He's a hobbyist magician by choice.

"There's nothing I don't like about magic," said Beinhaur, whose specialty is stage manipulation. "When there's a magic performance nearby, I try to get to it. If it's on TV, I watch it."

He won't have to travel far for his next magical fix.

Beinhaur and 300 or so other magicians -- professionals, hobbyists and novices, adults and kids -- will descend on the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center today through Saturday for the 61st annual convention of the Magicians' Alliance of Eastern States.

Some of the leading magicians in North America will attend and perform.

"We'll have mentalists. We'll have stage magic, close-up magic, illusionists," Beinhaur said.

Classes and workshops of the three-day convention are for association members only.

There will be magic shows open to the public on Friday and Saturday nights. Both shows will last at least 90 minutes, Beinhaur said.

Eighteen vendors will be selling magic-related products, from sleight-of hand tricks and stage effects to how-to books and videos.

The convention isn't appearing at the Middlesex Twp. hotel by accident -- or by magic.

Beinhaur, a former president of the magicians' alliance, was on the convention's site committee, so he helped pick the location.

He picked magic as a hobby early on.

"I have been involved with magic, believe it or not, since I was 8 years old," Beinhaur said. "That's 32 years. I've been doing performances all that time, too."

His law partner, Joseph Curcillo, is also a magician who performs under the stage name Joseph Anthony.

Performers for the convention's public show at 8:15 p.m. Friday will include Lee Germain, a professional magician from Mechanicsburg. He will be joined on stage by emcee Hank Moorehouse, Bill Dickson, Samuel Patrick Smith and the group Three Street.

Ron Geoffries will emcee the 8:30 p.m. Saturday show, which will feature several widely known acts. Performers will be Mat Franco, Sylvester the Jester, Max Maven and Michael Finney.

Maven, a mentalist whose forte is discerning the thoughts of strangers, has worked with such big magical names as David Copperfield, Penn & Teller, Siegfried & Roy and Doug Henning. Finney, a former finalist on the "Star Search" TV show, received the Silver Lion Head Award for excellence in comedy and magic from Siegfried & Roy.

Sylvester the Jester -- a.k.a. Dan Sylvester -- is an artist and inventor as well as a magician. He has appeared on TV specials including NBC's "World's Wildest Magic" and ABC's "Champions of Magic."

Beinhaur said the magician's alliance hopes the convention will not only entertain and educate, but entice wannabe magicians to step into the world of prestidigitation. Membership applications for the association will be accepted during the event.