✦ Golden Grolla Award 2008

David Berglas

The International Man of Mystery

David Berglas (1926-2023) was one of the most influential mentalists and showmen of the twentieth century. Born in Berlin and raised in England, he became a pioneer of psychological magic on British radio and television in the 1950s, when nobody had ever seen anything like it: a performer who seemed to read minds, influence choices and predict the impossible with nothing but presence and words. The press called him "The International Man of Mystery", and the name followed him for the rest of his life.

Among magicians his name is tied above all to the Berglas Effect, a version of the classic Any Card At Any Number so clean and so impossible that for decades it was discussed, analysed and chased by the best card magicians in the world. Many consider it the holy grail of card magic. As a performer he mystified royalty, celebrities and millions of viewers; as a thinker he shaped how modern mentalism is constructed and presented.

President of The Magic Circle for many years and mentor to generations of performers, Berglas received the Golden Grolla in 2008, at the first ceremony, as one of the living legends the award was created for.

Honoured by Masters of Magic among the legends who have shaped the history of magic.