Al Schneider (magician)
Alvin Duane Schneider (born February 3, 1943) is an American magician, author, physicist and mathematician known for his contributions to magic. He developed the Matrix magic trick, a modern version of Yank Hoe's "Sympathetic Coins".[1]
Al Schneider | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alvin Duane Schneider February 3, 1943 Detroit, Michigan |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Known for | Magician |
Biography
Schneider was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota for most of his life and spent a year in Denver, Colorado. He started in magic in 1960, his senior year in high school. In 1967, Schneider graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in physics, after seven years in school part time. During his free time he studied magic working toward his goal of a career in professional magic.
In 1960, Schneider developed the Matrix magic trick, a trick where four cards are placed over four coins. The coins then invisibly move between cards. Matrix is a modernized version of Yank Hoe's "Sympathetic Coins".
In 1969, Schneider left his job as a mathematician for Uniroyal and accepted a position as a systems analyst for Univac, specializing in computers. Univac transferred him to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he was employed as a systems programmer.
In 1972, he began writing and publishing magic books after the computer industry suffered a downturn. He worked as an editor of house organ Goldshadow Newsletter and also as a dealer for Goldshadow Industries. Schneider theorized that "misdirection, while essential for effective magic, is actually a supporting technique to greater concept of hiding the spectators' false assumptions".[2]
Schneider was also interested in full contact Karate, sword fighting, golf, skiing, theoretical physics and quantum mechanics. Schneider gave magic lessons to a magician duo who tricked Penn and Teller on Penn & Teller: Fool Us with a magic routine called "A Mother's Love".[3]
Books
- Matrix (1974)
- Off (1974)
- Al Schneider on Coins (1975)
- Al Schneider on Close-Up (1980)
- Al Schneider on Zombie (1981)
- Al Schneider Magic (2011)
- New Age Quantum Physics (2012)
- Quantum Mechanics A-Z without the BS (2013)
References
- Matrix Coin Trick by Al Schneider in Genii 1970 November, Vol. 35, No. 3, page 123.
- Cameron H. Malin, Terry Gudaitis, Thomas Holt and Max Kilger (30 June 2017). Deception in the Digital Age: Exploiting and Defending Human Targets through Computer-Mediated Communications. Elsevier. pp. 20–. ISBN 978-0-12-411639-9.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- Pioneer Press (2015-10-06). "Twin Cities magician actually tricked Penn and Teller". Twin Cities. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
Further reading
- Al Schneider (23 August 2011). The Theory and Practice of Magic Deception. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-4662-0649-6.
- Mark Reiter; Richard Sandomir (15 December 2009). The Final Four of Everything. Simon and Schuster. pp. 39–. ISBN 978-1-4391-4125-0.