Fred Kaps: Master Magician

There are magicians. And then there was Fred Kaps.

Fred Kaps was a performer of legendary talent. Born in 1926, his talent took him around the world, astonishing audiences with a level of skill and charisma that felt impossible. He created strong, original effects that are still performed today, and remains the only magician in history to win the FISM Grand Prix three times.

That is one of the many reasons why, when his biography was first published in 2021, it sold out almost immediately. English copies rarely pop up for sale, and when they do, they sell for high prices.

To mark what would have been Kaps' 100th birthday, Vanishing Inc. is proud to release a special centenary edition of Fred Kaps: Master Magician. This new edition is strictly limited to just 500 individually numbered copies and will never be reprinted.

Inside this gorgeous, 260-page, hardcover biography, you'll find the secrets behind his legendary Salt Trick, the Homing Card, his Silk Transposition, and many other Kaps classics. But more important than the method, you’ll discover work behind the piece. Things like why his costumes were always midnight blue, the story behind his fake currency, and the countless small decisions that added up to something extraordinary.

Dutch magician and Michel van Zeist went deep into Kaps’ archives, working directly with Kaps’ family and close friends to put together this truly incredible book. You’ll get to learn about Fred Kaps from his daughter, his director, his friends, and colleagues like Jeff McBride, Hans Klok, and James Swain. Together, these stories and anecdotes paint a full picture, beginning with a young boy learning tricks from his barber, performing magic during wartime, and eventually being shaped by the legendary Henk Vermeyden into the greatest magician of his generation.

One hundred years after his birth, this is the tribute Fred Kaps deserves. Get it now, exclusively at Vanishing Inc