Darwin Ortiz
Encyclopedia
Darwin Ortiz is a magician
, who is an authority on gambling
and card manipulation
.
Ortiz was born and raised in New York City
where he had a keen interest in card tricks since childhood. In 1974, he dropped out of NYU Law School and pursued card magic full-time. During that time, he initially supported himself playing blackjack
(using card counting techniques) and as an instructor at Harry Lorayne
's memory school in New York
. Ortiz is a contemporary and close friend of the influential US coin magician, David Roth
, and was initially mentored by the seminal British/US close-up performer, Derek Dingle
.
Ortiz later became a consultant to a number of casinos in the US, Europe
, Africa
, UK and Australasia
, and was a regular featured presenter for a succession of years at the World Gaming Congress in Nevada
.
Ortiz is the author of books on gambling and magic. The most recent book on his original routines was Scams and Fantasies With Playing Cards. His book Strong Magic focuses on practical presentational techniques for close-up magicians. The book has been broadly embraced by the professional and amateur magic community but initially met with negative reviews from the two major US trade publications MAGIC and Genii. Demand for the book has been high, despite the initial inability of the original publisher to reprint the text. Ownership of the copyright has recently returned to the author (along with two other books Darwin Ortiz At The Card Table and Cardshark) and the books are once again being made available to the trade.
Ortiz's latest book, Designing Miracles is an exposition on the design of powerful magical effects, and is subtitled Creating the Illusion of Impossibility. The book posits and analyzes various theories regarding the perception and cognition of lay audiences and provides practical examples and advice on the construction of effects, aimed at maximizing their impact and deceptiveness to a lay audience.
Ortiz's major work for the lay public on gaming protection is Gambling Scams 1984. He also authored an influential annotation of S. W. Erdnase
's The Expert at the Card Table
titled The Annotated Erdnase in 1991 which was published to the magic trade.
Ortiz currently resides in Washington, D.C.
Magic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
, who is an authority on gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
and card manipulation
Card manipulation
Card magic is the branch of conjuring that deals with creating magical effects using a deck of playing cards. Card magic is commonplace in magical performances, especially in close up magic or parlor magic and street magic. Some of the most recognized names in this field include John Scarne, Juan...
.
Ortiz was born and raised in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he had a keen interest in card tricks since childhood. In 1974, he dropped out of NYU Law School and pursued card magic full-time. During that time, he initially supported himself playing blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
(using card counting techniques) and as an instructor at Harry Lorayne
Harry Lorayne
Harry Lorayne is an American magician and a memory-training specialist and writer who was once called "The Yoda of Memory Training" by Time magazine. He is well known for his mnemonic demonstrations and has appeared on numerous television shown including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson...
's memory school in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Ortiz is a contemporary and close friend of the influential US coin magician, David Roth
David Roth
David Roth is an American magician.Roth is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest living coin magicians. Roth is known both for tremendous technical mastery and for playful and surrealistic formal performance pieces...
, and was initially mentored by the seminal British/US close-up performer, Derek Dingle
Derek Dingle
Derek Dingle was an English close-up magician.- Life :Like many magicians before him, Dingle became interested in magic after receiving a box of magic tricks when he was about eight years old. Upon joining the Royal Air Force, he met another magician, James Gregory, of Kenilworth, England, and...
.
Ortiz later became a consultant to a number of casinos in the US, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, UK and Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
, and was a regular featured presenter for a succession of years at the World Gaming Congress in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
.
Ortiz is the author of books on gambling and magic. The most recent book on his original routines was Scams and Fantasies With Playing Cards. His book Strong Magic focuses on practical presentational techniques for close-up magicians. The book has been broadly embraced by the professional and amateur magic community but initially met with negative reviews from the two major US trade publications MAGIC and Genii. Demand for the book has been high, despite the initial inability of the original publisher to reprint the text. Ownership of the copyright has recently returned to the author (along with two other books Darwin Ortiz At The Card Table and Cardshark) and the books are once again being made available to the trade.
Ortiz's latest book, Designing Miracles is an exposition on the design of powerful magical effects, and is subtitled Creating the Illusion of Impossibility. The book posits and analyzes various theories regarding the perception and cognition of lay audiences and provides practical examples and advice on the construction of effects, aimed at maximizing their impact and deceptiveness to a lay audience.
Ortiz's major work for the lay public on gaming protection is Gambling Scams 1984. He also authored an influential annotation of S. W. Erdnase
S. W. Erdnase
S. W. Erdnase is a pseudonym used by the author of The Expert at the Card Table, a book detailing sleight of hand, cheating and legerdemain using playing cards. Still considered essential reading for any card magician, the book, known also as either the Bible or, commonly, just Erdnase, has been...
's The Expert at the Card Table
The Expert at the Card Table
The Expert at the Card Table: The Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation, often referred to simply as Erdnase , is possibly the best book on cards and magic written in 1901 by S. W. Erdnase, a pseudonymous author whose identity has remained a mystery for over a century...
titled The Annotated Erdnase in 1991 which was published to the magic trade.
Ortiz currently resides in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....