Max Malini (born Max Katz Breit; 1875 – October 3, 1942) was a magician who at his peak performed for several US Presidents and at Buckingham Palace, receiving gifts from monarchs across Europe and Asia. Many magicians, such as Dai Vernon
One of Malini's signature routines was the blindfold card stab, which operated as follows. On a table a pack of cards were mixed and swirled around by a lady from the audience. The audience would blindfold Max with handkerchiefs. Malini then requested the name of a playing card, and when someone called out a card, he would stab a knife into the cards, then raise it up in the air, thereupon it was seen that he had impaled the correct card.
After performing one of his tricks on Senator Mark Hanna without warning, Malini was later invited to perform for Hanna and his associates, which ultimately led to Malini performing at the White House. Over his career, Malini met or performed for Warren G. Harding,