S.W. Erdnase's True Identity

magi1982 · Nov 30, 2008

I've always been interested in the story of S.W. Erdnase. No one knows who he really was even after immense research into the subject. There's an element of theatre invovled in Erdnase's story. It reminds me of the old saying: Satan's greatest trick was convincing the world that God didn't exist. I believe that the greatest trick ever conceived was hiding the identity of one of the greatest minds in the history of card magic. Here are a couple of really interesting articles I found.

http://www.miraclefactory.net/mpt/view.php?id=194&type=articles

http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2001/3/2001_3_56.shtml

Hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Zack

JDENredden · Nov 30, 2008

Yes I have just been reading this. Some theorys say the S. W. Erdnase was actually E. S. Andrews. Which is S. W. Erdnase spelt backwards.

Its really a pity that he died so young, and took his greatest sleights to the grave.

JDEN

MGordon · Nov 30, 2008

Richard Hatch of H&R Magic Books and Martin Gardner are probably the two foremost authorities on who Erdnase may really have been. Try to find their thoughts on the subject, which have been published in "The Man who Was Erdnase" among other places.

MagicianDM · Nov 30, 2008

Thanks for the links, it was interesting.

btaylor · Nov 30, 2008

I'd prefer not to know who he was. that is one of the only amazing secrets in magic left.

i'm actually torn between knowing and not. it would be cool but would ruin one of magics greatest story.

magi1982 · Nov 30, 2008

Thanks MGordon for the reference. I have read Martin Gardner's work but used Mr. Karr's article since Mr. Karr took Gardner's research and furthered it. Mr. Karr shares the same theory as Mr. Gardner that E.S. Andrews(S.W. Erdnase spelled backwards) is the REAL Erdnase. Mr. Karr took Gardners work and advanced the research even further as cited in the article.

FOO:L · Nov 30, 2008

wasnt satans greatest trick convincing the world that he didnt exist?

TeeDee · Nov 30, 2008

There are a few candiates for the identity of Erdnase. Martin Gardner's guy is Milton Franklin Andrews, who, for several reasons, seems to not fit the bill as far as I can see. Richard Hatch's proposed Erdnase is Edwin Sumner Andrews, who seems to be a better bet, but there are still some reservations.

If you want to look at this subject more, apart from The Man Who Was Erdnase, definitely have a look at the Allan Ackerman/Geno Munari Erdnase DVD set. There's a huge amount of information on there about possible Erdnases. Also check out the Genii magazine forum. There's a huge thread on there that's been running for years where some of the top Erdnase researchers contribute.

white_lynx86 · Nov 30, 2008

all i know, E. S. Andrews s a bad person
he gamble alot, diged up with lot of chick, always drunk, etc
you know...just like a life of a gambler

he died beeing shot by one of police back then...

KevinOwens · Nov 30, 2008

Don't we already know who he is? He was a man who was a master of card cheating. He published his knowledge in a book now known as the bible for card magic.

Dan and Dave are guys who popularized modern card flourishing.

Harry Houdini was a great escape artist.

So if his name really is E.S. Andrews, what more do we need to know about him?

TKH · Nov 30, 2008

Deleted (word count)

Wallmott · Nov 30, 2008

George W Bush.

TeeDee · Nov 30, 2008

white_lynx86 said:
all i know, E. S. Andrews s a bad person
he gamble alot, diged up with lot of chick, always drunk, etc
you know...just like a life of a gambler

he died beeing shot by one of police back then...

I think you're talking about Milton Franklin Andrews (Martin Gardner's proposed candidate). There isn't any evidence that he was ever know as "E S Andrews", which is one of the arguments against him being the real Erdnase, along with the fact that he was the wrong height, wrong age etc.

Retype.SW · Nov 30, 2008

I don't think anyone will ever know for sure who he was. Although, through out the book Erdnase repeatedly says "we" instead of "I", and "our" instead of "my", suggesting that there are was more than one person contributing material to the book. Or maybe that just was just to add further mystery to his identity.

TeeDee · Dec 1, 2008

Retype.SW said:
I don't think anyone will ever know for sure who he was. Although, through out the book Erdnase repeatedly says "we" instead of "I", and "our" instead of "my", suggesting that there are was more than one person contributing material to the book. Or maybe that just was just to add further mystery to his identity.

That's just a writing style. Although it's less common now, many writers, especially on technical subjects would use this. Marlo uses "we" in a lot of his writing, even when he's specifically claiming credit for something.

SKSleighofHand · Oct 3, 2009

Thanks for sharing this information. I, too admire S.W. Erdnase's works and glad that he published in today's society.