It’s been a very exciting time! Two major events occurred basically simultaneously! Lorene and I were invited by the Jewish Museum of Amsterdam to attend the exhibit: Abracadabra: Mysteries from Houdini to Hans Klok which officially opened to the public on September 25th, 2026, and has just been extended to run until mid-May 2027. I loaned 47 pieces to the exhibit that was developed by Hans Klok, Emile Schrijver (the museum director) and a wonderful team of curators, designers and consultants. The basic story of this exhibit’s development was featured in the September 2026 issue of Genii magazine (which also marked its 90th year of publication) which is the preeminent magic trade periodical (see that previous blog).
We flew out of Cleveland on the evening of September 21st just after sunset (as Yom Kippur concluded) and arrived midday on Tuesday September 22nd in Amsterdam. On Wednesday afternoon we visited the museum and met with Hans Klok and Emile Schrijver. This was the first time that I met Hans. He is a wonderful person. He is personable, warm, down to earth, gracious and astute. He has a keen sense of history and clearly knowledgeable about all areas of magic. We established that we have a lot of friends in common including the amazing Gay Blackstone, Bill Smith, and Johnny Gaughan.
Lorene and I then had an advance look at the exhibit with Emile and Titia Zoeter (the lead curator alongside Marishcka de Louw). Titia had worked on most of the information and artifact explanations for the exhibit. The idea was to be clear, concise, and not overwhelming for adults and children.
Between the beautiful installations were activities for children where they had a bird’s eye view of magic that was not full exposure but gave them some stimulation that was interesting and perhaps would inspire anew generation. Hans Klok had recorded professional and informative and entertaining videos throughout the exhibit that guided people through the museum.
There were also videos of magician’s performing such as Houdini doing his suspended straitjacket escape, Horace Goldin performing a sequence with a canary production, Fu-Manchu performing a bullet catch, Arnold de Biere performing his egg bag routine, and more.
They had some novel presentations of Houdini’s shackles with actual models of manacled hands and feet. The number of magicians represented highlight many of the Golden Age of Magic greats including Houdini, The Bamberg Family (six generations of the Dutch magic dynasty including Okito(Theo Bamberg) and Fu-Manchu (David Bamberg)), Alexander Herrmann, Adelaide Herrmann, and Horace Goldin. They also feature Larette and his magic shop in the Netherlands. The exhibit highlights female magicians such as Miss Blanche and Gloria Dea (the first magician to perform on the Las Vegas Strip). The exhibit does not ignore the persecution and attempted extermination of Jews around the Nazi Holocaust during World War II as many artists were murdered such as Professor Ben Ali Libi (Michel Velleman). The focus of the exhibit is uplifting, educational, and fun. It is important to appreciate the contribution of magic entertainment as a performance art form and the awe and happiness it engenders. Jewish magicians have had a prominent role in magic.
On Thursday the 24th, we returned to the museum for a donor’s luncheon hosted by Emile Schrijver and Titia Zoeter. I met many of the wonderful people who support the museum and finally met some of the people who I had been in contact with only by email in making arrangements for my loan and transport of items to the museum.
Then, in the evening was the Gala Grand Opening where 420 people attended! They had special “cocktails” that changed color when you added a secret potion and roaming magicians including a young Giani Marsie who is studying with Hans. Emile and Hans both gave speeches (all in Dutch) to the attendees and then everyone was allowed to see the exhibit. I met Oliver Henning who won First Prize in Stage(Junior), the People’s Choice Award, and the Fantasma Award at the 2023 International Brotherhood of Magicians convention in Pittsburgh, USA in 2023 when he was only 15 years old! I met the great magicians and entertainers Kobe Van Herwegan and Nikolaas Martens, both from Belgium who will be working on the European Conference on Magic History for 2027. I also met Hans’ good friend PeterVogel a well-known professional magician in the Netherlands. Another great guy!
You can hear Emile Schrijver and Hans Kloks' speeches here soon (all in Dutch):
After the opening, Lorene and I enjoyed a lovely dinner with the museum group at Café-Restaurant De Plantage which is next to the Amsterdam Zoo. I believe it used to be a greenhouse but is now an expansive beautiful restaurant with solid food. The chocolate mousse was amazing!
On Sunday, the 27th, I had the opportunity to visit Hans Klok at his warehouse at the Harbour of IJmuiden. Hans had invited me, Lorene and Emile to visit. Lorene decided to let the "boys" get together on their own, so I took the train to Haarlem, Emile picked me up and then we drove to Hans’ warehouse. What a spectacular place! He has it set up with a practice stage to work on effects along with areas for storage of props. He has an office and an area for some of his collection. All around are posters and mementos from his past work. He has an entire side room with amazing costumes. You should feel how heavy some of these are with the rhinestone decorations! You really must be an athlete to wear these and perform especially with the fast-paced illusions that Hans does. Hans is working hard on a new show produced in partnership with Cirque du Soleil that he will star in called “The Illusionists.” I had him take a photo with his Origami Illusion built by John Gaughan. We had a fantastic lunch of fresh fried “Dutch” cod and pastry. It was so good and especially fresh as we were right by the sea. Again, it was such a pleasure to finally meet Hans and spend some time together. He is a true star and a wonderful person.
Click here to visit Amsterdam Now Link about Abracadabra Exhibit at the Jewish Museum:
Click here to visit Netherlands Museum Pass Link for Abracadabra Exhibit at the Jewish Museum:
Click here to visit JGuide Europe Link about the Abracadabra Exibit at the Jewish Museum:
Click here to visit The Villa d'Arte Link to the Abracadabra Exhibit at the Jewish Museum:
Click here to see Illusionists Show Link Staring Hans Klok:
Click Here to see Hans Klok on TV in 2019:
Our time in the Netherlands was fantastic. We did other things and visited our good friends Kees Zandvliet and Sandy Leonard who were also able to join us for the museum opening. We spent a day in the medieval city of Amersfoort with them and another afternoon in Haarlem where we visited the Cruquius Steam Drainage Pumping Station active from 1849-1932 that houses the largest Cornish steam engine in the world! We visited the Van Gogh Museum, took a ride on a boat through the canals, visited theHolocaust Museum and the Portuguese Sephardic Synagogue and ate some great food but this blog is about magic so that’s the focus here.
The other event that occurred essentially simultaneously with the Abracadabra opening was the 2026 Milbourne Christopher Foundation Awards Presentation on September 26. I received a new award “Magic History Preservationist.” I mentioned this previously but because of us being in Amsterdam for the museum exhibit opening it was impossible logistically to be present for the ceremony at the Garde Arts Center in New London, Connecticut. I was very honored to receive this along with a prestigious group of Paul Romhany (Literary Award), TJ Salta (Rising StarAward), Jim Sisti (Close-Up Award), Scott Wells (Ambassador of Magic), Peter Samelson (Masters Award), Juliana Chen (Award of Excellence) and Paul Fidler(Lifetime Achievement Award). I missed out on physically receiving the award, hanging out with everyone, the festivities, group pictures, etc. A great article on the event was just published in this October’s “Vanish” Magazine. Usually, you must be present to receive this award; however, the awards committee decided to make an exception especially since I was doing exactly what this award was given for: preserving magic history. I am truly grateful for this. I was able to record a video acceptance speech, and I will try post that here soon.
There are more activities and plans in the works for events and publications for me and the Averbook Magic ArtMuseum and Library. I will be posting here that information soon.
