Born in Florida in 1956, Herbert Lawrence Becker trained initially as an accountant, receiving a B.B.A. (1983) and an M.B.A. (1984) from Roosevelt University in Belgium. He worked as a district manager, an accountant, and a senior financial planner for companies in the U.S. and Canada before returning to Florida to live. P Becker is also a magician, performing as The Great Kardeen, and it is his interest in magic that is the subject of his books. In All the Secrets of Magic Revealed: The Tricks and Illusions of the World's Greatest Magicians, Becker explains how magicians such as Houdini, David Copperfield, Doug Henning, and Sigfried and Roy have created some of their most famous illusions, to the consternation of his colleagues. Copperfield was reportedly angry enough to sue to try to halt the publication of Becker's book. Becker generated further controversy and anger among magicians when he appeared on the television talk show of Maury Povitch in March 1997 and exposed the secrets behind such well-known magic tricks as sawing a person in half. He is also believed by many to be the anonymous Masked Magician, who, in a series of Fox TV specials, has similarly explained exactly what is behind the tricks of the magic trade. Becker has written Magic Secrets and So That's How They Do It.
