Max Malini
Max Malini | |
---|---|
File:Max Malini magician.png | |
Occupation | Magician |
Max Malini (born Max Katz Breit, 1873 – died October 3, 1942) was a Jewish illusionist who at his peak performed for several US Presidents, had command performances at Buckingham Palace, and received gifts from monarchs across Europe and Asia. Magicians are said to revere him for his skill and bold accomplishments.
Career
Malini's performance style was marked by great audacity. For instance, he would often walk up to people of great celebrity and, unannounced, simply bite a button from their cuffs and magically restore it. He would also borrow a gentleman's hat for a coin effect, where he would cover the coin and attempt to make it flip over. This he would fail to do, but would finish by lifting the hat to reveal a block of ice under the hat, barely large enough to fit.[1]
Max Malini was born in the small town of Ostrov[disambiguation needed] on the borders of Poland and Austria. At a young age, he emigrated to the US with his family, settling in New York City. He studied juggling at age twelve, but under the tutelage of Professor Seiden[who?] he began his studies of magic when he was fifteen. As he grew older, he began performing in bars. As his reputation grew, he would sell tickets to see a private show in his hotel room. He specialized in close-up magic, performing with coins and card magic.
He died in Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 3, 1942. He had been in poor health for some time and his last performances were done sitting in a chair.
Other references
- Malini was referenced in the Season 7 episode of The X-Files titled "The Amazing Maleeni".
- The TV show The Cape had a regular character by this name, played by Keith David.
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- All articles with links needing disambiguation
- Articles with links needing disambiguation from December 2013
- All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases
- Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from January 2010
- 1873 births
- 1942 deaths
- American Jews
- American magicians
- Polish emigrants to the United States
- People from Honolulu, Hawaii
- Professional magicians