SUSAN PALMER MARSHALL heads up operations for Magic Inc. Susan has served as producer for a variety of stage, film and TV productions. She served as editor and image editor for the new epic bio Beating a Dead Horse: The Life and Times of Jay Marshall, editor for Newspaper Magic Revised Edition, and was associate editor for Cardially Yours. In addition, Susan is a former New Christy Minstrel and has five solo albums to her credit. She is married to Jay Marshall’s younger son, Sandy (www.susanpalmermarshall.com).

PEDRO R. NIEVES, Manager for Magic Inc.was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He lived there until the age of 18 when his family moved to Chicago. Lucky for him the Windy City had more magic to offer than he ever thought possible. By the time he finished his B.A. (summa cum laude) in Psychology, with a minor in Performing Arts, he was a regular at Magic, Inc. Though he has had a life-long passion for magic, he credits his time spent at the shop, attending lectures and interacting with fellow magicians as the most educational for him. From this he learned not just magic, but also timing, performance, and style. Pedro loves learning how things work: from a toaster oven to the human mind. This has come in handy when he has needed to create or modify existing tricks. He has done this frequently, both for his own magic and that of other professional magicians. Pedro has spent the past years (since 2002) professionally entertaining audiences with his balloon sculptures, close-up magic and in-store demonstrations. Pedro is a member of a bilingual staff, speaking English and Spanish. He has also found time to pursue his other passions (mostly sleeping and eating), continue his education and marry his beautiful wife Asia (perhaps his best magic trick to date).

JAY COLLEN, Saturday demonstrator, has loved and performed magic since childhood, but claims it's genetic: his first cousin was Carl Ballantine, and his mother was full time professional stage actress. Jay was the last magician personally hired by the legendary Jay Marshall here at Magic, Inc. He performs classic magic for general audiences throughout the Chicago area in home, community, corporate and stage settings. His clients include the USO, and the Perlstein Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. Jay is a member of the Society of American Magicians, and the inventor of several tricks including “Collen's Karma Cord” and “Jay's Banana Float” sold exclusively at Magic, Inc. Jay has been known to commit random acts of magic in public, and was recently caught doing so by a WLS camera team. (www.suchmagic.com)

EDD FAIRMAN (Wednesday demonstrator and a Wizard of Sorts) saw his first magician at a cub scout meeting when he was in first grade and thought that all the applause and laughter was a good thing. From that moment he was hooked. His parent's bought him a magic set for Christmas that year. Edd entertained (or more aptly put, he annoyed) his large family with his magic and antics until he was sixteen, when, he started to perform professionally. In college, Edd studied Theatre, Clowning, Juggling, and Acrobatics. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre, Edd is not only a professional magician; he is also a professional actor. He has been seen on stage (playing a bunch of silly people), screen, and television (hawking lotto tickets to clowns and monsters). Edd likes to walk on stilts (he is rather short), lay on beds of nails (don’t ask), and play the guitar; only for himself, thankfully. (www.wizardofsorts.com)

DANNY RUDNICK, demonstrator, has been performing magic since he was 5 years old. He is currently an elementary school teacher, and performs walk-around magic at O'Donovan's (formally known as Schulien's) and other venues around the city.  Danny is proud to produce the Magic Inc. Video Blog, “Have You Ever Heard Of…?”, in which he finds gems of magic hidden in old manuscripts.  He runs the weeklong summer camp at Magic Inc., and also runs magic after school classes and summer camps at his school. Danny is a big fan of science, origami, and balloon twisting.  He is also the inventor of the Selec-Trick Deck, a trick done with an electric deck. The trick has received rave reviews from many notable magicians, including Nathan Kranzo (via e-mail), Eric Jones (over dinner), and Danny Orleans (in the July 2010 issue of Genii).   (www.MisterDanny.com)