COLLINSVILLE, Illinois, March 20, 2026 — The Gateway Close-Up Convention returns to Collinsville, Ill. — just across the Mississippi from St. Louis — next week, March 26-28, with a lineup anchored by one of the most anticipated close-up magic tributes in recent memory.
The highlight of this year’s mini-convention is a Friday afternoon lecture and performance by Kevin Kelly and Randy Wakeman titled “Forty Years Later: A Tribute to Ed Marlo” — timed to mark the 40th anniversary of Marlo’s legendary 1986 St. Louis lecture. That appearance, his first lecture in 35 years, was captured on video and later released as Ed Marlo: Thirty-Five Years Later — widely considered the only live lecture video of Marlo ever recorded. People still describe it as a momentous moment in the art form.
40 years after Marlo’s renowned lecture, just minutes from the site where Marlo made magic history, Kelly and Wakeman will pay tribute to the master. The pair of Marlo disciples will perform and explain several of Marlo’s most powerful, practical effects during a two-hour lecture honoring their master and mentor.
The subject warrants the attention. Ed Marlo — born Edward Malkowski in Chicago on Oct. 10, 1913, and died Nov. 7, 1991 — coined the term “cardician” and authored more than 60 books and manuscripts, contributing upward of 2,000 tricks to the literature of card magic. Despite that output, he lectured rarely, and almost never outside Chicago.
St. Louis had history with Marlo even before 1986. The city is home to IBM Ring 1 — the founding local ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, whose world headquarters is now in nearby St. Charles — and lecture notes documented as “Ed Marlo’s Lecture Notes St. Louis” place him there as far back as 1951. The Gateway tribute is the latest chapter in a relationship between the Cardician and the city at the heart of organized magic.
Kelly and Wakeman were not observers. They were students. Both knew and studied under Marlo for more than 15 years, and their new book, Ed Marlo 40 Years Later, reflects that intimacy. The 140-page, Smyth-sewn hardbound volume contains 34 complete routines, more than 35 sleights and subtleties, and 78 illustrations — much of it material never before published. It is the first new hardbound Marlo book in 42 years, and only the second hardbound Marlo book ever produced. The first printing sold out in eight days. A second printing, enhanced with color images, became available Feb. 10.
The tributes from within the magic community have been consistent. Allan Ackerman, who considers himself a serious Marlo student, praised the book for capturing the feeling of sitting at Ed’s table, noting moves and material he didn’t know existed. Bill Malone, also among the few whom Marlo tutored, wrote that Kelly and Wakeman’s bond with Ed was real, lasting, and filled with respect — and that the tribute was long overdue.
Kelly and Wakeman will be signing copies of the book at the convention. Magicians unable to attend the event can find the book on Wakeman’s website: randywakemanmagic.com.
Originally called “The Senior Tour” to reflect the depth of experience held by its presenters, the event was renamed the Gateway Close-Up Convention and is now in its fifth year. Organized by Baskerville Productions, registration is limited to 150 participants with a fee of $250 per person. The full schedule also includes lectures and close-up shows featuring Luke Dancy, Chad Long, Danny Cheng, Steve Friedberg, Jimmy Ichihana, Steve Myers, Mark Tams, and the duo of Jason Baney and Steffi Kay.
The event takes place at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 1000 Eastport Plaza Dr., Collinsville, Ill. Registration details and the complete schedule are at baskervilleproductions.com/gateway.
Responses