Sublime

He also performed Unshuffled, an effect he created that bowled over Penn & Teller on their television show Penn & Teller: Fool Us. The deck’s edge is drawn on with black marker and, after shuffling a few times, the scribbles magically transform into letters that spell out the spectator’s chosen card. He also performed Namerology, my favorit

My planned trick was Angle Zero (widely known as Angle Z), an effect that Madison had invented. It was actually one of his claims to fame—a trick that has been touted as one of the most influential card routines of the past decade, and solidified Madison’s place in the hierarchy of magic’s elite creators.

My favorite videos were the private home recordings of sleight-of-hand legends like: Del Ray. Miller. Grayson. Thompson. These were the guys Walt referred to as “the heavyweights.”

Sleight-of-hand refers to the practice of using fine motor skills and psychological principles to create unnatural events through seemingly natural actions.

Max Malini, a stout Polish sleight-of-hand artist from New York City, operated with a sense that magic only existed as a moment—something that just was, with no explanation of why. He wanted his magic to blend seamlessly into everyday situations—bending, but not breaking, the objective reality so many people were quick to accept as fact.

The performer will invariably dance around dishonesty rather than embrace it, indulging in a series of tiny untruths, not big lies.

“Close-Up Magic Week” on The Late Show with David Letterman from 2010