At the final Beyond Bizarre gathering in the fall of 2005, Eugene Burger handed me a little red book. It was a copy of Max Holden's Programmes of Famous Magicians. It is a delightful book for one's imagination. It has become my favorite magic books to peruse and imagine what it must have been like to see these performers in the 1930's.

Who are these performers you ask? Theo Annemann, Al Baker, Roy Benson, Blackstone, Milbourne Christopher, Cardini, Dante and Dunniger - and that's just the beginning of the alphabet. In between the well known acts are lesser known names that time has forgot.

Holden's descriptions vary greatly in length and detail. The longer entries are great but its the shorter ones that allow you to use your imagination. Holden often provides the year and the city he saw the act and, in some cases, the duration and venue.

In the back of the book, one finds a note from the late Jay Marshall. He writes “This has been one of my favorite magic books ever since I bought a copy from “Gen” Grant at the 1937 Society of American Magicians Convention in Albany, New York....I have used this booklet as a reference work to study trick effects, to study trick routining; and to find out what tricks were popular with audiences. I used it as a source for ideas, and I examined these programs for the originality factor..”

With praise like that, there’s not much more for me to say - other than call Magic, Inc. to see if its still in print.