Simon Aronson

Simon Aronson (1943 – 2019)[1] was an American magician and lawyer. Aronson wrote a number of books[2] which are "considered essential reading"[3] for magicians. He is noted for his Aronson Stack card trick and the trick Shuffle-Bored. Two of his other tricks were performed by other magicians on Penn & Teller: Fool Us. For years, he also performed a mind-reading act with his wife.[4]

Early life and education

Aronson was born in 1943.[1] He was the son of Annette and Arnold Aronson.[5][6][7] His father was a co-founder of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Aronson grew up in Rye, New York[1] where he attended Milton School[5] and Rye High School.[6][7][8] Aronson started performing magic shows when he was about 8, including posting want ads in the newspaper.[5][8] When he was 15, he started to appear on a local TV program as its junior magician.[7]

Aronson attended the University of Chicago[1] where he obtained a bachelor of arts in 1964, a master of arts in 1965, and a J.D. in 1973.[9] He met his wife Virginia Cook when they were both law students at the University of Chicago.[4]

Career

Aronson became a real estate lawyer[1] and a partner in the Chicago law firm of Lord, Bissell, and Brook,[10] but he retired in 1999[9][2] to become a full-time magician.[1][3]

Aronson wrote a number of books[2] and released a number of DVDs. In 2016, Kevin Pang explained "Here’s the thing about card magic: Most tricks don’t get passed down from master to protégé... Card magicians learn their tricks from books.... Among the thousands of books on card magic, those by Solomon, Bannon, and Aronson are considered essential reading."[3]

Aronson is noted for the Aronson Stack and the Shuffle-Bored. The Aronson Stack is the subject of a 2014 book by Geoff Williams, and had a significant effect on the profession by enabling more magicians to pull of card deck tricks without memorising the location of every card in a deck.

Two of Aronson's tricks were featured on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, both performed by other magicians: Prior Commitment, performed by Graham Jolley (which fooled Penn & Teller); and Shuffle-Bored, performed by Christopher Tracy and Jim Leach (which did not fool them; Penn noted he was already well-acquainted with the trick). Aronson also performed a mind-reading act with his wife.[4]

Death and personal life

Aronson died on 10 December 2019 at St Joseph's Hospital, Chicago.[1] He was 76.[1] He was survived by his wife Ginny, also a lawyer, and his brother of Bernard W. Aronson, a former Assistant Secretary of State.[1] His first cousin was the singer-songwriter and activist, Si Kahn.

Publications

  • The Card Ideas of Simon Aronson (1978)
  • A Stack to Remember (1979)
  • Shuffle-Bored (1980)
  • Sessions (1982, with David Solomon)[3]
  • The Aronson Approach (1990)
  • Bound to Please (1994, compilation)
  • Simply Simon (1995)
  • Memories are Made of This (1999)
  • Try the Impossible (2001)
  • Art Decko (2014)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Megan, Graydon (26 December 2019). "Simon Aronson 1943-2019: Magician was Known for his Intellectual Approach". Chicago Tribune. pp. B5. Retrieved 27 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c Huppke, Rex W. (24 August 2003). "Illusionist Icon still has Tricks up his Sleeve". Chicago Tribune. pp. A1, A13. Retrieved 27 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d Pang, Kevin. "The Magicians". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
  4. ^ a b c Dudek, Mitch (2025-06-20). "Ginny Aronson, a top-tier Chicago lawyer who with her husband had a mind-reading act, has died at 77". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
  5. ^ a b c "(Youthful Prestidigitator)". The Daily Item. Port Chester, NY. 18 June 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 27 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Boys State Delegate". The Daily Item. Port Chester, NY. 22 June 1960. p. 2. Retrieved 27 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b c "Simon Aronson Guest on TV 'Magic Clown'". The Daily Item. Port Chester, NY. 7 January 1959. p. 2. Retrieved 27 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Magical Acts Feature Midland Easter Fair". The Daily Item. Port Chester, NY. 5 March 1958. p. 2. Retrieved 27 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Recchie, Benjamin (2017). "The Great Aronsons: Simon and Virginia Aronson have been reading minds as a team for 40 years". University of Chicago Magazine. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  10. ^ Huppke, Rex (Jan 2, 2020). "Remembering illusionist whose calling card was more than cards". Chicago Tribune. pp. A2. Retrieved 27 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  • Official website
  • Geoff Williams. "Aronson Stack for Everybody: A Magician's Guide to Memorizing the Aronson Stack". Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. 2014. ISBN 978-1-5008-0006-2.
  • Boys' and Girls' Want Ads (1956), The Daily Item. Port Chester, NY. May 18, 1956. Page 16. Accessed 27 January 2026
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