And often, when he explained those methods in a lecture, you would be both delighted, and astonished again, at the ingenious nature of the methods. John Cornelius was a master at fooling magicians. It was a feat few magicians could duplicate, and an experience that I, and many of my peers, enthusiastically looked forward to at every available opportunity. Few in the history of magic could match him in the combination of these two categories of skills.Īs an extremely popular convention presence of the era, you could rest assured that in seeing a Cornelius performance or lecture, you would be thoroughly fooled, and repeatedly so. What’s more, Cornelius was not only a remarkable inventor of ingenious mechanical methods and secret devices, but he was also an accomplished sleight-of-hand technician and creator. His record of invention is unmatched when it comes to innovative close-up magic. He was a rare magical creator whose competition act was comprised almost entirely of originally invented methods-some of which also served as the workings of original magical effects. But most extraordinarily at that year’s contest, John Cornelius took first prize in Close-Up Card Magic, making him the first (and I believe only) performer in the history of the competition to be awarded first prize in both Close-Up Magic and Close-Up Card Magic.Īlthough contest outcomes are often dubious and debatable, no one ever second guessed Cornelius’s awards. The Americans would continue their victory march in 1985 in Madrid with all three prizes in Close-Up Magic taken by Paul Gertner, Johnny “Ace” Palmer, and Michael Weber winning First, Second, and Third place, respectively. He was also on the leading edge of the American invasion that would sweep top awards at FISM in 1982 at Lausanne with Americans Michael Ammar, Daryl, and Lance Burton, who each won Close-Up Magic, Close-Up Card Magic, and the Grand Prix, respectively. Indeed, at the 1979 FISM competition in Brussels, Cornelius took first prize in Close-Up Magic, possibly the first Americans to do so. ![]() ![]() As a young man, Cornelius picked up a college degree in air conditioning design (a career path he shared with Derek Dingle), but quickly switched to his first passion-magic-a field in which he would become internationally renowned and celebrated. I was saddened to learn last week of the death of John Cornelius, an award-winning close-up magician and brilliant inventor of original magic, whose star shone most brightly in the magic world in the Seventies and Eighties.īorn in 1948 in Lamesa, Texas, a whisper of his origins could always be heard in the gentle Texan drawl of this charming professional performer.
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