Howard Schwarzman (November 20, 1927, New York City) is an American magician, card manipulator, sleight of hand expert, and trick inventor. Considered a "living legend" in the Eastern United States magician community,[1] he is best known as a columnist within the magician trade press, and an importer of very rare tricks from outside the United States.
In his youth, Schwarzman was considered a "red-headed prodigy", and was mentored by New York orchestra leader Richard Himber, creator of the Linking Finger-Ring trick (which later became part of David Copperfield's stage repertoire). Schwarzman was known for pulling pranks at Himber's request, such as impersonating mentalist Joseph Dunninger. In 1962, Schwarzman began mentoring himself, working with the teenaged Denny Haney, who he booked to perform at the Society of American Magicians.[2]
Schwarzman was one of the charter members of Future American Magical Entertainers (F.A.M.E.), which is a magic club created for young magicians in New York City in the 1940s, under the tutelage of Professor Abe Hurwitz, father of Shari Lewis, known as Peter Pan The Magic Man.
Schwarzman became a magic dealer in 1976 and specialized in rare imported tricks. He also wrote a popular column, "I've Said It Before", for Tannen’s Magic Manuscript Magazine.
He has been a member of the Parent Assembly Nr. 1 of the Society of American Magicians for 45 years, and was named "Magician of the Year" in 2007. Schwarzman is also a long time attendee at FFFF, "Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic," a yearly, invitation-only convention for 200 of the world's best close-up magicians held in upstate New York.