I’m curious about the history of magicians giving lectures. I’ve been doing Annemann research and I can’t see a single instance of him giving a lecture, and it got me curious.

Is it a relatively a newer thing? A friend seems think around the 80’s the professional lecture circuit began.

Would love to understand a rough time line and/or notable lectures from the past. Did conventions say pre 1970’s / 60’s not have lectures? Did clubs not have lectures?

Thanks!

Check U.F. Grant's very early nationwide "lectures" via reel-to-reel film and lecture notes. More contemporary, I seem to recall Al Schneider's early lectures in the late 1960's or early 1970's.

I don't remember the exact dates, but Magic Inc. (Fran Marshall) in Chicago had a wonderful arrangement for local magicians called the Hard Core Lecture Group. We were privileged to see the best U.S. performers (Sam Berland, Gene Anderson etc.) as well as visitors from overseas who had relationships with Jay & Frances (Ali Bongo and others). Anyone else remember this?

Julie

The Hard Core Lecture Group was amazing. Usually there were at least two lectures a month and as you say, the line up was amazing. One of my favorite memories was standing along a wall in a room with a packed house to see Tamariz for the first time. This was before memorized deck magic was big and the main memory was a room full of magicians going, "No way!" over and over again.

Thanks Both. Any ideas on dates Frank?

In the 1950's, the Magician's Guild did a series of educaitonal talks (lectures). I think this one of the very early forms of lecturing as we know now it.

Fantastic thank you. I don't know why I expected it to have a much longer history. I guess pre 60's conventions were mainly shows and competitions?

I remember early lecturers would GIVE attendees their lecture notes (when they actually had lecture notes) for FREE. Then they began selling their notes for $1 and after that the rest is history.

And the only place you could see lectures was in person at the big conventions. About 1970's, lecture tours were organized by people like Emiel Loew. The European Lecturers were in great demand. Then as more and more conventions became prevelant, the lectures appeared everywhere. That is part of the reason for the decline of today's convention. You do not need to go to a convention to see someone lecture. They tour on their own. You can buy a dvd or stream their lecture. Sad but the over availability of information and lectures has been partial responsible for killing the lecture tour and conventions.

...and I recall the $5 assessed by Magic Inc. for membership in the Hard Core Group was a one-time fee for a "lifetime" of Magic Lectures!

Magic lectures go back to the late 1940s with Dai Vernon lectures sponsored by Lou Tannen.

Slydini was a huge beneficiary of the lecture market, particularly in the early days His material was ideal for that setting, it encouraged private lessons, which led to more group lectures, which.... and so on.

By all accounts magicians who witnessed Slydini performing back in the 1940s wanted lessons from him. They knew they had seen something special and different.