Richard J. Kaufman


Richard J. Kaufman is an author, publisher, illustrator, and editor of books and magazines in the field of magic and amateur magicians of noted skill.

Early life and education

Richard Kaufman was born in 1958 at French Hospital in New York City. He became interested in magic at age 5 after his uncle, Alan Soffin, sent him some novelties from the S.S. Adams Company. His father, Lewis C. Kaufman, encouraged his interest by purchasing tricks at a magic shop, learning them, and teaching them to his son.
By the age of 14, Kaufman was inventing magic effects He marketed his first two tricks through Lou Tannen’s Magic Shop at age 15 and he illustrated his first book for Harry Lorayne, Afterthoughts at age 16. He attended Queens College, and then New York University, graduating in 1981 with a double major in English and acting, having studied at the Stella Adler Studio in New York City with Pearl Pearson and Mario Siletti.

Career

Kaufman illustrated many books in the field through 1994, popularizing a style of cartoon-based movement into technical magic illustration. He also began writing magic books, starting with the Interlocked Production of Coins in 1977. He self-published his first two books, then sought a partner for the financing required to publish larger books. Alan C. Greenberg, CEO of Bear Stearns, also a highly respected amateur magician, brought the financing that Kaufman required and the company Kaufman and Greenberg was formed as a result.
In 1998, Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine was purchased by Kaufman, his wife Elizabeth, and partners Jane and Daniel Solomon. Kaufman became editor in chief and president of The Genii Corporation and the magazine continues its publication, now in both printed and digital formats. Genii also operates The Genii Forum an internet discussion group and MagicPedia, an online encyclopedia of magic. The magazine and its associated entities was sold to Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software in July 2017. Richard and Elizabeth Kaufman continue as Editor and Art Director.
For the public, Kaufman wrote The Project Magic Handbook for David Copperfield; the trick section in Mindfreaks for Criss Angel and Knack Magic Tricks for Globe Pequot Press.
Recognition of Kaufman's influence as a magic illustrator is described in Chuck Romano's book, The Art of Deception .
Kaufman has appeared on the covers of Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine ; Magic Magazine ; The Magic Circular ; M-U-M and has given presentations at numerous magic conferences including the Los Angeles Conference on Magic History, The Magic Collectors Association, The Magic Circle Collectors Day, and Magic-Con 2011. He has received the 1997 Literary Fellowship from the Academy of Magical Arts, the J.N. Maskelyne Award from the Magic Circle in London in 2001, the Milbourne Christopher Award in 1995, The Allan Slaight Award for “Sharing Secrets” in both 2016 and 2019, and the Special History, Research & Scholarship Award from FISM in 2022. He has also been made an honorary life member of the Society of American Magicians and The Academy of Magical Arts at The Magic Castle, a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star at London’s Magic Circle, and has received a president's citation from the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
Kaufman wrote for the Pop Culture website Boing Boing through 2018.

Publications

Periodicals

Edited by Richard Kaufman:
  • 1978 Apocalypse with Harry Lorayne
  • 1982 Richard's Almanac
  • 1995 The Looking Glass
  • 1999 ''Genii''

Books

Written, illustrated, and/or published by Richard Kaufman:
  • 1973 Genesis Kings written by Fr. Brennan
  • 1973 Rollover Aces written by Fr. Brennan
  • 1975 Afterthoughts by Harry Lorayne
  • 1977 The Interlocked Production of Coins
  • 1977 Balls! Lessons in Side Arm Snookery
  • 1977 The Magic Book by Harry Lorayne
  • 1978 On the Up and Up
  • 1978 The Real Secrets of The Three Ball Routines by Frank Garcia
  • 1978 The Card Classics of Ken Krenzel By Harry Lorayne
  • 1978 Apocalypse, Vol. 1
  • 1979 CardMagic by Richard Kaufman
  • 1979 New Stars of Magic presents The Ultimate Invisible Assembly
  • 1980 The Gene Maze Card Book
  • 1980 The Very Best of Cups and Balls by Frank Garcia
  • 1980 Exclusive Card Miracles By Frank Garcia
  • 1981 CoinMagic
  • 1981 CardWorks
  • 1982 Tom Mullica's AEROBIC: Automatic-Entry Roll-Over Bill-In-Cigarette
  • 1982 The Complete Works of Derek Dingle
  • 1982 The New York Magic Symposium – Collection 1
  • 1982 The Elegant Card Magic of Fr. Cyprian by Frank Garcia
  • 1983 The New York Magic Symposium – Collection 2
  • 1983 Richard's Almanac Volume 1
  • 1984 Abstract
  • 1984 The Topit Book by Michael Ammar
  • 1985 David Roth's Expert Coin Magic
  • 1985 Don England's Gaffed To The Hilt! By Jon Racherbaumer
  • 1986 Sankey Panky
  • 1986 The Compleat Invocation, Vols. 1 & 2
  • 1986 Spirit Theater By Eugene Burger
  • 1987 The Uncanny Scot: Ron Wilson
  • 1987 The Performance of Close-Up Magic By Eugene Burger,
  • 1987 Lim-Tricks By Jeff Sheridan
  • 1987 Derek Dingle's Australian Poker
  • 1987 The New Jinx By Bill Madsen
  • 1988 Darwin Ortiz at the Card Table by Darwin Ortiz,
  • 1988 New Magic of Japan by Phil Goldstein and Richard Kaufman
  • 1988 Sawa's Library of Magic, Vol. 1
  • 1989 Williamson's Wonders
  • 1989 The Secrets of Brother John Hamman
  • 1989 The Experience of Magic by Eugene Burger, illustrated by Kaufman
  • 1989 On The Pass
  • 1990 100% Sankey
  • 1990 Gary Kurtz: Unexplainable Acts
  • 1990 The Amazing Miracles Of Shigeo Takagi
  • 1991 Life Savers By Michael Weber
  • 1991 Strange Ceremonies By Eugene Burger
  • 1991 Card Craft By J.K. Hartman, illustrated by Joseph K. Schmidt
  • 1991 Road Hustler By Robert Prus
  • 1991 Houdini's Conjurer’s Monthly Magazine )
  • 1991 Smoke and Mirrors By John Bannon
  • 1992 Five Times Five: Japan
  • 1992 The Collected Almanac
  • 1992 The Compleat Invocation, Vol. 3 by Tony Andruzzi
  • 1992 Totally Out of Control By Chris Kenner
  • 1992 Tom Mullica Starring in Show-Time at the Tom-Foolery
  • 1993 Beyond Compere By Terry Seabrooke
  • 1993 Martin Gardner Presents By Martin Gardner
  • 1993 Secrets Draun From Underground
  • 1993 Tarbell 8
  • 1993 A Tarbell Scrapbook
  • 1993 Ibidem, Vol 1 Issues 1–16
  • 1993 The Second Now You See It, Now You Don't! by Bill Tarr and Barry Ross
  • 1993 Walt Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice Magic and Story Bookby Bob Friedhoffer
  • 1994 Greater Magic by John Northern Hilliard
  • 1994 Gene Maze and The Art of Bottom Dealing By Stephen Hobbs,
  • 1994 Paul Gertner's Steel and Silver
  • 1994 Great Balloons! By Jean Merlin,
  • 1994 Strong Magic By Darwin Ortiz
  • 1994 Mahatma
  • 1995 Much Ado About Something By Karrell Fox
  • 1995 Duffie's Card Compulsions By Peter Duffie
  • 1995 Cardshark By Darwin Ortiz
  • 1995 After Craft: More Card Trickery By J.K. Hartman
  • 1995 The Discoverie of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot
  • 1995 The Magic of Edward Victor’s Hands By Rae Hammond
  • 1995 Magic of the Hands Trilogy By Edward Victor
  • 1995 Facsimile 1 by Jon Racherbaumer
  • 1995 New Card Control Systems by Joseph K. Schmidt
  • 1996 Tom Mullica Lecture Notes
  • 1996 Magie Duvivier By Jon Racherbaumer,
  • 1996 Lou Gallo: The Underground Man by Richard Kaufman and Mark Phillips
  • 1996 A Magician Among the Spirits
  • 1996 Séance By Scott Davis
  • 1996 Facsimile 2 by Jon Racherbaumer
  • 1996 Notes to Houdini!!! By Ken Silverman
  • 1996 Stanyon’s Magic
  • 1996 Stanyon's Serial Lessons in Conjuring
  • 1997 Jennings '67
  • 1997 Arcade Dreams: Ed Marlo By Jon Racherbaumer
  • 1997 The Feints and Temps of Harry Riser By Ed Brown
  • 1997 Folding Money Fooling By Robert Neale
  • 1997 Effortless Card Magic By Peter Duffie,
  • 1997 Facsimile 3 by Jon Racherbaumer
  • 1997 Charles Bertram: The Court Conjurer By Edwin Dawes
  • 1997 Looking Glass
  • 1997 Basic Basic Basic Card Technique
  • 1998 The Book or Don't Forget to Point by the Flicking Fingers
  • 1998 Vis a Vis: A Jack Avis Book By Jack Avis and John Derris, illustrated by Joseph K. Schmidt
  • 1998 The Mysteries of My Life: Rene Lavand By Richard Kaufman and Rene Lavand
  • 1998 Street Magic by Jeff Sheridan and Edward Claflin
  • 1998 Five Times Five: Scotland By Peter Duffie
  • 1998 The Now You See It, Now You Don't! Notebook Written and Illustrated by Bill Tarr
  • 1998 Stodare: The Enigma Variations By Dr. Edwin Dawes
  • 1999 Trickery Treats by J.K. Hartman, illustrated by Joseph K. Schmidt
  • 1999 Artistic and Magical Life of Bob Kline By Bill King
  • 2000 Mastering the Art of Magic By Eugene Burger,
  • 2000 Facsimile 4 by Jon Racherbaumer
  • 2000 Other Voices: Ventriloquism from BC to TV By Stanley Burns
  • 2001 The Lost Notebooks of John Northern Hilliard
  • 2002 Sexy Magic written and illustrated by James Hodges; translated from the French by Jane Solomon
  • 2002 Stanley Collins, Conjuror, Collector and Iconoclast By Dr. Edwin Dawes
  • 2003 David Copperfield's Project Magic Handbook by Richard Kaufman
  • 2005 Seriously Silly By David Kaye
  • 2005 One Hundred by Warlock By Elizabeth Warlock illustrated by Joseph K. Schmidt
  • 2006 The Vernon Touch By Dai Vernon
  • 2007 Mindfreak by Criss Angel and Richard Kaufman
  • 2010 Knack Magic Tricks: A Step-by-Step Guide to Illusions, Sleight of Hand, and Amazing Feats
  • 2011 The Berglas Effects by Richard Kaufman and David Berglas
  • 2013 Japan Ingenious by Richard Kaufman and Steve Cohen
  • 2014 The Skinner Tapes
  • 2015 Labyrinth by Stephen Hobbs
  • 2015 Tenyoism
  • 2016 The Secrets of So Sato by So Sato and Richard Kaufman
  • 2016 Super Sized Silly
  • 2017 Spoiler Alert
  • 2018 Totally Out of Control: SUPREME MME EDITION by Chris Kenner
  • 2018 DeLand: Madness and Mystery
  • 2021 Mr. Jennings Takes it Easy
Future books that Kaufman has announced:Greater Magic Mr. Jennings Takes It Tough
  • ''Cliff Green's Professional Card Magic''

Awards