Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognition, psychokinesis, mediumship, mind control, memory feats, deduction, and rapid mathematics. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ psychic or supernatural forces but that are actually achieved by "ordinary conjuring means", natural human abilities, and an in-depth understanding of key principles from human psychology or other behavioral sciences.
The bullet catch is a stage magic illusion in which a magician appears to catch a bullet fired directly at them — often in the mouth, sometimes in the hand or sometimes caught with other items such as a dinner plate. The bullet catch may also be referred to as the bullet trick, defying the bullets or occasionally the gun trick.
Paul Kieve is an English professional illusionist and whose consulting work for both stage and screen has contributed to changing how magical special effects in productions are approached. He is the only illusionist ever to have won a New York Drama Desk award. He created the illusions for the 2014 Kate Bush concert Before the Dawn.
This timeline of magic is a history of the performing art of illusion from B.C. to the present.
Jim Steinmeyer is an American author, inventor, and designer of magical illusions and theatrical special effects. He holds four US patents in the field of illusion apparatus, including a modern version of the Pepper's Ghost illusion. Steinmeyer has consulted for many famous magicians, including David Copperfield, Doug Henning, Siegfried and Roy, and Lance Burton.
Joshua Jay is an American magician, author, and lecturer. He has performed in over 100 countries and was awarded top prize at the World Magic Seminar in 1998. He worked with Penn and Teller on the show Fool Us, and he holds a Guinness World Record for card tricks. Jay has performed on shows including Good Morning America and The Today Show. In January 2018, Jay was recognized by the Society of American Magicians for his contribution to the art of magic.
Mark Kalin and Jinger Leigh are an award-winning American magic couple known for large-scale stage shows and for appearances on network television specials.
David Berglas was a German-born British magician and mentalist. His secret technique of locating a particular card within a pack has been described as the Holy Grail of card magic. He was one of the first magicians to appear on UK television.
The World's Greatest Magic was a series of American television specials showcasing magic acts. The first of five shows was broadcast by NBC in 1994, and continued with annual editions through 1998. These shows were most often first telecast during the Thanksgiving holidays when special programming would occur. These specials reran occasionally on ABC Family from October 1996 to early 2002.
Conjuring is an illustrated book about conjuring, or magic, by James "The Amazing" Randi, who himself was a magician and escape artist. Drawing on his extensive knowledge and experience in the field, Randi offers a series of brief biographies of a variety of noteworthy magicians and their unique styles, including Harry Houdini, Chung Ling Soo, Harry Blackstone Sr., Harry Blackstone Jr., Howard Thurston, and many others. He also provides an overview of several genres of magic such as stage magic, escapology, and mentalism, and of specific tricks such as the bullet catch. Reviews of the book were mainly positive.
Peter "Pete" Firman is an English magician, comedian, television presenter and actor.
Herbert Lawrence Becker is an American former magician, escapologist, stunt performer, author, and businessman. As a magician, Becker performed as Kardeen.
Stage illusions are large-scale magic tricks. As the name implies, stage illusions are distinct from all other types of magic in that they are performed a considerable distance away from the audience, usually on a stage, in order to maintain the illusion. Stage illusions usually use large props and may involve the use of assistants or large animals. Examples of stage illusions include sawing a woman in half and Lady-to-Tiger.
Close-up magic is magic performed in an intimate setting usually no more than 3 meters from one's audience and is usually performed while sitting at a table.
Andi Gladwin is a British magician, speaker, and publisher. He has appeared on television, has lectured for magicians throughout the UK, US, and Europe and written/published books on magic. Gladwin is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star and was granted the Maskelyne Literary Award from the prestigious club.
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close-up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It is to be distinguished from paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world.
A levitation illusion is one in which a magician appears to defy gravity by making an object or person float in the air. The subject may appear to levitate unassisted, or it may be performed with the aid of another object in which case it is termed a "suspension".
TV's 50 Greatest Magic Tricks is a one-off list show that was produced by Objective Productions for Channel 5. The programme counts down the fifty greatest magic tricks – The Magic Bullet by Penn & Teller is the illusion at number one. The show was presented by the British actress Fay Ripley, and was directed by Helen Albon. TV's 50 Greatest Magic Tricks was first broadcast on Channel 5 on 31 December 2011. The list of magic tricks features set pieces, stunts and rabbit-out-of-the-hat tricks. Contributors to the programme included Penn & Teller, Paul Daniels and Dynamo. Two tricks by the British magician Pete Firman featured in the list, with his Goldfish Trick in the top ten.
Anastasia Synn is a Canadian sideshow stunt performer and magician, as well as a transhumanist and biohacker. She is known for her cyborg rights activism. She was married to magician and comedian the Amazing Johnathan, whom she also managed, until his death on February 22, 2022.
