David Berglas

David Berglas
Born	30 July 1926 (1926-07-30) Europe
Occupation	psychological magician, mentalist, and mnemonist

David Berglas (born July 30, 1926) is a psychological magician, mentalist, and mnemonist.

Early Life

Berglas escaped from Nazi Germany and fled to Britain aged 11. At 16 he was keen to become a Spitfire pilot, lied about his age and managed to join the RAF. When his true age was discovered he was not allowed to complete his training.

Still keen to be part of the war, he discovered that the American Army was urgently looking for suitable recruits for an important role in the denazification of Germany.

The requirements were quite stringent. They had to have some previous military training, and to be able to pass strict physical and mental tests. Most importantly they had to speak 2 languages besides English, one of which had to be fluent German.

The required minimum age was 21. Berglas explained that we was only 19 but could meet all the other qualifications. He was accepted into the Intelligence Corps of the U.S. Army, serving an 'adventure filled' 18 months at the end of WWII.

He attended Bradford Technical College to study Textiles with a view of joining his family business.

He first got interested in magic in 1947, through a chance meeting with Ken Brooke. Magic became an all-absorbing hobby for about 5 years, during which time he studied Psychotherapy, specialising in medical hypnosis.

Although never performing as a Stage Hypnotist, his demonstrations gave him the experience of standing in front an audience and handling volunteers on stage. This gave him the confidence when he became a professional magician in 1952, working prestigious nightclubs and then in 1953 appearing at the famous Windmill Theatre, performing 6 times a day, 6 days a week, for 6 weeks.

Career

In his 2009 Enigma show brochure, Derren Brown describes David Berglas as "One of our greatest living magical performers" and thanks him "-for his constant inspiration and generosity. Each show is indebted to his artistry and astonishing body of work. Thank you David".

In the 1950's, Berglas created what is now referred to as the "Holy Grail" of card magic, known as "The Berglas Effect."

In 1999 he established a non-profit organization called the Foundation for Promoting the Art of Magic (FP-AM). The foundation presents "The David Berglas International Magic Award" annually at the prestigious International Magic Convention in London. It was first awarded to the organisers of the convention, The MacMillan family, then in 2008 to Uri Gellar , in 2009 to David Copperfield , in 2010 to Juan Tamariz and in 2011 to Derren Brown.

Film

David Berglas has been involved with numerous major films, acting as a creative consultant and technical advisor, including:

• The 1967 version of Casino Royale, with Orson Welles, Peter Sellers, David Niven and Woody Allen.

• Tim Burton's Batman with Jack Nicholson in 1989

• George Lucas's Willow with Warwick Davis

• Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon with Ryan O'Neal

• Albert R. Broccoli's Octopussy with Roger Moore

and up to date, four other James Bond movies.

Radio

Surprisingly, David Berglas first became a household name in Britain through his regular performances on BBC radio, an unusual role for a magician. He conducted what he called "Nationwide Psychological Experiments", involving millions of listeners in their homes. This part of the show required listeners to write in to confirm their reaction. To this day the BBC's archives have recorded this as being the largest collection of fan mail ever received. During the show's run it was not unusual for David to receive 3000 - 4000 postcards or letters per week.

His weekly broadcasts included sensational stunts, including hanging a box over Regent Street, London for a whole week. It had been officially sealed by the Diplomatic Corps of the Admiralty, and when opened, it contained the passport of a member of the studio audience, sitting in the Playhouse Theatre by the Embankment. It had disappeared just moments before.

He appeared on sound radio, on and off, for about 17 years and when commercial radio first started he had a regular phone-in programme, late at night on London Broadcasting Company, which started in 1973.

Television

He was one of the first magicians to appear on British television with his own show Meet David Berglas in 1954. Numerous other television series followed and were highly acclaimed in Holland, Sweden, Norway and Germany.

Commercial television started in the UK in September 1955 and the first ever series was presented by David on Associated Rediffusion called "Focus on Hocus".

In the 1970s he presented a one hour television special from Las Vegas and in the UK he caused a sensation with his Channel 4 series The Mind of David Berglas 1985/86, where he interviewed and entertained celebrity guests including Omar Sharif, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Peter Cook and Max Bygraves.

Honours

• In 1967, after his popular television series in Holland he was named "Television Personality of the Year", the first time it had ever been awarded to a foreign celebrity.

• President of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (British Ring) 1976/1977.

• In 1979 he was voted "King Rat" of the Grand Order of Water Rats, the world's leading show business charity organization.

• He is a past President of The Magic Circle (1989–1998)

• On Christmas Day 1991 he was surprised by Michael Aspel when he became the subject of television's This Is Your Life.

• The Magic Circle presented him with the coveted "Gold Medal" in the year 2000, which was only the sixth ever to be awarded since 1905.

He has been honoured internationally by receiving top magic awards, including in 1980 the "Gold Plaque" in Sweden and in 1995 The Magic Circle's coveted "Maskelyne Award".

The Academy of Magical Arts honoured David with a "Special Fellowship" in 2002, and a "Masters Fellowship" in 2005.

In 2008, he was awarded the prestigious gold "Grolla" in Italy.

Also in 2008 he was bestowed the "Griffin Award" and named "Grand Master of Mystery" by PSYCRETS (The British Society of Mystery Entertainers).

In January 2011, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award at the Session Convention in Gloucester.

In October 2011, Berglas received The Magic Circle's highest international award, The David Devant.

Books

In 1967 he released his best-selling Dutch book David Berglas onthult...bijna alles (David Berglas reveals...nearly everything), published by H.J.W. Becht's Uitgeversmaatschappij N.V. and in 1988 A Question of Memory (with Guy Lyon Playfair), published by Jonathan Cape Ltd. (ISBN 0 224 025570).

He has written a substantial number of articles and lecture notes for the magical fraternity, including "The David Berglas File No.1" (1976) and the much sought-after tome, now out of print, The Mind and Magic of David Berglas - As Revealed to David Britland, 2002, published by Jim Steinmeyer through Hahne Publications. This has become a collector's item and is selling for several times its original price.

2011 - He released a book with Richard J. Kaufman entitled "The Berglas Effects" - this is the book named after his famed "Any Card At Any Number" plot. The book has a foreword by Juan Tamariz, an afterword by Max Maven, contains 3 DVDs and also includes a pair of 3D glasses.

Fact

David Berglas is the father of Marvin Berglas of Marvin's Magic, the world's leading supplier of professional magic sets. He is also uncle of South African artist Zapiro.