Leslie Guest

Leslie Pierce Guest was born on September 6, 1898 in Pelham, New York. He caught “the bug” of magic when he was eleven. Guest continued his interest in magic throughout his schooling, which included the University of Michigan and the College of the City of New York where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree. 

After finishing college, Guest moved to Cincinnati,
Ohio catching up to numerous fellow magicians including Stewart Judah and John Braun.

In the late 1920’s Guest performance included a complete show featuring silk, coins, and to top off the performance he performed the Kellar Flower Growth effect.

He met Al Baker who convinced Guest and his wife, Nina to make magic a full time career in 1931. The Guests toured the country, performing in theaters, clubs, and worked on cruise ships. When they finally walked away from their active career in magic, they found a home in New Jersey in 1938. Guest took a position in the sales promotion field and kept performing magic, but now on a part time basis. During World War II, Guest created a shadowgraph act that he performed with the U.S.O.

Leslie Guest served as the Secretary for both the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians, he was the editor for the MUM, and he was an associate editor for The Linking Ring. He had a column in the MUM entitled, “My Magical Memories”. He was active in his local magic club as well as lecturing and helping out fellow magicians with ideas and suggestions. Guest created a number of effects for sale, among them were “Zeudo-Zycho” (which was a spoof on mind reading), “Ora-Color”, “4-Tel”, and “Thev Trend of the Times”. Leslie Guest passed away on March 5, 1981. In 1991, the Society of American Magicians created the Leslie Guest Award for excellence. The first recipient for the award was David Altman 1992 for his original contribution to the M.U.M.

Addendum by Judge Brown: Just wanted to supplement Gary's fine post with one more card from my collection: