John Nicholls Booth (7 August 1912 – 11 November 2009) was an American professional magician and prolific author on the history of magic performance.

[2] In 1934, Booth completed his college education at McMaster University and focused on magic performance as his profession.

Around this time, Booth began to write his first two books, Forging Ahead in Magic and Marvels of Mystery, which had later become classic reference works for magicians.

[3] From personal accounts, Booth reported that he had been interested in becoming a minister, but was reluctant to begin seminary due to concerns about his own temperament.

I closed a two week engagement as a magician in the Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee (now the Hilton) and went directly to the Meadville Theological School now located in Chicago, the seminary of my father 30 years earlier.