Alex Elmsley

Early life and career He began practising magic in 1946, as a teenager. He studied physics and mathematics at Cambridge University; whilst there he was also secretary of the Pentacle Club. He was a patent agent, and later a computer expert, in his day job. Otherwise, he was an amateur card and close-up magician. He was awarded an Academy of Magical Arts Creative Fellowship in 1972.

He created a number of well-known magic tricks, including The Four Card Trick, Between Your Palms, Point of Departure and Diamond Cut Diamond.

In 1975, he briefly toured the US giving a highly praised lecture known as the "Dazzle Card Act", which consisted of a magic act followed by a detailed discussion of routining. Notes on the lecture were released under the title Cardwork. Elmsley was the subject of The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley (vol. 1 1991, vol. 2 1994).

He named the special count used in The Four Card Trick the ghost count, though it would later become known as the Elmsley Count.