Staff

 

	Olena Zozulevich is the Librarian at Conjuring Arts. She has a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Long Island University, and a bachelor’s degree in East Asian Language and Literature from Smith College. Though she came to Conjuring Arts with little knowledge of the world of magic, she finds that she learns something new about it every day as she maintains the records of its history.
	Sean Rockoff is the Digitization Librarian at CARC. As such he is responsible for digitizing the library’s collections for Ask Alexander. Sean has a BFA in Film and Television from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute. He enjoys following the lives of magicians throughout the works he scans and longs to discover the mysteries hiding in the Rare Book Collection.
	Eric Mead is a highly regarded magician and speaker who teaches special classes for advanced magicians as part our online educational programs. Additionally, Mead acts as a constant “goodwill ambassador” for magic, bringing an academic and literary sensibility to his talks and performances for the general public. He shares Conjuring Arts ongoing mission to raise public appreciation of magic as an art form, and we are pleased to welcome him as our first appointee to the position of Senior Fellow.
	Derek DelGaudio is the Director of Contemporary Conjuring (DCC). Derek is responsible for interpreting new ideas or developments in magic, as well as, the historical relevance of existing work. The DCC is also responsible for creating dialogs between The Conjuring Arts Research Center and entities in fields relevant to the magical arts, such as: Theater, Contemporary Art, Music, Film and Television.
	Stephen Minch is the author of more than thirty books on sleight-of-hand and mentalism, which aside from his own creations include the magic of Dai Vernon, Alex Elmsley, Tommy Wonder, Martin Nash, Daryl, Larry Jennings, Bruce Cervon, Bro. John Hamman, Ken Krenzel, Eddie Fields and others. Minch is also the founder of Hermetic Press, Inc., an established publishing concern devoted to producing quality books on conjuring; and in his spare time he edits Gibecière for fun.
	Noah Levine is a magician who works as a researcher at Conjuring Arts. He also teaches with the Hocus Pocus Project and helped build the Conjuring Arts Lending Library. In addition, Noah performs in New York City and is the resident magician at the Hotel Plaza Athenée. He likes plain, red Bees.
	David Roth is Conjuring Arts’ master in residence. He is one of the great sleight-of-hand innovators of the 20th Century, and his book Expert Coin Magic (1985) is considered required reading for any serious student of magic. Despite his busy schedule performing and lecturing all over the world, David has found the time to help out at the library and teach with the Hocus Pocus Project. Dai Vernon said, “David Roth is without a doubt the most outstanding innovator of Coin Magic in the world today.”
	Ricky Smith is the student in residence at Conjuring Arts. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which he refrains from using, and instead does magic related activities and research. He has contributed to magazines, been profiled in MAGIC magazine, and occasionally does miracles.
	Dan Smith is Conjuring Arts’ volunteer System Administrator. He develops new features for Ask Alexander and resolves technical problems reported by our members. Working at Conjuring Arts allows Dan to combine his passion for magic history with his extensive professional work in software development. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from Old Dominion University and manages software engineering teams at Adobe Systems, Inc. Dan is always looking for volunteers to help with the varied computer projects being developed for Ask Alexander and Conjuring Arts.
	Aron Prins is a magician from the Netherlands. In 2013 he visited the library and on tour expressed he would love to help out building and maintaining Conjuring Arts’s web presence. He’s been on the team ever since! In addition to magic, Aron runs his own business along with his girlfriend Sharon where they consult and help other businesses grow online.
	Dr. Lori Pieper was Conjuring Arts’ Director of Research and Translation. She acquired the almost unexplored existing material in magic history for Conjuring Arts, and made it available to English-speaking readers in translations and editions of primary sources and secondary scholarly works. Her studies in the Humanities, earned masters in both Library Science and History, and Ph.D. in Medieval History all informed her work here at the library. Lori also was Pope John Paul I’s official translator. Like all of the Conjuring Arts staff, Lori appreciated the incredible variety in what goes on here. One day she’s translating an early twentieth-century dime novel about Houdini and Sherlock Holmes from German, and then the next she may be dissecting a Renaissance Italian humanist’s text on mathematical games or maybe a sixteenth-century French “recipe book” that tells you how to make a roasted chicken flap its wings and fly away! Lori looked forward to the many ancient, medieval and Renaissance works that Conjuring Arts will give good critical editions. In addition to continuing her scholarly work, Lori’s intent was to cultivate relationships with other established academic institutions in order to promote knowledge of the Conjuring Arts field in the scholarly community in general.
	David Roth was Conjuring Arts’ master in residence. He was one of the great sleight-of-hand innovators of the 20th Century, and his book Expert Coin Magic (1985) is considered required reading for any serious student of magic. Despite his busy schedule performing and lecturing all over the world, David found the time to help out at the library and teach with the Hocus Pocus Project. Dai Vernon said, “David Roth is without a doubt the most outstanding innovator of Coin Magic in the world today.”

Volunteers and Interns, A special thanks to past and current volunteers who have assisted Conjuring Arts in all its endeavors: Olena Zozulevich, Caroline Ashby, Laura Baldwin, Kara Banister, Janie Brookshire, Brendan Colby, Pat Colby, Michael Davis, Alice Dontanville, Lindsay Friedman, Chrysse Haynes, Evan Natelson, McKinley Parker, Joelen Pastva, Diana Post, Kenlynne Rini, Neil Romanosky, Gina Toell, Ilyssa Winokur, Michael Brophy, Anna Bekker, Ryan McQuade Lohner, Rebecca Steere, Wendell Zaragoza, Laurie Kaplan, Geraldine Granahan, Jennifer Spota, Erin Petrella, Nicole Banatka, Marilyn Chin, Helen Ciacciarelli, Brian Shetler, Melissa Oblitas, Hannah Behrens, Marissa Hiller, Tania Silva, Jivan Gandhi, Marie Stark, Sheila Bergen, Sarah Cassone, Alexandra Hoffman, Michael Smerconish, and Ellen Mehling.

	Evatima is the current CARC mascot. She is not only awesome but is the curator for the library’s large and important dog toy collection, which is renowned throughout the neighborhood for its focus on toys which arrived new and yet have been mysteriously ravaged as if by a vicious tornado.
	Punch is a valued member of the CARC team, Well known for his enthusiasm and zest, his contributions to the destruction of toys cannot be overstated. The history of magic owes a great deal of gratitude to Punch.
	Munito was The Conjuring Arts Research Center’s Official Mascot and Head of Security. He spent his days researching digestion of cards, perfecting his metamorphosis into a wolf, and digging through trash cans. He passed on in April of 2007.