Home Counties Magical Society

Tony Corinda, was born in 1931, and we are very sad to report that Tony passed away on Thursday 1st July 2010 in Norfolk. Tony Corinda was a magic dealer in the 50s, 60s and early 70s, and Corinda's Thirteen Steps to Mentalism, has become the standard text and starting point for many studying mentalism. After his retirement from magic, many believed that he had passed away, until an article in Magic Magazine in MArch 2008.

In the 1950s and 1960s he had at least two shops in London; prior to this, Corinda had a magic studio where he sold magic tricks, mostly with a mentalist flavour for which he became best known. The Magic Shop in Tottenham Court Road was originally run by Dick Chavel, and later taken over by Corinda.

This store was at street level so catered mainly to the lay public, so many of the items sold were either practical jokes or beginners' tricks, but other items and small illusions for semi-professional magicians and hobbyists were also sold over the counter.

Around the same period, Corinda had the magic concession in Hamleys Toy Shop in Regent Street. This was located in the basement of the store and was run for a period by Ali Bongo, who also demonstrated magic at the Tottenham Court Road location.