Bill Tarr Author Of The Best Selling Magic Book Of All Time

Bill Tarr on cover of Now You See It Now You Don't Notebook

Back in 1976, a new book of sleight of hand appeared in book stores across the United States. The book was called Now You See It, Now You Don't by author Bill Tarr. The book was illustrated by Barry Ross. The book was divided into sections on cards, coins, and billiard balls. The action of each sleight or maneuver was captured wonderfully in the line drawings done by Barry Ross.  Now You See It, Now You Don't is the all time best selling book in the history of magic.

The following year, Bill Tarr followed up with 101 Easy To Learn Classic Magic Tricks. This book was illustrated by Frank Daniel in a very similar style to that of Barry Ross. In 1978, Bill Tarr again came out with another book on sleight of hand, The Second Now You See It Now You Don't and Barry Ross was back as illustrator. Again the book was broken into chapters and delved even further into sleight of hand and manipulation style magic.

For folks growing up in the 1970s, these books, which by the way were published for the general public, were our first exposure to many of magics secrets of manual dexterity. In the 1800s, there was Modern Magic, Later Magic and More Magic by Professor Hoffmann. In the 1930s  and later you had the Tarbell Course in Magic, though this was not for the general public. But in the 1970s the Now You See It Now You Don't Books were the go to book for budding young magicians.

In 1998, Bill Tarr put out another book, this time through magic book publisher Kaufman and Company, the book was called The Now You See It, Now You Don't Notebook. Tarr also put out a video on Basic Card Sleights, Natural Sleight of Hand, and Basic Coin Techniques, as well as a number of tricks including Dazzle and Steel Fingers. Earlier in his life he wrote a column called Slik Sleights for The Conjurors Magazine from Dec 1947 to September 1948.

Who was this fellow Bill Tarr? He was born May 31st 1925 in New York City, NY. At 10 years old he became interested in magic. He would often frequent Max Holden's Magic Shop, as well as Flosso's Magic Shop. This is at a time when folks like Dai Vernon, Doc Daley, Jean Hugard and others were in town, and Bill would watch and study them from afar.

As a teenager he began to do shows around NYC. This was the early 1940s just as World War 2 was starting. Many of the regular magicians were getting drafted, so this left a lot of work for Bill. Though much of the work was not high paying, it was great experience and his audiences were fantastic.  At 17, he enlisted in the Navy and was trained in meteorology. He was stationed in a secret U.S. base  in Siberia. He severed honorably for 3years.

Bill Tarr in 1947

In the December 1947 issue of The Conjurors Magazine, there is an article on Bill Tarr which states that after his time in the Navy he intended on making magic his full time profession.  Despite his life long interest in magic, Bill Tarr actually became a well known sculptor. His most famous piece is was a massive memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King which took 2 years to complete at a cost of $53,000.  The memorial to Dr King is located right next to Lincoln Center. According to Mr. Tarr, "It's probably the largest welded steel sculpture in the country, maybe the world...120 feet in girth and weighing 63 tons."

Besides being a prestigious sculptor, Tarr also occasionally performed a mental act with his wife Yvonne.

Bill Tarr died from Parkinson's disease on November 7th, 2006. He was 81 years old.

It appears all of his books are still available. I don't think the videos are produced any more however.

Special Note: The 'Best Selling Magic Book' quote was from 1988, I don't know if any magic book for the public has since set a new record.

Throwing Cards Blog Features Carnegie!

My buddy Gary Brown over at  The Propelled Pasteboards blog has featured a promotional piece I created earlier this year as both a handout, throw card, and pitch item. It was designed to look like a 19th Century Cabinet Card with a tin-type photo image. It came out wonderfully but then I realized the back of the card needed something. So I added contact information and an optical illusion magic piece. I was first given the optical illusion by my friend and fellow performer John Carlson. But the original image was too modern for my taste. So I recreated the optical illusion in more of a Victorian era style.

Coincidentally, the very day the article was posted, I was a theater autographing a ton of these cards for audience members! They've turned out to be a great promo item. The optical illusion trick on the back is one of the things that really makes it a keeper! Thanks again to John Carlson for that tip!

Please go over to the site and check it out for yourself, and while your there, please look at the enormous collection of throw cards that are featured on this site!

Otto Maurer And His Magic Shop

Who was Otto Maurer? I think I first heard the name in connection to the sleight known as the Back Palm. Later, I came upon the name Otto Maurer again, while researching the Coin Casket, or what Maurer called, "The Miraculous Golden Box." But who was this guy Otto Maurer?

He was born Otto Maurer in Gemeisheim Germany on October 28th 1846. He immigrated with his family to America at the age of 5 according to The Perennial Mystics by James Hagy.  MagicPedia says that Maurer was a graduate of a German University and came from Berlin. This information may come from an unidentified clipping in one of Houdini's scrapbooks. I have not yet been able to track down the most accurate information.

In 1872, Otto Maurer opened his magic shop on No 321 Bowery in NY. I believe it was simply a tinsmith shop at first, but because so many magicians came to him asking to have their props repaired, he shifted to a magic shop. In his catalog he makes claims to being a performer as well as builder and even offered lessons in magic. But T. Nelson Downs in a 1924 letter said that Maurer was definitely NOT a sleight of hand performer. That doesn't mean he wasn't a magician, he could have simply used apparatus magic. And speaking of T Nelson Downs, there is a great story that is related in numerous sources about Downs first visit to New York City. Downs stopped into Otto Maurer's shop and told him that he was in town performing, not only that,  he was making $100 a week. Maurer said to Downs, "No magician has ever been paid that kind of money, GET OUT of my shop!" At least one source claims the amount was $150.

Though he issued a catalog with an illustration of a grand storefront on the cover, the Otto Maurer Magic Shop was not a storefront at all, but rather it was a basement location where he built most everything.

An interesting story from W.W. Durbin which appeared in the Dec 1935 edition of The Linking Ring, tells how he (Durbin) ordered a number of things from Maurer and some of it arrived, some of it didn't, some took a while before they arrived. In addition, some of the items were clearly salvaged from (non magic) store bought purchases and then welded or attached in various ways and then gimmicked to produce the desired magic effect. From the description that Durbin gives, it sounds as if Maurer had his own methods on some items as well. And indeed, Otto Maurer did claim to use the very latest methods for his apparatus. For example, the Vanishing Birdcage that Maurer sold was unlike the DeKolta cage that was all the rage at the time. Instead it used a rather unconventional method and a very solid cage.

Otto Maurer covered the issue of potential delayed props on the first page of his catalog. Here is how it reads,  "It being almost impossible to keep a full supply of everything on hand, some articles selling more rapidly than others, all orders cannot be filled from stock. All goods not on hand must necessarily be manufactured after the order has been received, and consequently such orders require time to fill..." It goes on, but the point is, Maurer was letting potential customers know ahead of time, there might be a delay in ordering if it was an item that needed to be built.


In his book, Adventures in Magic, Henry Ridgely Evans shares the story of how when he was 19 years old me went from Baltimore to NY to find Otto Maurer's Magic Emporium. Despite much searching, he could find no store front, no palace of mystery. Finally, he asked someone who guided him to a set of stairs on the side of a building. Henry Ridgely Evans said, "Imagine my astonishment at finding the Aladdin's palace of enchantment in the cellar of a grimy old tumble-down house. My gorgeous dream was dispelled. His magnificent magical salon was a myth, but his heart was in the right place."

In another issue of the Linking Ring, W.W. Durbin describes what the inside of the shop looked like,

and it was not unlike near every magic shop I've ever seen. Photos adorned one wall. There were display cases with various types of apparatus that took up other areas. Sounds pretty standard magic shop with the exception of it's basement entrance. Despite the apparent lack of a fancy establishment, this did not deter magicians of all kinds from frequenting his shop. And clearly, it had a good reputation because folks like Trewy, T. Nelson Downs, Herrmann, Thurston and Houdini all visited the shop and purchased from the shop.

Otto Maurer's big claim to fame seems to be his learning the back palm from a Mexican gambler. This sleight he later showed to Houdini, Thurston and a host of others who used the underground technique to it's fullest. From what I can gather, Dr. James Elliott also learned the sleight from Maurer, and then developed the more impressive Front and Back Palm version. Though others would make claim to that as well. T. Nelson Downs attributes the effect to Elliott.

In 1890 he changed the name of the shop to The Columbia Magic Trick Manufacturing Company.

In 1899 Otto Maurer began to develop health problems. This issues soon made a turn for the worse when he was diagnosed with Cancer. All the money he had saved from his magic shop went into medical bills. He died nearly penniless at the age of 53 at Metropolitan Hospital in NYC on May 15th, 1900. He was survived by a wife, son and a daughter.

Due to his financial situation, he was buried in an unmarked grave in the public area of The Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery in Queens NY. Magic historian Tom Klem started a GoFundMe.com campaign last August (2016) to raise money for a gravestone for Otto Maurer. The money was successfully raised and a stone has been placed in the cemetery for magic dealer and magician, Otto Maurer.

For a time his son, Otto Jr. took over the shop and moved it's location. But a few years later sold it to Frank Ducrot. And Ducrot also purchased Hornmann's shop, as well as quite a few other magic shops. Otto Maurer Jr. eventually took a job in the music department at a department store.

Images provided by Tom Klem and posted with his permission. A BIG THANK YOU to Tom Klem for working so hard on the project to get a gravestone for Otto Maurer!!!