RIP Max Maven (Phil Goldstein)
Magic/Mentalism will never be the same without you.
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Max Maven (born Philip Goldstein, 21 December 1950) is an American magician and mentalist whose performances are considered erudite and intelligent. He is ranked as one of the most influential mentalists of all time, and one of the 100 "Most Influential Magicians of the 20th Century" by Magic Magazine.
He often appears on television magic shows to perform "interactive" mind reading tricks. Among other cities, including Rome, 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.
He is a prolific author and conceived many magical and mentalist effects used by other magicians. He has been a magic consultant for such performers as David Copperfield and Penn & Teller, Siegfried & Roy, and Doug Henning, and is a frequent contributor to industry journals such as Genii, The Linking Ring, and M-U-M.
He has been featured on the cover of over 30 such magazines over the years, including The Linking Ring, Genii in 1983 (with Japanese magician Shigeo Takagi), and also in 2007 and in 2018, and on the cover of Penguin Magic Monthly in 2019. He has also been the featured magician at the annual conventions of both the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
His name has been changed legally to Max Maven but he still uses "Phil Goldstein" as a pen name for technical writings.
Maven is considered a legend in the world of magic, and has a broad knowledge of magic history and the origins of various tricks and methods. He has stated that he believes it vital to preserve the history of the art and provide credit to the originators of ideas

At the time I first retired from performing Mentalism not to many US Mentalist's had performed on Japanese TV shows. I think only Banachek, Max Maven and one or two others.

I did my thing for Fuji-TV on location in NYC and the country of Japan.

RIP Max. Thanks for all you gave us.

Rest in peace Max. Deep gratitude to you for all you passed along.

Rest in peace Max…what an inspiration he was! Thank you for all your sharing of wisdom!

Very sad. No one had a persona like him.
RIP

This one really hurts, what a huge loss. Max was my biggest inspiration in this field and the one that truly got me interested in performing. Shoulders of giants, indeed.

You will be missed, Max. Rest in peace.

Source?

all other magic pages on the web. His FB page. murphys magic social media.....etc.

Multiplicity was absolutely foundational to me. This is such a heart break to me. I hope he’s with Eugene having a great reunion.

Thank you Max. What an amazing contribution and affect your life has had on so many people. A truely great achievement.

Thank you Max.

Very sad news. What a great guy, I feel lucky to have seen him at Blackpool last year.

I saw Max 1994 in Lund, Sweden performing. That was a great experience. I remember that I took a photo of him and me. Nice memories.

Oh no. This is very sad news.
Rest in peace.

RIP Max. You are a legend and you left behind a giant legacy. Thank you.

YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, I was reading, thinking about Annemann and was going to email Max today with a question about him!


RIP!!!!!!!

I don't know how many of you might have his Kayfabe set, but bring it out if you do. I've spent this evening watching/listening to A Fabulous Monster and The Fragility of Mystery. Both are excellent, but the latter has made me think vey hard about the art.

Mystery, according to Max, gives life meaning. Some mysteries are meant to be solved, and others to be savored. Mentalism should be savored. Even if there are people who take the art and turn it into another trick, we should continue to create mystery. In my opnion, that's what Max would want his legacy to be; to give the world mystery.