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George Sands
| George Sands | |
 Cover of Genii (1992) | |
| Born | February 27, 1920 New London, Connecticut |
|---|---|
| Died | May 16, 2006 (age 86) Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin |
George Sands (b.1920-d.2006) began practicing magic at the age of 17 and was an active member of New York City magic scene with the guidance of Dr. Abe Hurwitz, the father of Shari Lewis (and Lamb Chop).
Biography
Sands joined the Legerdemainiacs, with notable peers such as George Schindler, Frank Garcia, Howard Schwarzman, and Ken Krenzel.[1]
He worked for Tannen 's Magic with Lou and Mike Tannen and at Royal Magic for Morris Fox.
Just before World War II, George developed his highly successful "Sandsational Rope" routine (https://georgesandsmagic.com); then, during WW2, he developed Sands' Ropsational. This variation used no scissors and didn't cut up the rope, among other great magical mysteries, to entertain his buddies in the trenches.
Sands' publication of his routine "Super Optical Illusion" in Hugard's Magic Monthly in June 1946 was an inspiration for many packet tricks that followed where faces and backs change numerous times.
Jean Hugard published his card masterpiece "A Poker Nightmare" in 1949, and George first published his now classic rope routines "SandSational Rope" (first published in 1949) and "RopeSational" (published 1961) have been performed by thousands of magicians including Jeff McBride, Mac King, David Copperfield and Dick Cavett, who performed it on the Johnny Carson Show. Daryl & Michael Finney used it as the base of his rope routine, as did many others.
He was republished in 2009 by his son, Alan Sands, under the title "George Sands Ropes" as a book and accompanying DVD.
Sands, with over 800 pages of original magic routines, moves, and tricks in a total of 17 booklets, was the first person to publish a substantial book on balloon sculpture, "The Encyclopedic Balloon Modeling Courses, Volumes 1 and 2" (in 1972 and 1973). His culmination of material can be found in his seven booklets, "50 Years Of Magic."
Sands also created the Pot Belly Decks of cards, which work like stripper decks but are set for one specific trick.[2][3]
Family
Sands' oldest daughter, Robin Sands Fife, has run a talent agency (All-Star Showgrams) and has been an actress in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1979. Robin has four children who are involved in the performing arts; Ashlee Fife has performed on Broadway; Cameron Fife writes screenplays and works in multiple productions in Hollywood, California; Malcolm Fife does post-production sound for major motion pictures including Lucas Films and Disney; Bernadette Fife manages a College theater in San Jose.
George's son, Alan Sands, is a full-time comedy magician and hypnotist. (https://alansands.com)
George's widow, Arlene Sands, passed away in 2011.
Legacy
Alan Sands is currently selling George Sands' magic books and creations on line. they can be found at: GeorgeSandsMagic.com
References
- ↑ http://www.ibmring21.org/famous.html
- ↑ Cover Genii Magazine, Vol. 55, No. 5. March 1992, George Sands "Mr. Sandsational," by Arlene Sands, page 309
- ↑ MAGIC PRODUCTS by GEORGE SANDS
- M-U-M, Vol 81, No. 8, January 1992, Thoughts from our Presidents, George Sands, page 26
- The Linking Ring, Vol. 86, No. 7, July 2006, Broken Wand, George Sands, page 127
- M-U-M, Vol. 96, No. 2, July 2006, Broken Wands, George “Sandsational” Sands, by Alan Sands with Jay Alexander, page 33
- M-U-M, Vol. 97, No. 6, Nov 2007, I’ve Said it Before, by Howard Schwarzman, George Sands, page 88