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MagicTricks.Com: Magic for Magicians
MagicTricks.Com is all about magicians and their magic tricks. Launched on October 31, 1996, this web site has grown to more than 3,500 pages of free information about the art of prestidigitation. While the main focus of the site is the magic shop, where visitors can select from more than 1200 professional magic effects sorted by skill level and category of interest, MagicTricks.Com also offers the most extensive library of facts, information and trivia on magicians and magic history. From a discussion of the world's most dangerous magic trick (15 magicians have died onstage attempting to perform it), to a listing of magicians' real names and magic inventions plus hundreds of biographical sketches, to an online magic museum featuring rare magicians' memorabilia, to a comprehensive tribute to Houdini (including much little-known information and rare photos), most of the site is devoted to becoming the largest resource of magic information on the Web. Magic Tricks, Inc., the parent company of MagicTricks.com, also operates MagicRooms.com, offering decorative items for magicians, such as magic posters (authentic and reproduction), oriental rugs (the traditional "magic carpet") and magic statuary (such as the 19th Century "Traveling Magician"). MagicTricks.Com owner Peter Monticup is a professional magician. Monticup began his career in magic at the age of seven, when he became an apprentice to Professor Henry Bessette, part of the famous Miracle Team. By age seventeen, he had developed a full stage show, and was the featured act at a number of magic conventions. A few years later, he purchased the House of Magic in upstate New York. For more than 30 years, he has continued to perform as well as develop his well-known magic business (including MCM Magic Shop, The Old Curiosity Shop, and the Magic Tricks shop in Charlottesville, Virginia). Monticup is also a noted collector of magic memorabilia. He discovered the DeLaMano material in 1986 in an old trunk hidden in a barn. Monticup's magic shops were designed to look like the shop once owned by Houdini himself. Houdini's desk, Houdini's pens and a number of personal Houdini items have been in the Monticup collection. Jackie Monticup, Peter's wife and business partner, built and maintains the web site. Though not a magician herself, Jackie has had a lifelong interest in the theater. She holds an M.B.A. in marketing, and operated her own advertising agency in New York before turning her efforts to the promotion of Magic Tricks, Inc. and MagicTricks.Com. MagicTricks.Com is located at http://www.magictricks.com . The magic showroom and warehouse is located at 2768 Columbia Rd., Gordonsville, VA 22942. Though specific business information (sales figures, promotion budget, employee information, etc.) is considered proprietary and will not be shared, Jackie Monticup is available to discuss all other aspects of the marketing of magic with any qualified member of the press. The contact phone number is 540-832-0900.
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