Arturo De Ascanio

Arturo De Ascanio
Born	Arturo de Ascanio y Navaz March 22, 1929 Spain
Died	April 6, 1997 (age 68)
Nationality	Spanish

Don Arturo de Ascanio y Navaz (b.1929-d.1997) of La Laguna (Tenerife), Spain, wrote about theories and concepts important to magic such as "In-Transit Actions" and "The Law of Primary Motion" which had never been expressed before.

Biography

Ascanio on Juan Tamariz TV show

By profession, Ascanio was a lawyer and devoted his life to magic, but he was never a professional magician. His works influenced several generations of Spanish magicians. He was one of the founders of the prestigious Escuela Mágica de Madrid (EMM). Along with Juan Tamariz, Ascanio spearheaded a school of thought in close-up magic that has produced FISM award-winning champions and deeply influenced the craft of magic worldwide.

He is known for his theoretical studies on magic, condensed in Ascanio´s Structural Conception of Magic. He is also known for his Color Changing Knife routines and for inventing the Ascanio Spread (1970) in card magic.. His magical thinking influenced several generations of Spanish and international magicians, such as Juan Tamariz, Roberto Giobbi, Gabi Pareras, Dani Daortiz and several others who mention Ascanio as a fundamental master in their magical thinking.

Books

• Navajas y Daltonismo (1958) translated in English by Jose de la Torre as Ascanio's World of Knives (1975)
• The Psychology of Palming (1982) translated into English by Roberto Giobbi
• The Magic of Ascanio, volumes 1, 2 and 3 by Jesus Etcheverry

Awards

• First place Close-up Cards at 1970 FISM in Amsterdam.