About De'vo

Who is De’vo vom Schattenreich?


THE LEGEND • THE REVOLUTION • THE LEGACY

DE’VO VOM SCHATTENREICH

The Anti-Magician. The Revolutionary. The Architect of a Movement.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS & SELECTED CREDITS

Awards & Recognition

  • Emmy Award Winner (2014) — Cinematography and lighting.
  • Guinness World Record (2005) — Coin rolling: 45 revolutions in 60 seconds.
  • President Obama Certificate of Appreciation
  • Celebrity Entertainer - VIPS/Celebrities-MTV/VMAs/Emmys - American Embassy Brussels
  • Icon Award Recipient (2014) — Filmmaking.
  • Icon Award Recipient (2015) — Filmmaking.
  • United Cardists Fanning Deck of the Year (2012) — PRO XCM Dominion.
  • United Cardists Fanning Deck of the Year (2017) — WTF Cardistry.
  • United Cardists Cardistry Deck of the Year (2018) — WTF Cardistry 2.
  • FSEA Industry Gold Leaf Award (2020) — Third Place, Best Foil Box Design, for De’vo’s Blades 10th Anniversary Edition featuring red holographic foil.

Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Industry Firsts

  • Essential Magic Conference Speaker (2010) — Recognized among the Top 33 Most Influential People in Magic.
  • Co-pioneer of XCM/Cardistry as an art form distinct from traditional magic, alongside Jerry Cestkowski.
  • Founder of Superhandz.com, Handlordz, and World Card Experts.
  • Co-founder of the World XCM Tournament with Jerry Cestkowski.
  • Created and produced more than 150 XCM/cardistry, and related products for the industry.
  • Produced the first playing-card decks specifically designed for XCM/cardistry, including the PRO and Dominion decks.
  • Produced the first playing-card deck bearing the name “Cardistry”: the 2012 PRO Cardistry/Cardistry Professionals deck, an April Fools’ release that introduced the twin-tip mirror-back design for cardistry.
  • Produced the world’s first comic-book series printed on playing cards: Magicians Must Die, Issues #1–5.
  • Guest Instructor for the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD): sharing expertise in playing card artistry, functional design, deck development, and practical design techniques to help students understand the unique creative and functional considerations of playing card design.

Television, Commercials & Entertainment

  • Nokia — “Second Nature” Television Campaign — Performer and consultant.
  • E-Plus — “Tensation” Television Campaign, Germany — Performer and casting director.
  • Arcor / EA Sports — “Finger Soccer” Commercial — Performer.
  • MTV — Interviewed in connection with the Magicians Must Die playing-card comic series.
  • Children’s Hospital & Play Therapy Programs — Creator of magic and playing-card programs designed to support children and communication through play.

Film, Visual Effects & Education

  • Director of Photography — Wizards of Hollywood — Documentary featuring visual-effects artists associated with Industrial Light & Magic and films including Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Mummy, Forrest Gump, Twister, Men in Black, and Jurassic Park.
  • Bachelor of Arts — Visual Effects and Motion Graphics, The Art Institute of Colorado.  Graduated Summa Cum Laude, earned recognition on the President’s List, and received the Par Excellence Award.

PLAYING CARD APPEARANCES

Television

  • The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Rick Smith Jr. throwing De’vo’s Falcon playing cards; Silver Falcons.
  • Stan Lee’s Superhumans — “Disc of Death” (September 10, 2014) — Rick Smith Jr. throwing White Exquisite playing cards.
  • Penn & Teller: Fool Us — Rick Smith Jr. performing with De’vo’s Red Razor and Silver Falcon decks; another magician appeared with Cardistry Blue.
  • Hollyoaks (UK, 2022) — Grandmasters XCM Edition playing cards.
  • Fox News — Chrome Kings playing cards.

Viral Online Videos

  • Dude Perfect — Card Throwing Trick Shots 1 & 2 — More than 200 million views; Rick Smith Jr. throwing De’vo’s Chrome Kings and Silver Falcons.
  • Mark Rober & Rick Smith Jr. — Gold Falcons playing cards; more than 29 million views.

MAGAZINE FEATURES & PUBLICATIONS

Genii Magazine

August 2004 — Interview and XCM Feature

  • Interview and XCM feature.
  • Sampler of XCM: SSS Viereck, Wind Elementals, Easy Opener.
  • Pages 34–43.

2011 — Six-Month Series: XCM: The Art of Extreme Card Manipulation

  • January 2011 — “Then and Now” — De’vo vom Schattenreich; Fatz Opener by J. S. Lin.
  • February 2011 — “Hot Dogging It With Relish” — Jerry Cestkowski; “The Cross Cut” — SeVryn.
  • March 2011 — “Eike’s Twisted Arm Circle Spread”; “De’vo’s Winged Cobra Cut”; “With a Twist.”
  • April 2011 — “The Basics of Building” — De’vo vom Schattenreich.
  • May 2011 — “De’vo’s ‘Dream’: A One-Hour XCM Stage Routine”; “Punctuated Equilibrixcm” — Jerry Cestkowski.
  • June 2011 — “XCM: The Art of Extreme Card Manipulation” — De’vo vom Schattenreich. The issue also references an accompanying online video; the individual article title and complete contents remain to be verified.

Magician Magazine

Issue #1 — September 2008

  • Sixteen-page XCM feature featuring De’vo and his fellow practitioners.
  • Instruction and demonstrations included:
    • De’vo: Basic Flipback, Basic Flipback Cut, Reverse, Flipback Charlier, Flipback Triad, Flipback Fan, Flipback Fan One-Handed Closer, and Alternate Closer.
    • Andy Hall: One-Handed Spitfire Cut.
    • Max Vlassenko: Triple Spreads.
    • Digital Artists: Six-Packet In-the-Hands Display.
    • Dino Dinous: One-Handed Rhombus.
    • Looms: Obelisk Spread.

Street Magic Magazine

March/April 2007 — “Unmasking the Man Behind the Cloak”

  • Eight-page interview with De’vo.
  • Coin-roll instruction: Standard, Reverse, and Over Ring.

June/July 2007

  • Article documenting James’s meeting with De’vo in Ulmen.
  • XCM section featuring Porper Clip Openers 3-in-1 (Fan Finish) and Lady Dragon Fly’s Cigarette Case Opener.

August/September 2007

  • De’vo’s column featuring One-Handed Bird Production with Poop Surprise, Sharpie Thumb Around, and the Basic Cobra Cut.

October/November 2007

  • De’vo’s column featuring De’vo’s Break Fan Closer/Deck Separation Twist/Deck Separation Variation, 4 Packet Book Cut, and Jerry Cestkowski’s Square

December 2007

  • De’vo’s column featuring De’vo’s Eternal Spin,  Ciappi’s Arc De Triumph & Rick Smith Jr.’s Fire Flicking, Mini routine, Josef Runsten's Smooth 6 

Other Publications

  • The Encyclopedia of Playing Card Flourishes — De’vo’s Flipback instruction.
  • Poker Pro Magazine - Several Issues 
  • Strange Aeons Magazine — Cover featuring De’vo’s Magicians Must Die playing-card comic.
  • Mind Magic & Mentalism for Dummies (2012) — Credit to De’vo.
  • Ellusionist Black Deck Book – Credit to De’vo

INSTRUCTIONAL PRODUCTS & MEDIA

DVDs & Video Instruction

  • Xtreme Beginnerz, Volume 1 — DVD Set.
  • Xtreme Beginnerz, Volume 2 — DVD Set.
  • World XCM Champions, Volume 1 — Director/Producer.
  • World XCM Champions, Volume 2 — Director/Producer.
  • De’ Ring — DVD.
  • Cradle to Grave — DVD.
  • The Cobra Cut Collection — DVD.
  • Motions — DVD.

Digital Media

  • Superhandz — CD-ROM.
  • Superhandz Music — CD.

Books

  • De’vo’s Secret Books, Volume 1.
  • De’vo’s Secret Books, Volume 2.

De'vo's Playing Card Series

THE ANTI-MAGICIAN: ART, REBELLION & CONTROVERSY

SUPERHANDZ WARZ PAINTING — 2008, LIMITED TO 200 PRINTS

This striking artwork by Andy Hall depicts the battle to establish XCM (Extreme Card Manipulation) as an art form separate from traditional magic. It represents the conflict between XCM artists and those who insisted pure card manipulation could never stand on its own. Today, card manipulation is recognized worldwide as an independent art form. Packed with hidden details, the painting features a shattered Magic Circle of London, white doves under attack by bats, and other provocative secrets waiting to be discovered.

2006 — Death Before Me - De'vo's Shocking Film Submission: The AOI Magic Film Festival

De’vo’s last-minute submission to the 2006 AOI Magic Film Festival in Las Vegas, hosted by Chris Kenner, shocked an audience of prominent magicians. The disturbing film depicted De’vo killing a magician with a knife before manipulating the magicians cards over his body. The controversial submission prompted several well-known magicians to contact De’vo personally to express their concern, cementing his reputation for challenging the boundaries of traditional magic.

MAGICIANS MUST DIE

5-Part Mini-Series — World’s First Comic Printed on Playing Cards

Created by De’vo and artist Jay Peteranetz, this dark, sold-out five-part series follows the Dark Card Masters battling evil magicians. Each deck unfolds into a comic-book poster, featuring meticulously hand-inked artwork by Peteranetz. Issue #3 includes a flipbook animation on the card faces, while every Ace of Spades and both Jokers feature custom artwork.

Illusion consultant Enrico de la Vega requested an unusual payment for his consulting work: to be killed off in the comic! Look closely to spot him being sliced by the Dark Card Masters.

LEGACY

De’vo’s career spans performance, publishing, music, television, advertising, cinematography, filmmaking, playing-card design, and fine art. Across every discipline, the same philosophy emerges: reject imposed limitations, push beyond convention, and create what did not exist before.

He didn’t just want to master the art. He wanted to redefine it.