Essays, and Collaborations

• Transformations: Creating Magic Out of Tricks (2007)
• Gift Magic: Performances the Leave People with a Souvenir (editor and author) (2010)
• The Show Doctor: New routines, Expert Advice, and Other Prescriptions for Better Magic (with Jeff McBride) (2012).
• INDEX-terity: A Revolutionary Approach to a Powerful Tool (with George Parker) (2012)
• Deep Mental Mysteries (2012)
• The Trilogy of Magic by Robert E. Neale (editor) (2012-2014)
• Inspirations: Performing Magic with Excellence (2015)
• Teaching Magic: a book for Students and Teachers of the Art (with Eugene Burger) (2017)
• Life Magic: Ideas and Mysteries (2018)
• Performing Magic with Impact (with George Parker) (2018)
• Eugene Burger: From Beyond (with additional material by Eugene Burger) (2019)
• Wandcraft: Making and Using a Magic Wand by Judge Gary Brown (editor) (2020)
• Magic Inside Out (with Robert E. Neale) (2021)
• Eugene Burger: Final Secrets (with additional material by Eugene Burger) (2021)
• Eugene Burger: The Workshop Transcripts (2013)

Awards and Honors

• Recipient of Essay of the Year for the “Illusion of Technique” from the International Brotherhood of Magicians, 1997
• Awarded the Howard Bamman Trophy for “Best Series” in The Linking Ring magazine. 2000-2001.
• Recipient of a Presidential Citation from The International Brotherhood of Magicians, for achievement as a performer, teacher, writer, and publisher of magic, 2018.
• Recipient of a Presidential Citation from the Society of American Magicians, for achievement as a performer and teacher of magic, 2021.
• Recipient of the Allan Slaight Sharing Secrets Award (2022) for his book Eugene Burger: Final Secrets
• Recipient of the 2024 Andruzzi Award at Poe’s Magic Conference (Baltimore, MD)

References

• Magic, The Magazine for Magicians, Vol. 9, No. 8, April 2000, A New Liberal Art? by Roy Jonston, page 46
• Cover, The Linking Ring, Vol. 88, No. 6, June 2008, Dr. Lawrence Hass: The Academics of Magic, by Jason Goldberg, page 34
• https://www.rhodes.edu/content/dr-lawrence-hass

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