Al Stevenson

Al Stevenson
Born	Alwyn Stevenson September 1, 1916 Chicago, Illinois
Died	January 2, 1966 (age 49) Maesapequa Park, New York
Resting place	Long Island National Cemetery
Categories	Books by Al Stevenson

Al "King" Stevenson (1916-1966), well-known for his handling of the Stripper Deck, was a magician, hypnotist, and magic dealer.

Biography

Stevenson was a Past President of The Wizards' Club of Chicago, the Manipulators of Chicago, and of three hypnotic societies. He was later a member of S.A.M. Assembly No. 77.

After his service years in the United States military, Steven­son worked as a performer, teacher, author and magic dealer. During his stay in California, he traveled with a carnival as a pitch-man. As a teacher he was founder of The Illinois Institute of Hypnotic Re­search and The California Society of Hypnotists.

He was a magic demonstrator in 13 magic shops, two of which he owned. One of his early jobs was in the Dell O'Dell Shop in Hollywood. For four and a half years he was the owner of The Wizard's Shop in the New York Subway Times Square Station. He then became a partner in The Wizards' Work Shop of Massa­pequa, a mail-order and wholesale distributor of magical specialties. He made Sponge Balls and other compressible items. Stevenson devised a process for making perfect spheres from the polyurethane foam, which Albert Goshman would later improved the process.

He aided in the rehabilitation of many children at Bellevue Hospital through his work with the "Therapy Through Magic" Committee of S.A.M.

During the last years of his life, he was an Associate Editor of Hugard's Magic Monthly.

At the time of his passing Bernard Gelman was working with Stevenson on his biography, which was to include details of his adventures during the Spanish Civil War and counter-intelligence exploits for the United States Military during World War II.

Books

• A Complete Course in Hypnosis
• 75 Tricks with a Stripper Deck
• 75 Tricks with the Svengali Deck