- Lou Lancaster
Lou Lancaster (born Louis Lancaster McClung,
October 31 ,1936 -July 5 ,2008 ) was an Americanmagician andauthor .His 1984 book "Tricks Of The Trade: A Professional Looks at Commercial Closeup Magic" OCLC 12995877 [edited by Phyllis Guggenheim ; photos by Lou Lancaster & Phyllis Guggenheim] explained many techniques of
close-up magic , and he appeared in several instructional videos produced by theInternational Magicians Society .Lancaster performed at the
Magic Castle eighteen times.----Lou served as the house magician for Magic Island for over 2 years. There he and Phyllis Guggenheim created the séance room.
• Performed 18 engagements at the Magic Castle (engagements are typically 1 week in length), Harvey's Casino & Hotel in Lake Tahoe (Performing Chop Chop's act as Chan Lu, "The Charlie Chan Of Magic", the Moulin Rouge in San Francisco & the Capitol Inn in Sacramento, FINNOCHIO'S CLUB in San Francisco, Mostly Magic, The Magic Towne House, the Club Ibis and was the resident magician at Brown's Hotel in the Catskills
• Lou was the co-owner of a magic shop on Highland & Franklin.
• Lou invented his version of the vanishing bird cage and advertised it in the Linking Ring Rag.
• Lou and Phyllis Guggenheim were one of the first to put out videos on magic in the early 1980s.
Lou’s magic book, "Tricks of the Trade," was originally printed on an off-set press in his living room! (Following in the footsteps of Guy Jarrett) Through the years, Lou continued making videos and writing about magic.
• Lou is credited by Jeff McBride for providing him with techniques he uses to this day as well as his first professional engagement. (See the video of Lou’s broken wand ceremony with Jeff McBride and his comments)
• Lou made several instructional videos produced by Tony Hassini of IMS International Magicians SocietyThis information was verified by his partner Phyllis Guggenheim Witter and may be authenticated by contacting her via email at allinoneent@cox.net. External links
* [http://www.loulancaster.com/INDEX.html Official site]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKqaifYC-Pg Magician Lou Lancaster Broken Wand Ceremony with Jeff McBride] Documentation of the above facts was published in Magic and Genii Magazines in September of 2008;The linking ring is a magazine for magicians.
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