MAGIC, INC. STAFF

ALEXANDER "SANDY" MARSHALL has more than forty years' experience as a writer, director, producer, and actor. For twenty-five years he was CEO of Sanmar Productions, Inc., a successful New York-based film company. He has won The American Film Festival, two Emmy Awards (seven nominations), Gold medals at the New York Film & TV Festival, and a dozen international awards. His play, And in the End: The Death and Life of John Lennon received critical acclaim is scheduled for a May 2013 opening in London's West End. No stranger to magic, Sandy comes by it honestly. He is related to two Deans of the Society of American Magicians: his grandfather was Al Baker and his father was Jay Marshall. Sandy has won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Biography for the epic tome he wrote about his father's life, Beating a Dead Horse: The Life and Times of Jay Marshall, and the reviews across the board have been sensational.

SUSAN PALMER MARSHALL heads up operations for Magic Inc. Susan has served as producer for a variety of stage, film and TV productions. She served as editor and image editor for the award-winning Beating a Dead Horse: The Life and Times of Jay Marshall, editor for Newspaper Magic Revised Edition, and was associate editor for Cardially Yours. In addition, Susan is a former New Christy Minstrel and has five solo albums to her credit. She is married to Jay Marshall’s younger son, Sandy. They live in the Chelsea district of Manhattan with their ginger cat, Macallister.

PEDRO R. NIEVES, Shop Manager was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He lived there until the age of 18 when his family moved to Chicago. Lucky for him the Windy City had more magic to offer than he ever thought possible. By the time he finished his B.A. (summa cum laude) in Psychology, with a minor in Performing Arts, he was a regular at Magic, Inc. Though he has had a life-long passion for magic, he credits his time spent at the shop, attending lectures and interacting with fellow magicians as the most educational for him. From this he learned not just magic, but also timing, performance, and style. Pedro loves learning how things work: from a toaster oven to the human mind. This has come in handy when he has needed to create or modify existing tricks. He has done this frequently, both for his own magic and that of other professional magicians. Pedro has spent the past years (since 2002) professionally entertaining audiences with his balloon sculptures, close-up magic and in-store demonstrations. Pedro is a member of a bilingual staff, speaking English and Spanish. He has also found time to pursue his other passions (mostly sleeping and eating), continue his education and marry his beautiful wife Asia (perhaps his best magic trick to date).

LUIS CARREON, head demonstrator, became interested in magic at the age of 10. His inspiration was his grandfather who was a clown with the "Circo de los Hermanos Vazquez", a circus which toured all over South, Central, and North America. At the age of 11, Luis received a small magic set and from that moment on his life changed. He became more intrigued with the art of magic with every passing day. After high-school he decided to take his magic and make it his profession. He has been performing ever since. Luis specializes in close-up card magic and parlor mentalism, and has a unique blend of both. He has performed close-up magic for celebrities like Shakira and Jim Carey, and platform magic for as many as 2000 people at the Cicero Stadium.

JAY COLLEN,  is the last magician personally hired by the legendary Jay Marshall at Magic, Inc. He serves as our senior magic instructor and frequently demonstrates magic in the shop. Jay is a magician member of the famed Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. He performs classic walk-around and close-up magic in almost any setting. His restaurant work includes performing regularly at the SafeHouse in downtown Chicago. During the summer months he can often be found performing outside at the many Chicago music and street festivals produced by Star Events. He works regularly for individuals and corporations performing at private receptions.  www.suchmagic.com.

DANNY RUDNICK, Magic Camp instructor, VLOG production and demonstrator, has been performing magic since he was 5 years old. He is currently an elementary school teacher, and performs walk-around magic at O'Donovan's (formally known as Schulien's) and other venues around the city.  Danny is proud to produce the Magic Inc. Video Blog,"Have You Ever Heard Of...?", in which he finds gems of magic hidden in old manuscripts.  He runs the weeklong summer camp at Magic Inc., and also runs magic after school classes and summer camps at his school. Danny is a big fan of science, origami, and balloon twisting.  He is also the inventor of the Selec-Trick Deck, a trick done with an electric deck. The trick has received rave reviews from many notable magicians, including Nathan Kranzo (via e-mail), Eric Jones (over dinner), and Danny Orleans (in the July 2010 issue of Genii). www.mrdanny.com

JACK CLEMENTS, Columnist, is a noted boxing authority, comedy writer and greeting card writer. He has a great love for jazz, and fortunately for us... MAGIC. Jack is "The Wizard Bouncer of Magic, Inc."  His column — Little Jack's Corner — is updated quarterly (or as often as we can get a column out of Jack).