Max Malini

Max Malini (born Max Katz Breit; 1875 – October 3, 1942) was a magician who at his peak performed for several US Presidents and at Buckingham Palace, receiving gifts from monarchs across Europe and Asia. Many magicians, such as Dai Vernon

One of Malini's signature routines was the blindfold card stab, which operated as follows. On a table a pack of cards were mixed and swirled around by a lady from the audience. The audience would blindfold Max with handkerchiefs. Malini then requested the name of a playing card, and when someone called out a card, he would stab a knife into the cards, then raise it up in the air, thereupon it was seen that he had impaled the correct card.

After performing one of his tricks on Senator Mark Hanna without warning, Malini was later invited to perform for Hanna and his associates, which ultimately led to Malini performing at the White House. Over his career, Malini met or performed for Warren G. Harding, Theodore Roosevelt, Al Capone, John D. Rockefeller, and European royalty. Malini referred to himself as the "Napoleon of Magic".

He died in Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 3, 1942. He had been in poor health for some time and his last performances were done sitting in a chair.

Other references

Malini was referenced in the Season 7 episode of The X-Files titled "The Amazing Maleeni". The TV show The Cape had a regular character by this name, played by Keith David. The Magic of Max Malini starring Paul Daniels (DVD 2004) GENII magazine Oct.2012 "Max Malini: King of Magicians, Magician of Kings," authored by Steve Cohen, Squash Publishing, 2022