About – Steven Warburton

Welcome to my magic trick collection! I’m Steven Warburton and I’ve been collecting magic tricks, magic illusions, and books on magic for probably over 40 years and thought why not post it up on display. After all, I have it displayed in my home for others to see, so why not expand my reach.

I’m a previously, practicing magician and escape artist, who has made the transition to a Magic Collector for the last 40+ years.
In applying an extended hobby of web design and online marketing, I’ve been fortunate enough to develop many business related sites and eCommerce.

My core profession for the last 41 years has been in the Telecommunications, Internet Broadband arena.

That all said…

For me it all began at age 12 when my parents (I mean Santa) purchased me a Marshall Brodien TV Magic Show for Christmas. That magic kit propelled me into magic as a full time hobby. I began researching magic organizations, magic shops and start to open up to all the incredible magic tricks out there on the market. Since I was learning French in school I used the French translation for Steven, which is Etienne as my stage name.

I discovered Louis Tannen’s Magic Shop first and began my mail order frenzy which was the start to my magic trick collection. It was great getting all those packages in the mail.

Once my knowledge of magic started to develop, I quickly discovered my local magic shop, Phil Thomas’s Yogi Magic Mart in downtown Baltimore. My weekends turned into visits to the Yogi Magic Mart to be mentored by Phil Thomas himself and many other professional magicians. I was extremely fortunate to have such exposure to great talent. They gave me one on one instruction and guidance.

For more information on the Yogi Magic Mart visit The Magic of Baltimore.

Using the skills I learned, my performance focus was centered around children’s hospitals, church groups, and sometimes a nite-club. Of course friends and family provided the best support as my practice audience.

My next interest was escapes. I purchased a regulation strait-jacket from a hospital supply company and was determined to be the next Houdini. Of yes, that young ambitious thought process!

In 1977 (yes, I’m that old) I tried my first magic shop public performance with Phil Thomas and the Yogi Magic Mart.

STRAITJACKET ESCAPE

DOUBLE STRAITJACKET ESCAPE

On March 3, 1979 the stage was set…

I was the first magician in the state of Maryland to perform a double strait jacket escape which consists of a regular strait jacket and a transportation jacket placed over top of it all. Phil Thomas in Houdini like challenge style issued a public challenge to me to escape from this never tried before combination of restraints.

The excitement around the Yogi Magic Mart was circulating with everyone wondering if this young kid was taking on too much. I mean who ever heard of anyone escaping from a straitjacket while contained inside another sleeveless jacket restricting your movements.

On the day of the challenge, the Phil Thomas Yogi Magic Mart was packed waiting to see me fail. However, as in all good stories this one ended well and I escaped in less than 3 minutes. Now it was time to conquer handcuffs!

HANDCUFF ESCAPE ACT

I moved into challenging police officers and successfully escaped from every handcuff placed on me. I put an act together using handcuffs and other restraints and gave it a shot at the Phil Thomas and the Yogi Magic Mart.

Of course escapes were not my only performances. On the magic front I performed for nightclubs, but my heart was in performing for children’s hospitals. I did this for several years until entering into the Marine Corps. My magic hobby took a break for several years and once revived, it moved into the collecting arena and the rest is history.