Beyond Compars

Scaling Card for Carl Compars Herrmann

Carl Compars Herrmann (1816–1887) was the older brother (by 27 years!) of Alexander Herrmann, and one of fifteen children of Samuel Herrmann, a physician and amateur magician.  By the age of 30, Compars was widely recognized as Europe's premier stage conjurer.

To get there, however, he pulled a few fast ones.

How Magic Christian Got his Name...

Now that he has helped us solve the mystery of O.F. Valentino, we should take a moment to meet Magic Christian, who made that posting possible.  Born Christian Stelzel, he is a well-respected magician, historian and writer.  He is billed as "the most successful Austrian magician since the legendary Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser(1806-1875), the father of modern card magic."  Magic Christian also has the distinction of writing the definitive biography of Hofzinser, a three-volume work that is currently being translated into English.

Perhaps most interestingly for our purposes, Magic Christian has a card of his own, printed by Piatnik and seen here, which is responsible for his stage name.   Careful review of the card back shows that it reads "I LIKE the MAGIC of CHRISTIAN."  Although I have owned one for years, I never noticed the words "the" and "of" which are in a much smaller type.   In a note, Christian explained that, read quicky, the cards seem to say "I LIKE MAGIC CHRISTIAN", which led to him adopting the stage name.

There are three versions of this card in three different colors.  Magic Christian advises that he regularly uses these cards for his performances, and has thrown thousands into audiences over the years.

If you want to learn more about Magic Christian, you can visit his website at http://www.magicchristian.com/

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O.F. Valentino: Awe in Austria

This beautiful throwing card was, I am told, produced by Piatnik, a distinguished Austrian playing card manufacturer.  The card promotes O.F. Valentino as "the modern magician."   

The cards sport at least two different backs, pictured here, in both red and blue.   For years, I had been unable to locate any record of an O.F. Valentino performing magic anywhere, nor is there any indication of the significance of "O.F." on the card.  The fellow from whom I procured this piece suggested that Valentino was an Austrian magician and that the card dates to the pre-WWII period.  To learn more, I turned to Magic Christian, an award-winning magician and magic historian.