ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT GAMES

A _mam_na

Three sleek silver Mercedes Benzes ^gic By Susan Wolk

Marvin Berglas’

success is

no illusion

Marvin Berglas, 4, right, and his brother Peter, appeared as assistants with their father, David Berglas, at Marvin’s first TV kids’ show, Five O’ Clock Club.

COURTESY OF MARVIN’S MAGIC

their personality and a good presentation, grace the sprawling warehouse instead of having to wade through tons of frontage of the Marvin’s Magic head- complex instructions. The idea behind quarters in the village of Markyate Marvin’s Magic is to make our customers north of London. It isn’t hard to guess look like the star of the show.” which one belongs to Marvin Roy

Berglas. The personalized number plate of Slated for success
the SL500 sports coupe is “MRB.” “I’ve always been very entrepreneurial, so Magic is an impossibly difficult hobby to
On cue, the magician appears, dressed becoming a businessman seemed a logical pro- take up without the right mentor or informa-
appropriately in black. Without being able to gression,” he says proudly. “I’ve always had a tion and props. But Berglas was lucky to have
utter a word, I am whisked into the board- flair for demonstrating products, which clearly been born into the show-business world. His
room and amazed by the transformation of comes from my show-business background, father, David, was a world-famous magician;
my $10 bill into a $20 (and, unfortunately, and the combination of the two was unique.” his mother, Ruth Shiell, was an actress.
back again), the waterfall shuffle that pre- It all adds up to the success of Marvin’s He can still recall the first trick he ever
cedes disappearing and remetamorphosing Magic, which Berglas started in 1987. learned as a boy of 6, which he played on
cards, wooden blocks whose colors can be Marvin’s Magic has become the number-one his elder brother, Peter. “I made the peas
divined when hidden, a self-mobilizing key magic company in the world, exporting to 64 disappear from my plate and end up on
that “walks” across the palm of my hand. different countries. Peter’s plate when he wasn’t looking,” he
Berglas is clearly passionate about his art, The company’s products offer insider laughs. “I hated peas, but he hated them
and it is with equal reluctance that we end knowledge, teaching users to perform twice as much!”
the impromptu show and sit down to discuss innovative tricks in moments, without the In his youth, Berglas demonstrated magic
the magic business. For besides being an hard work. “We want people’s initial experi- products in famous UK department stores,
accomplished magician, Berglas has trans- ence of magic to be a positive one with qual- such as Harrods. Today, he employs other
formed his craft into a successful business ity props, step-by-step illustrated instructions magicians to demonstrate his own products,
enterprise. and good routines,” Berglas tells The which have pride of place in specially con-
Marvin’s Magic makes a variety of kits Connection. “We like to combine traditional structed magic shops inside those stores.
that teach people to do card, coin and tabletop methods with up-to-date technology and Berglas acknowledges the debt he owes
tricks, from the Magic Made Easy series for innovation.” to his father’s attention to detail, preparation
kids to the Executive Magic Collection for He adds, “We guarantee success by and presentation. David Berglas was the first
older ages. allowing amateurs to concentrate more on magician to have a series on commercial TV