Abracadabra was a British weekly magic magazine whose publication life spanned sixty-three years. The first issue was published on the 2nd of February 1946; the last issue was published on the 28th of March 2009; a total of 3,296 issues..

The Name of the Magazine

Although the magazine name was Abracadabra, it was also known as Goodliffe’s Abracadabra and the readers nicknamed the magazine Abra.

Origins

The weekly magazine, Abracadabra, was created by Charles Goodliffe Neale (1912 - December 26, 1980).. He was a magician and author. From the very first issue, Goodliffe (as he preferred to be called) gave the magazine the cover tag line of Abracadabra being “The Only Magical Weekly in the World.”
Goodliffe was a man of strong views and the magazine became the arena of many controversial debates about magic and magicians, sometimes initiated by the readers themselves through their contributions and letters.

After Goodliffe’s Death

After Goodliffe’s death Davenports (one of London’s oldest family run magic shops) and Rabbi Sam Gringras (Magico of New York) put together a rescue package and the magazine continued its publication uninterrupted.

The Editors

All the editors have been professional magicians.
Originally, Goodliffe himself was the principal editor with the help of associate editor Fabian (Ernest Raymond Griffiths, b.1912-d.1965).
The next editor, who continued as editor after Goodliffe's death and kept Abracadabra running, was Donald Bevan.
The final editor was Walt Lees.

The Contributors

Over the decades the magazine not only included articles from its regular readers but also from television magicians such as David Nixon

David Nixon

David Nixon was an English magician and television personality. At the height of his career, Nixon was the best-known magician in the UK.-Early life:...

, Wayne Dobson

Wayne Dobson

Wayne Dobson is an award-winning British magician who became well-known through various television appearances in the late 1980s and 1990s. At the height of his fame he had his own television series Wayne Dobson - A Kind of Magic...

, Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels, born Newton Edward Daniels on 6 April 1938, is a British magician and television performer. He achieved international fame through his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994.-Early life:...

 and Jerry Sadowitz

Jerry Sadowitz

Jerry Sadowitz is an American-born Scottish stand-up comic and card magician, known for his frequently controversial "sick humour". An accomplished practitioner of sleight of hand, he has written several books on magic and invented many conjuring innovations. He is widely acclaimed as one of the...

. In its later years, contributions came from authors such as Paul Gordon

Paul Gordon

Paul Gordon may refer to:*Paul Gordon , retired American professional basketball player*Paul A. Gordon , Seventh-day Adventist and former director of the Ellen G. White Estate...

 and John Helvin

John Helvin

John Helvin is an English artist, author and magician.- Life and career :Helvin was born in Swindon. His parents were Irish. Helvin legally changed his surname when he was old enough to do so. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities with Classical Studies.His career has been a varied one due to a...

. The contents of the magazine was news, reviews, magic tricks and articles on magic as a performing art and its history; the quality of the content varied over the years.

The Demise of Abracadabra

In issue 3295, on March 21 of 2009, the Davenport family announced that Abracadabra was to change owners. The new owner would be a “magical enthusiast” named Stephen Martin.. However, for undisclosed reasons, the deal fell through and the next issue of Abracadabra announced its closure as a publication. In his final editorial Walt Lees wrote “…when I took over the job, it was made clear to me that Abra was struggling. Times were changing and with the growth of so much internet traffic, the demand for a hardcopy weekly was falling off dramatically.” Lees was initially given a year to salvage the magazine, which became two years. Lees wrote “… I did my best. Sadly my best wasn’t good enough.”. For some, this statement made it appear that Lees was taking the blame for the magazine’s demise and articles were written in his defence by people, such as John Helvin

John Helvin

John Helvin is an English artist, author and magician.- Life and career :Helvin was born in Swindon. His parents were Irish. Helvin legally changed his surname when he was old enough to do so. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities with Classical Studies.His career has been a varied one due to a...

. and Al Smith, which highlighted contributing factors to the magazine’s demise which were beyond Walt Lees’ control.