Writer
Ben Robinson is an award-winning writer and historian who’s written for TV, books for magicians, and the chronicle of his trek to the base camp of Mt. Everest. In 2012 he completed his autobiography. He is author of thirteen publications. His first book Twelve Have Died is regarded as a “cult classic.” In 2017 he concluded the WAM Trilogy: three books in three years dealing with Wonder, Artfulness and Mindfulness.
He has also written scripts for ventriloquists, magicians and physical comedians. He is the author of six one-man shows: MysteriuM, L’Art de la Magie, Time For Magic, Psychodyssey, After Magic? Out Of Order. He is well known for his writing and recording about synchronicity. Along with many awards for writing, since 2014, he’s been an Associate Editor to the free online magazine VANISH, which he has contributed to since issue #1 in 2012.
His book about John Mulholland, the CIA’s first magician, took three decades of research. The MagiCIAn™ is now an in-demand lecture at colleges, think tanks and interesting fodder for talk shows, and podcast interviews. Notably since 2008, Ben Robinson has lectured for: The Higgins Center (NJ), The Magic Art Studio (MA), The DeSouza Theatre (PA), Connecticut College (CT) and at the premier magic complex Denny & Lee’s Magic Studio (MD), among others.
As a commercial writer, Ben Robinson is known as a catchy wordsmith who finds compelling stories, distills central images and creates engaging dialogue
In 1986 he wrote the cult classic about the bullet-catching stunt, Twelve Have Died, with a foreword by Harry Anderson. This book was immediately reviewed as a ground-breaking piece of scholarship, and one of the first hard-back books dedicated to only one trick. Ben Robinson was fortunate to receive the guidance of noted scientist the late Larry White and the editorial assistance of historians Dr. Edwin A. Dawes and Dr. John N. Booth.
Four years after the success of Twelve Have Died, Ben Robinson was presented with a literary award by the Milbourne Christopher Foundation for this work. In 1995 he wrote a companion piece to his out-of-print book and received the Leslie R. Guest Award for his continuing scholarship with the history of the stunt which has killed 12 performers since shortly before 1597.
MAJIKAL
A new book by Ben Robinson from Vortex Press (Canada). Featuring true stories of wonder concerning strength, integrity and blissful creativity. 270 pages soft back, profusely illustrated with never-before-seen images of Houdini’s letters and clothing; the mysterious incarnation of Eve Kendall (modeled by Julia VanderVeen below); The Clock Shot (from The Outlaw Hero film) and: motorcyclists, photo-journalists, magicians, knife throwers, ancient acupuncture and modern piercing, models, and porn stars. Delight in Presidential poker; the oddities of the 250 O’s and The Reptilian Tongue. From clandestine intelligence to art crimes, the 40 stories are – Majikal. Learn more about the book.
The Outlaw Hero
Who is Ben Robinson? Author. Master Magician. Knife thrower. Who is The Outlaw Hero? Between 2017 and 2019 audiences in seventy-five cities and several countries gave Ben Robinson standing ovations. For forty-five years he’s been spreading wonder, laughter and raising consciousness—now he explains how. Do you covet your dreams; mission impossible success? The Outlaw Hero explodes with secret tales and images regarding love, sex, “the loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires”, magic theatre and the ever-present struggle between Good and Evil. You know Robin Hood, Zorro, Batman and the Lone Ranger—now meet the real thing, The Outlaw Hero.
From The Outlaw Hero: “This is intuition, the superhighway of thought. The operative, the outlaw hero, as the finest example of all tradecraft and silent justice, achieves the target, operation or stage show because they went ahead in time, saw what needed to occur and then went back to the so-called “present” and executed what they found in the future. Don’t believe me? Check this out.”
Click here to learn more and see the video
“Jaw-dropping adventures from a dizzying career. An Indiana Jones, Harry Potter mashup.”
—Victor Brisbin, VANISH Magic Magazine, Nov. 2020.
Hiding In Plain Sight
Pop culture meets parapsychology in master magician Ben Robinson’s Hiding In Plain Sight. His urbanite rock’n roll voice narrates his experience with visible invisibility. Montauk Actors Group founder Gary Swanson says, “Ben Robinson’s voice is in the same room with you.”
Whether it is anomalous phenomenon, a tesseract, or meeting Katharine Hepburn on Valentine’s Day, Hiding In Plain Sight enthralls! Meticulous examples, details and painstaking research are covered in Hiding In Plain Sight. A guide for 21st century living, with a prefacing essay by master knife thrower Jason Willard Johnson, Hiding In Plain Sight provides readers with greater Wonder, Artfulness and Mindfulness. Hiding In Plain Sight = prescription for Robinson’s 2015—2017 WAM
Artful Mindfulness
Artful Mindfulness (Art and Artists’ Secrets) is a timely book for a world over-run with technology. Mindfulness, taught at universities worldwide, including Oxford University (England), seeks to remind and train people to never forget the most human, feeling components of life. Sherlock Holmes famously stated, “You see, but do not observe.” Like Holmes, we are better off truly considering our circumstances. Here, mindfulness is entertainingly studied from the arts.
The Importance of Wonder
Whether you are a magician, puppeteer, storyteller, dancer, or corporate executive bringing product to market, the value of wonder cannot be ignored. A presenter’s success depends on affecting audiences.
Mindful Artfulness
Mindful Artfulness is author Ben Robinson’s charming companion volume to his, Artful Mindfulness (2016). The Foreword by Ted Chapin and the Preface Cartoon by Charles Schneider, set up the rare insight into film, theatre, circus and the day-to-day gigs of the traveling Master Magician author. Readers feel the performer’s deep insight. Montauk Actors Group leader Gary Swanson remarked, “In this book, Ben Robinson is in the same room with you.”
From the Krieger-Flosso family “knighting” the author, to a Gummo Marx unpublished letter, Mindful Artfulness is revealing. Reviews and retrospectives of the artful antics of Le Cirque Invisible, and the resurrection of Harry Watson Jr.’s hobo clown Musty Suffer, Mindful Artfulness explores pop culture from the 1800’s to today.
In depth profiles: the hilarious, spiritually-truthful comedian Bill Hicks, actor John Cazale (Fredo in The Godfather), England’s celebrity magician Paul Daniels, and the Marx Brothers stand center stage. The author’s true tales, previously published reviews of books, films, theatre and circus thrive with energy. Mindful Artfulness concludes Ben Robinson’s trilogy regarding wonder, mindfulness and artfulness.
The Door Is A Jar—Bill Hicks
The Door Is A Jar—Bill Hicks is an excerpted chapter from Ben Robinson’s 2017 Mindful Artfulness. “A very exciting time capsule—positive, darkly sweet, and well-researched arts literature...” wrote H. Freytag in VANISH. Hicks was a gifted musician, who slayed audiences with sensational stand-up comedy. He was a stand-up philosopher, his great gift: bringing clarity, wit, insight and truth to evolve ideas. The Door Is A Jar—Bill Hicks explains why Hicks was called “the outlaw comic who tried to change the world.” Bill Marx wrote the Backward. Hicks' humor is as relevant today in 2017 as when he played 300-nights a year in the US, Canada, Australia and England where he became a star. Leaving Earth in1994, his work and wonderful presence of mind still lives. The poem on page 69 Ode to the Outlaw Comic Bill Hicks has now been set to music by Matt Turk, and is a bonus free download with the purchase of this book. Author Ben Robinson understands the illusion Hicks prayed to be lifted out of. And, so will you when you delight in this effusive meditation about the man regularly compared to Mark Twain; known as “the greatest comedian of his generation.”
Magic & The Silent Clowns
"If Magic trumps Rationality and Silence transcends Speech, Ben Robinson has so beautifully blended the two together in writing about my dad, Harpo. His book is truly a magical gift that will also leave you speechless, filled with love to all who have the great fortune to read it. Bravo, Benno!”
–Bill Marx
The Magician
John Mulholland's Secret Life
The only biography of the master magician and spy instructor John Mulholland.
"John Mulholland is surely one of the most fascinating personalities in magic history. For his work to advance conjuring as a recognized art, he deserves tremendous respect, and no serious student of magic will want to skip this book." —Michael Claxton, Magic Magazine
Available in Paperback & Audiobook
The John Booth Reader
On November 11, 2010 Lybrary.com releases Ben’s 5th book, written in collaboration with the man often cited as the model for Indiana Jones — Dr. John N. Booth. Ben worked with Booth on 4 books, this one taking 7 years. (Booth died Nov. 11, ’09 at 97.) The John Booth Reader is a must for any Booth scholar.
Available as an e-book, or paperback
Select Publications:
The MagiCIAn: John Mulholland’s Secret Life,
Lybrary.com, Fall 2008
The Larry White Hat Pin,
White Magic Productions, 2003.
Ben Robinson on Synchronicity,
Metro-Video Productions, 2001.
The Magic of Micah Lasher,
(historical anecdotes)
Simon and Schuster, 1996.
The Redstone Box of Tricks
(aka The Magic Box, Hocus Pocus: A Box of Tricks),
Shambhala Press, 1995.
Appearing and Disappearing Elephants
(from Illusions: The Evolution and Revolution of the Magic Box),
Illusion Systems Pub., 1995.
The John Booth Index,
International Brotherhood of Magicians, 1990.
Mouth Coil Magic,
Magic Art Book Co., Watertown, MA, 1987.
Twelve Have Died: Bullet Catching, The Story & Secrets,
Magic Art Book Co., Watertown, MA, 1986.
Ben Robinson has also written many articles, reviews of magicians and for other magazines including: The Keaton Chronicle, MagicTimes.com Spotlight News, Magic Past Times.com, Genii, The Linking Ring, MUM, MAJ, The Illusionist, MAGICOL; online newsletters Smoke & Mirrors, Shakespeare’s E-mail, The Joey: The magazine of Clowns International, and Movement Theatre Quarterly, American Himalayan Foundation News, The Glaucoma Foundation News, and CC: (The Connecticut College Magazine).
