Max Maven Explained

Max Maven
Birth Name:Philip T. Goldstein
Birth Date:21 December 1950
Birth Place:Ithaca, New York, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation:Magician, mentalist
Awards:Academy of Magical Arts Creative Fellowship, MINDVention Lifetime Achievement Award,The Allan Slaight Award for Lifetime Achievement

Max Maven (born Philip T. Goldstein; December 21, 1950 – November 1, 2022) was an American magician and mentalist whose performances were 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]

Life and career

Maven often appeared on television magic shows to perform "interactive" mind reading tricks, namely tricks where he appeared to predict or influence the choices of viewers in real time.[5] [6] Maven grew up largely in Boston, 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.[7]

Maven was also a prolific author[8] [9] and conceived many magical and mentalist effects used by other magicians.[10] He was a magic consultant for such performers as Harry Blackstone Jr., Mark Wilson,[11] David Copperfield, Penn & Teller,[12] Siegfried & Roy, and Doug Henning, and was a frequent contributor to industry journals such as Genii, The Linking Ring, and M-U-M.[13]

Maven was 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 was the featured magician at the annual conventions of both the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

His name was changed legally to Maven but he still used "Phil Goldstein" as a pen name for technical writings.[19]

Maven had a broad knowledge of magic history and the origins of various tricks and methods.[20] He stated that he believed it vital to preserve the history of the art and provide credit to the originators of ideas.[21]

Maven died from brain cancer on November 1, 2022, at the age of 71.[22] [23] [24]

Media and public appearances

Although Maven did not consider himself a comedian,[25] he spent much of the 1980s performing and headlining in comedy clubs throughout the United States.[26] [27] [28]

His one man show, Thinking in Person, ran for two months at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in 1988,[29] and an expanded version of the show was relaunched twenty years later in 2008.[30] The show was later mounted off-Broadway at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex in 2012.[31]

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

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

Maven was a frequent speaker at the EG Conference on creativity and innovation.[39] [40]

Maven starred as the title role in FOX's 1992 Halloween special Count DeClues' Mystery Castle. His performed his interactive magic on The World's Greatest Magic, NBC's highest rated special of 1994.[41]

Maven hosted his own show on Israel's Channel 2, a licensed version of called Mi Yapil Et Ha Master (Who Can Fool The Master?).[42] He was a judge for a number of episodes of the 2008 reality TV series Celebracadabra.

Maven appeared in sitcoms and television 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[43] [44] and Top Chef.[45]

In 2019, he appeared on screen in the documentary about The Amazing Johnathan directed by Ben Berman[46] and was interviewed[47] by the Los Angeles Times about recent developments at the Magic Castle.

The well-reviewed[48] feature documentary entitled Max Maven: A Fabulous Monster was released in 2007 by Reel Time Images.[49] It is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.[50]

Awards and recognition

Max Maven 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.[51] In addition, he received the following recognitions:

Selected works

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Max Maven Thinking in Person. Morris. Steven Leigh. 2008-03-27. LA Weekly. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  2. Web site: 10 Famous Mentalists of all Time.. magicianmagazineonline. 2017-03-31. Magicians Magazine. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  3. Web site: Maven. 2009-08-01. Stevens Magic Emporium. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  4. Web site: Max Maven – Comedy Contact. We make finding the right entertainer easy.. 2014-10-14. Comedy Contact. We make finding the right entertainer easy.. 2019-08-21.
  5. Book: Max Maven Interactive Magic Tricks. 9780028627076. August 20, 2019. Ogden. Tom. November 1998. Penguin .
  6. Web site: Picks and Pans Review: Max Maven's Mindgames. PEOPLE.com. en. 2019-08-21.
  7. Web site: Insight From Maven of the Mind : Stage: The mentalist, who will perform in Santa Ana, says he gets hints from body language.. 1994-06-24. Los Angeles Times. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  8. Obituaries (Mike Caldwell). Genii. 58. 10 . 858. William W. Larsen Corporation. September 1995.
  9. Web site: Max Maven. www.librarything.com. 2019-08-21.
  10. Web site: Photo Flash: Max Maven Celebrates Opening Night Off-Broadway. BWW News Desk. BroadwayWorld.com. en. 2019-08-21.
  11. Book: Randi, James . Conjuring . 1992 . St. Martin's Press . 0-312-08634-2 . New York . 26162991. James Randi.
  12. News: New Magic Makes the Audience Appear. Collins. Glenn. 1987-07-05. The New York Times. 2019-08-21. en-US. 0362-4331.
  13. Web site: Max Maven. www.conjuringarchive.com. en. 2019-08-21.
  14. Web site: Max Maven - World's Top Mentalist (2018-09-06). Dreams. Theatre of. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  15. Web site: Shigeo Takagi - Magicpedia. geniimagazine.com. 2019-08-21.
  16. Web site: Max Maven - Magicpedia. geniimagazine.com. 2019-08-21.
  17. Web site: Genii Magazine February 2018 - Book. Penguin Magic. 2019-08-21.
  18. Web site: Penguin Magic Monthly: January 2019 (Magazine). Penguin Magic. 2019-08-21.
  19. Book: Clark, James L.. Mind Magic and Mentalism For Dummies. 2012-03-27. John Wiley & Sons. 9781119954002. en.
  20. Book: Joshua Jay Book of Magic. Joshua Jay. 8 November 2008. Workman. 9780761159681. August 20, 2019.
  21. Web site: Max Maven: A Mentalist, Magic Consultant, And A TV Guest Star. Rebel Magic. 6 September 2018 . en-US. 2019-08-21.
  22. News: Evanier . Mark . Max Maven, R.I.P. . 3 November 2022 . News From ME . 2 November 2022.
  23. Web site: Max Maven . Harris Online . 3 November 2022 . 2 November 2022.
  24. Web site: "Boo." . Max Maven . 3 November 2022.
  25. Web site: Magician or Mentalist, Max Maven is Mentally Amazing. Lerman. Ali. 2011-10-24. OC Weekly. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  26. Web site: MAX MAVEN. Development. PodBean. talkingtricks.podbean.com. en. 2019-08-21.
  27. Web site: Max Maven - Entertainment Booking Agency. mspentertainmentagency.com. 2019-08-21.
  28. Web site: Bringing mystery back to life. February 2, 2007. bermudasun.bm. 2019-08-21.
  29. Web site: Insight From Maven of the Mind : Stage: The mentalist, who will perform in Santa Ana, says he gets hints from body language.. 1994-06-24. Los Angeles Times. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  30. Web site: Max Maven Thinking in Person. Morris. Steven Leigh. 2008-03-27. LA Weekly. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  31. Web site: Mentalist Max Maven's Thinking in Person Begins Off-Broadway Run June 12. Gioia. Michael. June 12, 2012. Playbill. en. 2019-08-21.
  32. Web site: MAXimum Dimension. 31 October 2011.
  33. Web site: Sleights of Mind » Magic Advisors. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  34. Web site: Max Maven - Entertainment Booking Agency. mspentertainmentagency.com. 2019-08-21.
  35. Web site: All About Max ~ MaxMaven.com. www.maxmaven.com. 2019-08-21.
  36. Web site: Magic:The Science of Illusion. 31 October 2011.
  37. Web site: Magic Cafe. 31 October 2011.
  38. Web site: Insight From Maven of the Mind : Stage: The mentalist, who will perform in Santa Ana, says he gets hints from body language.. 1994-06-24. Los Angeles Times. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  39. Web site: Max Maven. 2014-04-07. EG Conference. en. 2019-08-21.
  40. Web site: Max Maven, Mystery Theorist & Magician (EG8). 2015-11-06. EG Conference. en. 2019-08-21.
  41. Web site: Max Maven - Entertainment Booking Agency. mspentertainmentagency.com. 2019-08-21.
  42. Web site: iTricks.com Magic News, Magic Videos and Podcasts » Blog Archive » Max Maven: Fool Me?. 2019-08-21.
  43. Web site: Max Maven. IMDb. 2019-08-21.
  44. Web site: Max Maven - David Belenzon Management, Inc - Max Maven. David Belenzon Management, Inc.. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  45. Web site: 'Top Chef Masters': Neil Patrick Harris masters another TV genre. EW.com. en. 2019-08-21.
  46. Web site: Review: 'The Amazing Johnathan Documentary' profiles irascible magician in an illusory way. 2019-08-15. Los Angeles Times. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  47. Web site: And for the Magic Castle's next trick: Food that's worth talking about. 2019-07-25. Los Angeles Times. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  48. Web site: Donna Zuckerbrot-Max Maven - A Fabulous Monster. Magic Reviewed. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  49. Web site: Max Maven: A Fabulous Monster. 30 April 2015 . August 20, 2019.
  50. Web site: Amazon.com: Watch Max Maven: A Fabulous Monster Prime Video. www.amazon.com. 2019-08-21.
  51. Book: Max Maven, Technical Reviewer. 9780028627076. August 20, 2019. Ogden. Tom. November 1998. Penguin .
  52. Web site: Hall of Fame . 2023-03-02 . www.magiccastle.com . 2 July 2014 . The Academy of Magical Arts.
  53. March 1981. Cover page (Special Max Maven issue). Genii. 45. 3. 1.
  54. Web site: The Magic Cafe Forums - Max Maven 2015 Guest of Honor!. www.themagiccafe.com. 2019-08-21.
  55. Web site: Max Maven Bank Night. 2016-05-02. Magicana. en. 2019-08-21.
  56. Web site: Allan Slaight Award Recipients. 2016-06-27. Magicana. en. 2019-08-21.
  57. Book: Maven, Max. Max Maven's book of fortunetelling. 1992. Prentice Hall General Reference. 0135641217. 1st. New York. 25632502.
  58. Web site: 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. 2019-08-21.
  59. Web site: 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. 2019-08-21.
  60. Web site: 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. 2019-08-21.
  61. Book: Maven, Max. Prism: the color series of mentalism. 2005. Hermetic Press. 0945296487. Seattle, WA. 224853800.
  62. Web site: Nothing by Max Maven (2 DVD Set). Stevens Magic Global. en-US. 2019-08-21.
  63. Web site: Kayfabe (4 DVD set) by Max Maven and Luis De Matos - DVD. Penguin Magic. 2019-08-21.
  64. Web site: Max Maven's Mindgames VHSCollector.com. vhscollector.com. 2019-08-21.
  65. Web site: Fully Booked New Magic of Japan. www.vanishingincmagic.com. en. 2019-08-21.

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