Paul Le Paul

Le Paul was born Paul Braden on August 2nd, 1900 in Olney, Illinois. He grew up in St. Louis. As a boy he became interested in magic, particularly card manipulation. He started his professional career around 1920, doing a manipulative act entirely with playing cards. This act was the basis of the act for which he became famous. In 1923 he came upon a British manuscript, published in 1916, which contained a vague description of what is known today as the split-fan production. Le Paul was one of the first to use this sleight professionally and his presentation of it was never excelled. His seminal work, "The Card Magic of Le Paul", is in its fourth printing.