Member Spotlight (Historical) - Magician Peter Tappan

Peter Tappan 1928-2007

In the January 2025 Linking Ring, the youth trivia question was “In the last decade of the last century, an acoustical engineer and member of the I.B.M. made significant, original improvements to a fascinating and baffling type of puzzle and illusion that had previously been the focus of some other well-known magical thinkers and creators… Who was this magician, and what was this type of puzzle and illusion?”   And the answer was Peter Tappan.

As an acoustical engineer, Peter designed/consulted on tons of projects and his work can be heard in theaters, churches, and other structures (including O’Hare) all around the world. Peter also consulted for the “Is it Live or is it Memorex” commercial.

Peter was Ring 43 President in 1984-1985 and won the ring’s close-up contest in 1990 and 2003. He served on various committees at the International level including membership and executive committee. 

As a regular at FFFF, Peter was well known for his miniature floating lady effect where he could pass the floating doll through a wedding ring. He also wrote the book, The Impostress Princess, which focuses on a single effect that’s gone by many names, including Paul Fox’s “Five Card Mental Selection,” Al Baker’s “Vocalepathy,” and  Al Koran’s “Princess Card Trick Plus.” 

 Peter was also well known for his stage work including the Quicksilver cube. A metal cube would float to the top of the theater over the audience and then float back down to the stage. 

Turning back to the question. The “Winston Freer Tile Puzzle” allowed for a single square tile to be physically removed, and the empty space could be made to vanish by re-arranging the rest of the pieces within the same confined area; a sort of something-from-nothing effect.