Genii Magazine - March 2026

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Pulp fiction. Detectives. Superheroes. Comics and magic have a long history of intersections and crossovers. In this month’s cover feature, writer Mike Costa reveals the ties connecting pulp-era characters to modern-day tales of sleuthing and sorcery.

Also featured this month: What’s Mac King’s advice to new magicians? How does Luís de Matos keep his shows fresh? Where does Arturo Brachetti draw inspiration? How did Steven Frayne “rediscover” magic? Drawing from four in-depth interviews, Richard Wiseman distills insights—both similar and surprisingly contrasting—from some of magic’s luminaries.

Earlier this year, we were sad to bid farewell to magic friends Gordon Bruce and Hiawatha Johnson, Jr. We are so grateful for the loving tributes from their friends and family in the March issue. We’re also pleased to include a charming routine by Gordon that was saved in our files. It seemed right to include it this month and to follow Hiawatha’s wonderful advice: Keep the magic alive.

Thanks to magic editor Noah Levine, we have a great collection of card magic for you. In addition to that wonderful piece by Gordon Bruce, we also get some sharp sleights from William Kalush, by way of Bob Stencel, by way of Ed Marlo… by way of a dream. And, as he was handing the lamp to our new editor, Jim Steinmeyer also included a fun and funky card effect. Ben Seidman joins Blake Vogt for a round of Inventing Magic, and the pair come up with a Partial Monte. To round out the magic section, have fun with an in-the-hands Triumph by Adam Elbaum, which features a pretty flourish and a satisfying finale.