Sleight of hand refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card flourishing and stealing. Because of its heavy use and practice by magicians, sleight of hand is often confused as a branch of magic; however, it is a separate genre of entertainment and many artists practice sleight of hand as an independent skill. Sleight of hand pioneers with worldwide acclaim include Dan and Dave, Ricky Jay, Derek DelGaudio, David Copperfield, Yann Frisch, Norbert Ferré, Dai Vernon, Jerry Sadowitz, Cardini, Tony Slydini, Helder Guimarães and Tom Mullica.
Richard Jay Potash was an American stage magician, actor and writer. In a 1993 profile for The New Yorker, Mark Singer called Jay "perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to sleight of hand, he was known for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter. He also wrote extensively on magic and its history. His acting credits included the films The Prestige, The Spanish Prisoner, Mystery Men, Heist, Boogie Nights, Tomorrow Never Dies, Heartbreakers, State and Main, House of Games and Magnolia, and the HBO series Deadwood. In 2015 he was the subject of an episode of PBS's American Masters, the only magician ever profiled in the series.
Card manipulation is the branch of magic that deals with creating effects using sleight of hand techniques involving playing cards. Card manipulation is often used in magical performances, especially in close-up, parlor, and street magic. Some of the most recognized names in this field include Dai Vernon, Tony Slydini, Ed Marlo, S.W. Erdnase, Richard Turner, John Scarne, Ricky Jay and René Lavand. Before becoming world-famous for his escapes, Houdini billed himself as "The King of Cards". Among the more well-known card tricks relying on card manipulation are Ambitious Card, and Three-card Monte, a common street hustle also known as Find the Lady.
William Lance Burton is an American stage magician. He performed more than 15,000 shows in Las Vegas for over 5,000,000 people until retiring in 2010. He serves as a judge on Criss Angel's Magic with the Stars.
Jeff McBride, also known as "Magnus", is an American magician and magic instructor. He is known for his sleight of hand skills and specializes in the manipulation of playing cards, coins, and other small objects. His stage performances blend elements of kabuki, a Japanese theater form, with traditional conjuring. He has been recognized by the Academy of Magical Arts, the Society of American Magicians, and the International Federation of Magic Societies. He has also has set several Guinness World Records.
David Frederick Wingfield Verner, better known by his stage names Dai Vernon or The Professor, was a Canadian magician.
Sven Lennart Green is a Swedish world champion close-up/card magician, a title which he won in 1991 at the FISM convention in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is known for his seemingly chaotic routines which, in spite of first appearances, display great skill. His original techniques and presentation style form an unorthodox and innovative contribution to sleight of hand magic.
John Carney is a professional sleight-of-hand artist, author and comic actor. He won various awards from the Academy of Magical Arts, including "stage magician of the year", "close-up magician of the year", and "parlour magician of the year". In 1988 and 1991, he won first and second place, respectively, in "micro magic" at the world Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques championships. Carney studied under sleight of hand magician Dai Vernon.
This is a glossary of conjuring terms used by magicians.
Paul Draper is an anthropologist, academic, and an award-winning mentalist, magician, and film maker. As an anthropologist and communications expert specializing in the cognitive science of religious beliefs, he has lectured at Fortune 500 companies and universities. As the creator of the show Mental Mysteries, Draper blends his academic background as an anthropologist and communications expert with the arts of mentalism and magic. Draper performed live streaming shows during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lee Asher is a close-up magician noted for originating new card tricks and hypnotic sleight of hand moves. He is considered an expert in playing cards, and as a collector is especially known for his work with 52 Plus Joker, the American Playing Card Collectors Club, of which he is the serving President. He has served as a magic consultant for professional magicians such as Greg Frewin.
Daniel Sylvester Battagline, also known as Sylvester The Jester, is an American magician, best known for playing a cartoon character who comes to life. He has had hundreds of stage and television appearances, including NBC’s "World's Wildest Magic," ABC’s "Champions of Magic III", Jerry Lewis's Muscular Dystrophy Telethon and The Discovery Channel’s "More Science of Magic." He has performed in multiple Las Vegas shows including opening for The Amazing Johnathan, and appearing at Caesar’s Magical Empire. He also produces a series of magic products, and has been credited with creating the illustrations for various magic publications, such as the cover for The Amazing Johnathan's Every Trick in the Book, and the poster for John Carney's "Mr. Mysto" act. In 1996, he also created a prop for the television show, "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch." He has been featured on the cover of several magic and culture-related magazines, such as the September 1998 issue of Magic.
Daryl Easton, known professionally as Daryl and born Daryl Martinez, was an American magician based in Las Vegas. In his marketing he used the self-proclaimed title of "The Magician's Magician". Daryl usually went by his forename only.
Shawn Farquhar is a Canadian magician and illusionist notable for his title as the "Grand Prix World Champion of Magic" from the International Federation of Magic Societies.
Walter Irving Scott was an American musician, cardsharp and amateur magician. His glowing reputation among magicians and card men revolves around his time as a card cheat and a single demonstration of sleight-of-hand to some of the era's best magicians in New York in 1930. He lived out his last years in Rhode Island as a music teacher. Scott spent his formative years perfecting several difficult sleights of card manipulation in order to work as a cardsharp in card games throughout America. He participated in several different types of swindles and hustles. Eventually turning to a music career he was asked to perform one more demonstration. This single event created a legend within the magic community that continues to this day.
Gary 'Gazzo' Osbourne is a British street magician. Osbourne moved to the US in the 1980s, where he befriended Walter Irving Scott, also known as The Phantom. He is Scott's only pupil and the only person with whom Scott entrusted his biography and life's work at card cheating and sleights.
Mat Franco is an American magician best known for his personality driven, skill-based sleight of hand magic. He gained fame as the first magician to win America's Got Talent, in the show’s ninth season. Franco went on to produce and star in his own primetime TV specials on NBC, Mat Franco’s Got Magic. In 2015 he created and debuted his live stage show in Las Vegas, Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly, and he is currently headlining at The LINQ Hotel + Experience at the Mat Franco Theater. In addition to winning "Best Magic Show" at the Best of Vegas Awards, Franco's live production was the top-rated magic show in Las Vegas according to Billboard.com in 2021. Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly was awarded Best Show on the Las Vegas Strip again in 2022.
The art form of card flourishing, commonly referred to as cardistry, grew out of simple flourishes used in close-up magic by magicians in the 1990s to early 2000s. Chris Kenner's notable two-handed Sybil cut from his 1992 publication Totally Out of Control has carried great influence and gave birth to a series of advanced flourishes which today represents the foundation of the performance art. Sleight of hand pioneers Dan and Dave Buck popularized cardistry on the world stage with their instructional DVD releases from 2004 and 2007. Journalist Kevin Pang of Vanity Fair characterized the art of card flourishing as, "It's yo-yo tricks performed by cardsharps with the street cred of a Parkour video. There's a name for it: cardistry."
Liang-Shun Lim, known professionally as Shin Lim, is a Canadian-American magician, recognized for his use of card manipulation and sleight of hand. He is known for elaborate close-up card magic routines, during which he remains silent with the tricks set to music. He is self-taught, having learned most of his skills from watching YouTube, and has in turn shared some of his own techniques in videos on the site.
Bruce Cervon was an American magician who was best known for his close-up magic, both through performance and invention. He published a series of books and helped to create a permanent record of the magic of Dai Vernon through The Vernon Chronicles, and Bruce Cervon's Castle Notebooks.
