Al Cohen

Al Cohen
Cover of Genii (2002)
Born	Alfred Lee Cohen January 11, 1926 Wilmington. Delaware
Died	December 13, 2020 (age 94)
Known for	Magic Dealer/Performer, Magic Demonstrator, "Parnell Zorch"
Awards	October 2, 1984, declared "Al Cohen Day" by City of Washington DC

Al Cohen (b.1926) was owner and demonstrator of Al's Magic Shop in Washington D.C.

Biography

Early life

In 1936 at age 10, Al began working at his father Macye Cohen's gift shop, "The Oriental Bazaar", in Washington D.C., which sold gifts, novelties, and even prepared Income Tax returns. He continued to work in the shop even while attending college (first to get a degree in Entomology, and then Accounting). When the shop began adding some magic tricks from S.S. Adams Company to their inventory in 1946, this led to magic taking a hold on Al, and on the store as well --- which would eventually evolve into Al's Magic Shop.

Career in Magic

As a performer, Al has played many venues, including among others: four times at the White House, on early Washington TV, at birthday parties, magic conventions, corporate events, and Blue-Gold Banquets.

Early on, Al became a very successful demonstrator for his store, and a favorite at conventions. Jay Marshall told a story about how Eddie Fields once dropped by the shop, pretending to be a beginner, just so he could see Al demonstrate a Svengali Deck.

He would often appear and perform at conventions in the guise of his character, "Pernell Zorch". General Norman Schwarzkopf, who shared with all of us an interest in magic, and who was a regular customer at Al's shop, once attended a magic convention in St. Petersburg, Florida, to watch Cohen’s Pernell Zorch Act, and Al was the one who signed Schwarzkopf’s (then a Colonel) application for the I.B.M..

Al's Magic Shop had an array of famous, regular customers who included (in addition to virtually every well-known performing magician at the time who passed through D.C.):
George H.W. Bush, Gen. Schwarzkopf, Henny Youngman, and Muhammad Ali, among a number of other TV and film celebrities, prominent government officials and politicians, and a variety of other well-known personalities.

Retirement

Al retired from running the shop in 2002, and his son Stan ran the business until it was closed in 2004.

Al started writing a periodic column, called "Memoirs" for Genii in 2007, and he prints and distributes "Al's Menu" of items that he still has available and sells on-line.

Outside of magic, Al's interests include photography, travel and "having fun". In 2013, he told M-U-M magazine about some fun going out to a restaurant: "I still carry magic on me. We were sitting at a table in a restaurant, and I surprised the waitress with the old fire wallet routine. A woman from another table came up and asked about it. I performed it again, and she wondered if I might mind doing another. Fortunately, I had my sponge cubes with me. I use sponge cubes rather than sponge balls, so I don't have to chase them all over the table and floor. I had a very fun time."

Honors

• City of Washington DC declared October 2, 1984 "Al Cohen Day".
• IBM Roast by Ring 50, Oct. 2 1984.
• Honored at SAM convention, 2013 (and interviewed by Richard Kaufman.)

Quotes

"Al Cohen is not only one of the most honest and respected dealers in the world, he is above all else a gentleman. I have yet to meet a magician who doesn't hold Al Cohen in the highest regard." — Larry Becker

Bibliography

Original Effects & Handlings

John Murray's "The Mark"

Al created many effects and new handlings of his own, which he sold through the shop, and which were widely distributed to be sold by other dealers, including:

• A Professor's Nightmare handling, with Ed Mishell, called "Rope-A-Rama."
  

  Bob Carver performing Professor's Nightmare,
  "M-U-M",
  Jan. 1959.
• "The Invisible Wand" handling, with Larry West, 1972.
• "The Hot Air Drill".
• "Incredi-Go" - (for vanishing a coin, pen, table knife, or anything of similar size -- big seller at conventions.)
• The Mark manufactured by Sterling Magic.
• 'One Cup & Coins" handling, with Jerry Mentzer and John Murray, 1994.
• "Penny Go", 2000(?)

• (more to be added)

Booklets/Pamphlets/Articles

• "Magical Mish-Mosh (and Other Tricky Trivia)", by Al Cohen, 1985.
• "John Murray's 'One Cup & Coin': Reprinted from 'Another Close-up Cavalcade' by John Murray" - 14 pages, copyright Jerry Mentzer, John Murray & Al Cohen, 1994
• "Memoirs of a Magic Dealer", by Al Cohen, GENII, Dec. 2007, p. 16.

• (more to be added)

Videos/DVD's

• "Mr. Nice Guy" video.
• Roger Lindsay Interview video.
• Parnell Zorch performing at AARP video.

• (more detail & dates to be added)

Sources

• The Linking Ring, Vol. 65, No. 2, February 1985, OUR COVER, AL COHEN, page 57.
• The Washingtonian, April 17, 1988, "Al Cohen: It Takes a Flexible Man to Sell a Rubber Chicken", by Vic Sussman, page 15.
• M-U-M, Vol. 84, No. 1, June 1994, THE AL COHEN ISSUE, "Al's Magic Shop", by Larry White, page 14.
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 82, No. 2, February 2002, "Al and Alice Cohen to Close Al's Magic", by Larry Lipman, page 41.
• Genii, Vol. 65, No. 3, March 2002, "The End of an Era ... Al’s Magic Shop", by Jamy Ian Swiss, page 24.
• M-U-M, Vol. 103, No. 1, June 2013, "Al Cohen: The Best Pitchman in Magic", page 40.