Max Maven

Max Maven (born Philip Goldstein, 21 December 1950) is an American magician and mentalist whose performances are considered erudite and intelligent.[1] He is ranked as one of the most influential mentalists of all time,[2] and one of the 100 "Most Influential Magicians of the 20th Century" by Magic Magazine.[3][4]

Max Maven
Maven performing an ESP card trick, 2007
Born
Philip Goldstein

(1950-12-21) December 21, 1950
Ithaca, New York
OccupationMagician, mentalist
AwardsAcademy of Magical Arts Creative Fellowship, MINDVention Lifetime Achievement Award,The Allan Slaight Award for Lifetime Achievement

He often appears on television magic shows to perform "interactive" mind reading tricks.[5][6] Among other cities, including Rome, Maven grew up largely in Boston,[7] Massachusetts, where he became known for his performances at several nightspots including the then popular Playboy Club. In Boston, he was formerly a radio deejay.[8]

He is a prolific author[9][10] and conceived many magical and mentalist effects used by other magicians[11]. He has been a magic consultant for such performers as David Copperfield and Penn & Teller[12], Siegfried & Roy, and Doug Henning, and is a frequent contributor to industry journals such as Genii, The Linking Ring, and M-U-M [13].

He has been featured on the cover of over 30 such magazines over the years[14], including The Linking Ring, Genii in 1983[15] (with Japanese magician Shigeo Takagi), and also in 2007[16] and in 2018[17], and on the cover of Penguin Magic Monthly in 2019[18]. He has also been the featured magician at the annual conventions of both the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

His name has been changed legally to Max Maven but he still uses "Phil Goldstein" as a pen name for technical writings.[19]

Maven is considered a legend in the world of magic[20][21], and has a broad knowledge of magic history and the origins various tricks and methods.[22] He has stated that he believes it vital to preserve the history of the art and provide credit to the originators of ideas.[23]

Media and Public Appearances

Although he doesn't consider himself a comedian,[24] Max Maven spent much of the 1980s performing and headlining in comedy clubs throughout the United States.[25][26][27]

His one man show, Thinking in Person, ran for two months at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in 1988[28], and an expanded version of the show was relaunched twenty years later in 2008[29]. The show was later mounted Off-Broadway at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex in 2012.[30]

He has occasionally played a magician character (often as himself) on various television series, such as, "Magic", "The Art of Magic", "Something Strange with Max Maven"[31], and "The MAXimum Dimension".[32] He has appeared in television series in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Taiwan, England, Canada, Spain, Portugal, and Chile.[33][34]

Maven has appeared as a part of the traveling science exhibit called "Magic: The Science of Illusion" and the "Magic of the Mind Illusion,"[35] which has toured in science museums such as Los Angeles and Boston.[36] He has performed often in Japan,[37] and speaks Japanese.[38]

He has been a frequent speaker at the EG Conference on creativity and innovation.[39] [40]

He hosted a 12-part series for HTV (Harlech Television) in Britain, "Something Strange with Max Maven,"[41] a talk-show exploring all aspects of the paranormal. The show set a ratings record, and led to a second series the following year. He also starred as the title role in FOX's 1992 Halloween special Count DeClues' Mystery Castle[42]. His performed his interactive magic on The World's Greatest Magic, NBC's highest rated special of 1994.[43]

He hosted his own show on Israel's Channel 2, a licensed version of Penn & Teller: Fool Us called Mi Yapil Et Ha Master ("Who Can Fool The Master?)[44]. And he was a judge for a number of episodes of the 2008 TV reality tv series Celebracadabra. [45]

He appeared in Sitcoms and TV dramas, including as "The Great Mentos" in the 1995 Fresh Prince of Bel Air episode "Save the Last Trance for Me," the 1982 episode of Mork & Mindy entitled "Drive, She Said," and episodes of General Hospital[46] [47] and Top Chef[48].

In 2019, he appeared on screen in the documentary about The Amazing Johnathan directed by Ben Berman[49] and was interviewed[50] by the Los Angeles Times about recent developments at The Magic Castle.

The well-reviewed[51] feature documentary entitled Max Maven: A Fabulous Monster was released about him in 2007[52] by Reel Time Images. [53] It is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.[54]

Awards and Recognitions

Max Maven has received a number of awards for his creativity and performance, including awards from the Society of American Magicians, International Brotherhood of Magicians, and the Academy of Magical Arts. [55] In addition, he has received the following recognitions:

  • Academy of Magical Arts Lecturer of the Year, 1979
  • Academy of Magical Arts Creative Fellowship, 1997
  • The Magic Woods Award for Best Teaching Video for his mentalism DVD "Nothing," 2007.[56]
  • MINDVention Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015[57]
  • The Allan Slaight Award for Lifetime Achievement, 2017.[58][59]

Selected works
  • Max Maven's Book of Fortunetelling [60]
  • VideoMind - Phases 1-3: Mentalism (3 volume DVD)[61][62][63]
  • Prism: The Color Series of Mentalism[64]
  • Nothing (2 DVD Set) [65]
  • Kayfabe (4 DVD Set) [66]
  • Max Maven's Mindgames (video)[67]
  • The New Magic of Japan (translator)[68]

References
  1. Morris, Steven Leigh (2008-03-27). "Max Maven Thinking in Person". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  2. magicianmagazineonline (2017-03-31). "10 Famous Mentalists of all Time". Magicians Magazine. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  3. "Maven". Stevens Magic Emporium. 2009-08-01. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  4. "Max Maven – Comedy Contact. We make finding the right entertainer easy". Comedy Contact. We make finding the right entertainer easy. 2014-10-14. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  5. "Max Maven Interactive Magic Tricks". Google Books. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  6. "Picks and Pans Review: Max Maven's Mindgames". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  7. "Max Maven: A Mentalist, Magic Consultant, And A TV Guest Star". Rebel Magic. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  8. "Insight From Maven of the Mind : Stage: The mentalist, who will perform in Santa Ana, says he gets hints from body language". Los Angeles Times. 1994-06-24. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  9. "Obituaries (Mike Caldwell)". Genii. William W. Larsen Corporation. 58 (10): 858. September 1995.
  10. "Max Maven". www.librarything.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  11. Desk, BWW News. "Photo Flash: Max Maven Celebrates Opening Night Off-Broadway". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  12. Collins, Glenn (1987-07-05). "New Magic Makes the Audience Appear". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  13. "Max Maven". www.conjuringarchive.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  14. Dreams, Theatre of. "Max Maven - World's Top Mentalist (2018-09-06)". Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  15. "Shigeo Takagi - Magicpedia". geniimagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  16. "Max Maven - Magicpedia". geniimagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  17. "Genii Magazine February 2018 - Book". Penguin Magic. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  18. "Penguin Magic Monthly: January 2019 (Magazine)". Penguin Magic. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  19. Clark, James L. (2012-03-27). Mind Magic and Mentalism For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781119954002.
  20. href='https://jewishjournal.com/author/'></a>, BY <a (2011-10-26). "Magician Max Maven Reads My Mind [VIDEO]". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  21. "Maven". Stevens Magic Emporium. 2009-08-01. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  22. "Joshua Jay Book of Magic". books.google.com. Workman. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  23. "Max Maven: A Mentalist, Magic Consultant, And A TV Guest Star". Rebel Magic. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  24. Lerman, Ali (2011-10-24). "Magician or Mentalist, Max Maven is Mentally Amazing". OC Weekly. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  25. Development, PodBean. "MAX MAVEN". talkingtricks.podbean.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  26. "Max Maven - Entertainment Booking Agency". mspentertainmentagency.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  27. "Bringing mystery back to life". bermudasun.bm. February 2, 2007. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  28. "Insight From Maven of the Mind : Stage: The mentalist, who will perform in Santa Ana, says he gets hints from body language". Los Angeles Times. 1994-06-24. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  29. Morris, Steven Leigh (2008-03-27). "Max Maven Thinking in Person". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  30. Gioia, Michael (June 12, 2012). "Mentalist Max Maven's Thinking in Person Begins Off-Broadway Run June 12". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  31. Something Strange with Max Maven, retrieved 2019-08-21
  32. "MAXimum Dimension". Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  33. "Sleights of Mind » Magic Advisors". Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  34. "Max Maven - Entertainment Booking Agency". mspentertainmentagency.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  35. "All About Max ~ MaxMaven.com". www.maxmaven.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  36. "Magic:The Science of Illusion". Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  37. "Magic Cafe". Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  38. "Insight From Maven of the Mind : Stage: The mentalist, who will perform in Santa Ana, says he gets hints from body language". Los Angeles Times. 1994-06-24. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  39. "Max Maven". EG Conference. 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  40. "Max Maven, Mystery Theorist & Magician (EG8)". EG Conference. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  41. Something Strange with Max Maven, retrieved 2019-08-21
  42. Count DeClues' Mystery Castle, retrieved 2019-08-21
  43. "Max Maven - Entertainment Booking Agency". mspentertainmentagency.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  44. "iTricks.com Magic News, Magic Videos and Podcasts » Blog Archive » Max Maven: Fool Me?". Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  45. Celebracadabra, retrieved 2019-08-21
  46. "Max Maven". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  47. "Max Maven - David Belenzon Management, Inc - Max Maven". David Belenzon Management, Inc. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  48. "'Top Chef Masters': Neil Patrick Harris masters another TV genre". EW.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  49. "Review: 'The Amazing Johnathan Documentary' profiles irascible magician in an illusory way". Los Angeles Times. 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  50. "And for the Magic Castle's next trick: Food that's worth talking about". Los Angeles Times. 2019-07-25. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  51. "Donna Zuckerbrot-Max Maven - A Fabulous Monster". Magic Reviewed. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  52. Max Maven: A Fabulous Monster, retrieved 2019-08-21
  53. "Max Maven: A Fabulous Monster". Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  54. "Amazon.com: Watch Max Maven: A Fabulous Monster | Prime Video". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  55. "Max Maven, Technical Reviewer". books.google.com. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  56. "Cover page (Special Max Maven issue)". Genii. 45 (3): 1. March 1981.
  57. "The Magic Cafe Forums - Max Maven 2015 Guest of Honor!". www.themagiccafe.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  58. "Max Maven Bank Night". Magicana. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  59. "Allan Slaight Award Recipients". Magicana. 2016-06-27. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  60. Maven, Max (1992). Max Maven's book of fortunetelling (1st ed.). New York: Prentice Hall General Reference. ISBN 0135641217. OCLC 25632502.
  61. "Videomind: Phase 1 - Parlor Mentalism - Max Maven - DVD [v2584] - $29.95 : L&L Publishing, The best in magic dvds, books, props and magician's supplies". llpub.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  62. "Videomind: Close-Up Mentalism - DVD # 2 - Max Maven [v2583] - $29.95 : L&L Publishing, The best in magic dvds, books, props and magician's supplies". llpub.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  63. "Videomind: Stage Mentalism - DVD # 3 - Max Maven [v2585] - $29.95 : L&L Publishing, The best in magic dvds, books, props and magician's supplies". llpub.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  64. Maven, Max (2005). Prism: the color series of mentalism. Seattle, WA: Hermetic Press. ISBN 0945296487. OCLC 224853800.
  65. "Nothing by Max Maven (2 DVD Set)". Stevens Magic Global. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  66. "Kayfabe (4 DVD set) by Max Maven and Luis De Matos - DVD". Penguin Magic. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  67. "Max Maven's Mindgames | VHSCollector.com". vhscollector.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  68. "Fully Booked | New Magic of Japan". www.vanishingincmagic.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
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