Fast facts on Gary Darwin

Thursday, July 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

* AGE: 61

* MARITAL STATUS: Single.

* HOMETOWN: Denver. His family moved to San Diego and then to Tucson, Ariz., before settling in Las Vegas during the late '50s.

* GETTING STARTED: "The first trick I ever learned was a dice trick taught to me by a gas (station) attendant," Darwin recalls. "I bugged that guy all day, and he said, 'All right, I'm gonna get rid of you. I'm gonna teach you the secret.' I wasn't gonna leave until I knew."

* MAGIC MACHINE: Darwin says he conceives some of his best tricks at night. "Before I go to sleep, I usually invent something. You go to bed with a little problem and before you wake up, it's usually solved."

* PICTURE PERFECT: Besides magic, Darwin is also an artist. He's drawn countless caricatures of other magicians and celebrities, often tracking them down to autograph his works. His most prized pieces: a trio of Frank Sinatra signatures. "It's one of the few autographs I really went after. He's had such a wonderful career."

* WHAT'S OUT THERE?: After his retirement next year, Darwin, a self-described skeptic, says he'd like to travel around the world investigating supernatural phenomena, including poltergeists, exorcisms and levitations.