Max Maven
A cerebral performer who elevated mentalism from trickery to high art, speaking in riddles and reading minds with chilling precision.
1950–2022 (age 72)·American magician and mentalist·Birthday: December 21·Baby Boomers
Biography
Born Philip Goldstein, Max Maven cultivated an aura of profound intellect and otherworldly knowledge. His stage persona—pale, dark-eyed, and speaking in deliberate, cryptic phrases—was as much a part of his act as his flawless mind-reading. He moved beyond standard magic tricks to create complex, original routines that felt like demonstrations of genuine psychic phenomena, often involving multiple participants and staggering feats of memory. A writer and thinker as much as a performer, he contributed hundreds of effects and essays to magic journals, becoming a secret weapon for other magicians seeking sophisticated material. His influence is embedded in the craft; he consulted on television specials and for performers like Penn & Teller, who considered him a mentor. Maven’s legacy is that of the thinking person’s mentalist, who treated the art form as a serious intellectual pursuit.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Max was born in 1950, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Max Was Born
The biggest hits of 1950
#1 Movie
Cinderella
Best Picture
All About Eve
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Max's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1950Born
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1955Started school
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1963Became a teenager
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1966Could drive
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1968Could vote
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1971Turned 21
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1980Turned 30
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1990Turned 40
Hubble Space Telescope launched; Germany reunifies
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.80/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Hold On" — Wilson PhillipsBest Picture: Dances with Wolves
2000Turned 50
Y2K passes without incident; contested Bush-Gore election
Gas: $1.51/galHome: $119,600Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Breathe" — Faith HillBest Picture: Gladiator
2010Turned 60
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
2020Turned 70
COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Gas: $2.17/galHome: $248,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Blinding Lights" — The WeekndBest Picture: Nomadland
2022Died at 72
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Key Achievements
- Named one of the '100 Most Influential Magicians of the 20th Century' by Magic Magazine.
- Created and performed original mentalism routines like 'Video Mind' and 'Parallax,' which are studied by magicians worldwide.
- Wrote a long-running column, 'Maven’s Way,' for *Magician* magazine and contributed extensively to seminal texts like 'The Encyclopedia of Mentalism.'
- Served as a creative consultant for television magic specials and for performers including Doug Henning and David Copperfield.
Did You Know?
His stage name 'Maven' is derived from the Yiddish word for an expert or connoisseur.
He was fluent in Japanese and lived in Japan for several years, performing and studying its magical traditions.
He never performed his most prized original routines on television, reserving them for live audiences.
He was known for his vast personal library of magic and occult literature.
“Magic is the only theatrical art form that is dedicated to creating a sense of astonishment.”
