Buried in Jewish Waldheim is a man who was famous around the world for his sleight of hand and impromptu “miracles.” Ask a magician, or anyone familiar with magicians, if they’ve heard of Max Malini and watch their eyes light up. He was known as “the greatest card manipulator in the world,” “the last of the itinerant mountebanks,” and the “crowned king of magic.” A recent book published about his life and work is titled, “King of Magicians, Magician of Kings.” 

 Not to be outdone, Malini himself said he was “the Napoleon of magic.” 

Malini, who was short in stature and said to have had hands too small to “palm” cards, astonished and amazed a dazzling roster of celebrities and world leaders. He performed for U.S. Presidents: McKinley, Harding, Coolidge, and Theodore Roosevelt; English Kings: Edward VII, George V, George VI; other political figures: the King of Siam, the Mikado of Japan, Chiang Kai-shek, the presidents of Cuba and Chile; millionaires: John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, John Jacob Astor; inventors: Alexander G. Bell, and celebrities: Sir Arthur Conon Doyle, Shirley Temple. The list goes on. He was said to have circled the globe eight times. His 1913 passport application lists Japan, China, Java, Siam, Manila, Sumatra, and Australia as destinations. 

Born Max Katz Breit in 1875 (or 1871, or perhaps 1873), on the border of Russia and Austria, he came to the U.S. at a young age. Malini never quite mastered the English language, which he used to his advantage during his routines, disarming audiences with his thick accent and malapropisms. He was not known for elaborate stage performances, but rather personal, close-up illusions. 

Max learned his craft in the saloons of the Bowery in New York City where he was mentored by the magician/ventriloquist/fire-eater/Badchen (Yiddish wedding performer) “Professor Seiden.” Max took on the name, Malini, and from an early age, exuded self-confidence and moxie, perfecting seemingly spontaneous acts of magic conjured from items at hand (i.e. drinking glasses, fruit). Keeping his act small also enabled Malini to travel light. 

Not wanting to perform similar illusions in the same city as his mentor, Malini left New York for Chicago in the late 1890s, where he met his wife, Lizzie. When Malini first asked for Lizzie’s hand, her father refused because he considered Max, a hustling magician, to be beneath her social status. Max went on the road to build his reputation. When he returned, Lizzie’s father was still unimpressed, so the couple eloped. Lizzie joined Max on the road, giving birth to their son, Oziar while touring the Philippines. The family lived for years in the far east and Australia. (Oziar, or Ozzie, joined his father’s act as soon as he was old enough.)  

Malini knew how to cultivate a following among influential people. One of his strategies was to walk up to someone important, such as U.S. Senator Mark Hanna, and bite a button off of their coat, only to later make it magically reappear, changing the target’s dismay to astonishment. This stunt often resulted in invitations to private engagements and so Malini became known as a “society magician.”  Of course, what seemed like completely impromptu magic was, in fact, the product of careful planning, patience, and timing.  

Malini was also proficient at self-promotion. At times, he would astonish people in public with his magic and then invite them to a ticketed performance later. (It didn’t matter if he used his best illusions for the free performance, what mattered was that crowds showed up later to buy tickets.)  

One of Malini’s best known tricks involved spinning a coin, quickly covering it with a borrowed hat (usually a woman’s), and asking the woman to guess which side of the coin had landed up (“Lady or Eagle?”) Later, when Malini picked up the hat, instead of a coin, a block of ice (or a brick) would be revealed under the hat. Other magicians said that they watched him carefully when he performed this stunt but could not figure out how he did it. Another famous routine was the blindfolded card stab. Malini would spread out a deck of cards on a table, face down, then an audience member would blindfold him. Malini would ask for someone to shout out a card, then stab at the table using a pen knife, impaling the exact card the audience member had named.  

In 1919, the family returned to Chicago and a daughter was born, but perhaps because of the rigors of traveling, the daughter, Bernice, was given to a foster family. The family then moved to San Francisco but soon returned to Chicago when Lizzie’s health failed. She died in 1921 and is also interred in Jewish Waldheim. Malini remarried in 1922, but that marriage ended in divorce a few years later. 

Malini was rumored to have earned and lost several fortunes, spending money on expensive suits, cigars, and alcohol. He also performed at many charitable events for sick children at the Shriners’ hospital, children’s homes, and for service members at the USO. In the 1930s, he went on a “farewell tour” with his son Ozzie assisting him. They then settled in Hawaii, a favorite spot of Malini’s. Because of his health, Malini had to be seated for his last performances and died in 1942 either at the age of 67 (or 69 or 71). Ever the illusionist, it was said that even his son, Ozzie, was not quite certain how old his father was.  

Malini is buried in an unmarked grave beside his first wife, Lizzie. If he had a headstone, it’s tempting to think it might include an inscription of a saying he was reported to use, “You will wonder when I’m coming. You will wonder more when I’m gone.” 

References: 

The Calgary Albertan; Deadconjurers.blogspot; Elkslodge616.org; Erudite Magic YouTube Channel; Max Malini – Bigger Than Life, by David Ben; Honolulu Star-Advertiser; Honolulu Star-Bulletin; Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women by Ricky Jay; Littleegyptmagic.com; Magicpedia; Magicorthodoxy YouTube Channel; The Magic Word Podcast: Steven Cohen; The Oregonian; San Francisco Examiner; The Sphinx.  

Thank you to David Ben for his incredible research and help with this article. For some amazing images, and to read further go to: https://davidben.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Max-Malini-by-David-Ben-Courtesy-Genii-Magazine-Sept-2012.pdf