REMEMBERING
LOUIS
FALANGA
The magic world lost a giant as Louis Falanga, founder and president of L&L Publishing, passed
away peacefully Saturday morning after his courageous battle with a protracted illness.
Born in Brooklyn NY in 1955, Louis first became interested in magic by way of an uncle who
would show him simple magic tricks during family dinners. Several years later, he became more
serious about magic after seeing Mark Wilson perform at the 1964-1965 World’s Fair in New York
and he soon developed a profound love of close-up magic, particularly card magic. The future
publisher consumed books like Wilfred Jonson’s Magic Tricks & Card Tricks and Scarne on Card
Tricks, learning every trick in them. He also developed the same habit that many magic kids in the
New York area had, that of hanging around Lou Tannen’s magic shop in the hope of being able to
rub shoulders with the many legends passing through town.
Louis relocated to California in 1973, settling in Tahoma on the shores of Lake Tahoe. He
got a job first as a ski lift operator and later as a staff trainer for the Squaw Valley Ski Resort but also
soon found work as a close-up magician in the many exclusive restaurants that ring the lake. It was
also during this period that Louis would first meet Larry Jennings, an encounter that would change
his life forever.
They became fast friends and when Larry moved to Newport Beach to assume the
position of entertainment director at Magic Island, he hired Louis to act as a host at the club. At
Magic Island, Louis found himself rubbing shoulders with the likes of Michael Ammar, Martin Lewis,
John Carney, and Daryl, a period of his life that he always remembered fondly.
It was also during this time that Louis began to develop a significant number of his own effects.
He decided to incorporate these original ideas and routines into print form and enlisted the aid
of a local magic pal, Mike Maxwell, to write up the material for a book. Louis Falanga’s Lake Tahoe
Card Magic made its debut in 1985. Not only did it offer fourteen of Louis’ items, but Larry Jennings
contributed an entire chapter of unpublished material. The book was well received by cardmen
and critics alike and continues to be a good seller to this day.
Louis suggested to Larry that he put out a comprehensive book of his own work and
Larry, while resistant at first, finally warmed to the idea. Louis brought in Mike Maxwell as the
writer, Tom Gagnon was enlisted as the illustrator, and finally, in 1986, The Classic Magic of Larry
Jennings was ready for release.
What to call the company, though, became a dilemma but Larry had the answer. “It’s
you and me, Louis. Larry and Louis. L & L Publishing.” And that’s the way it was until 1989, when
Jennings signed over his interest in the company completely over to Louis.
L&L Publishing, with Louis at its helm, published many books now considered to be classics,
including four volumes of The Vernon Chronicles, two volumes of The Collected Works of Alex
Elmsley, Carneycopia, The Magic of Michael Ammar, The Commercial Magic of J.C. Wagner, and
many other titles, including books by and about Ed Marlo, Harry Lorayne, Don Alan, John Cornelius,
Roger Klause, and others. L&L Publishing also compiled many magic periodicals in hardcover for
the first time, including The Pallbearers Review, Apocalpyse, The Chronicles, Stanyon’s Magic, and
The Magic Menu.
In the early 1990s, Louis expanded the reach of L&L Publishing into instructional videos,
beginning with three titles starring Bruce Cervon based on The Vernon Chronicles books. Then, in
1994, L&L Publishing released the first volumes of Easy-to-Master Card Miracles. These recordings,
which featured Michael Ammar, are still, to this day, the best-selling instructional magic videos ever
published.
Beginning in the very early 2000s, L&L Publishing was the first major magic producer to
make the jump to DVD, and for the next decade, produced scores of instructional videos featuring
such artists as Alex Elmsley, Daryl, Eugene Burger, Max Maven, Harry Lorayne, Jeff McBride, Richard
Osterlind, David Regal, Joshua Jay, Simon Aronson, and many, many others.
In his personal life, Louis was a lifelong devotee of popular music (his collection of rock
‘n roll memorabilia, including signed album covers and guitars, was legendary) and he will be
remembered by all who knew him as a gentle and generous man. Louis leaves two sons, scores
of grateful artists and authors, and an astounding legacy to the literature of magic that cannot be
overstated.
Perhaps Jeff McBride summed it up best when he said of Louis Falanga: “He changed the way we
learn magic.”
– Jim Sisti