Birth: October 10, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois.

Death: November 7, 1991

Real Name: Edward Malkowski

Anyone experience in magic, especially card magic, has come across the name of Ed Marlo once or twice.  Marlo was so obsessed with card magic that he coined the term cardician.  His first publication in 1938, Pasteboard Presto, served as a precursor to his forthcoming career. One of his most famous card sleights, the snap change, was used in David Blaine's Street Magic special.  Marlo has written over sixty books, many wonderful manuscripts, and contributed to over 2000 tricks in the field of card magic.  His 1953 book, The Cardician, is one of his most famous books describing his presentations, effects, sleights, and other closely guarded card secrets.  His Revolutionary Card Technique series provides any card magician with everything that could ever be needed to perform his exquisite repertoire.  It was reprinted with the help of Bill Malone and David Ben.  He has also authored respected works on coin magic and dice stacking.

Marlo would take a deck of cards everywhere because he could "pick up a fresh deck for a nickel ad create a lot of magic with it." However, saying that he was obsessed wouldn't be enough.

One night on his birthday two magicians and their wives took Marlo and his wife to dinner.  On the way to the hotel restaurant, one of the magicians in the car told Marlo about a new trick he had seen.  Marlo quickly pulled the deck out of his pocket and began figuring out an explanation for it.

As everyone hopped out of the car in the parking garage, the driving magician handed his keys to the valet.  As the group was walking into the hotel, one of the magicians suddenly stopped and asked: "Hey - where's Ed?"

The group frantically ran back to the garage to find the valet who had parked the car. "Excuse me - did you see the older gentleman who came with us?" The valet shook his head. "You mean the guy with the cards? Yeah - he's upstairs in the car. I left him in the back seat playing with his cards!"

The magicians ran up two parking floors and found the car. There was Ed Marlo sitting in the back seat with his cards. They painfully opened the door and cried, "What are you doing, Ed?!"

"Working on the twentieth method," was all he said.

Ed Marlo had a happy marriage to Muriel Meyer, his grade school sweetheart and the only woman he has ever dated.  He was a proud husband, father, and grandfather.  He was proficient at ping pong, baseball, and an excellent singer.  He was an expert on western memorabilia at his time, and had a fascination with gunslingers.  On one Chicago Magic-Land event, the show was outdone by Muriel performing the magic and Eddie singing.

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