The Chinese linking rings is a classic of illusion magic in which solid metal rings appear to link and unlink, pass through each other, and form chains and other complex patterns and configurations. The rings may even be handed out to audience members for examination. Sometimes an audience member is invited onto the stage to perform alongside the magician as part of a "do as I do" routine.
In theatrical magic, misdirection is a form of deception in which the performer draws audience attention to one thing to distract it from another. Managing audience attention is the aim of all theater, and the foremost requirement of all magic acts. Whether the magic is of a "pocket trick" variety or a large stage production, misdirection is the central secret. The term describes either the effect or the sleight of hand or patter that creates it.
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.
John Henry Anderson (1814–1874) was a Scottish professional magician. Anderson is credited with helping bring the art of magic from street performances into theatres and presenting magic performances to entertain and delight the audience.
Needle-through-arm is a magic illusion that was created by Bruce Spangler and later popularized by comedy actor/magician Harry Anderson. The trick can be performed as part of either a stage magic or a parlor magic routine. As the name would suggest, needle-through-arm relies on shock value to have a comedic effect.
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.
David Devant was an English magician, shadowgraphist and film exhibitor. He was born David Wighton in Holloway, London. He is regarded by magicians as a consummate exponent of suave and witty presentation of stage illusion. According to magic historian Jim Steinmeyer, Devant was “England’s greatest magician—arguably the greatest magician of the 20th Century”.
Harlan Eugene Tarbell was an American stage magician and illustrator of the early 20th century. He was the author of the well-known Tarbell Course in Magic.
A magician's assistant is a performer in a magic act who is not billed as the magician or principal name in the act. The role of an assistant can include holding the props that are used by a magician, shifting props onto and off the stage, and serving as a living prop in illusions that involve manipulation of the human body. Other aspects of the role can include dancing or acting as visual ornamentation, sometimes for simple aesthetic purposes and sometimes to misdirect audience attention. The figure of the glamorous female assistant has become a stereotype or icon in art, popular media and fiction.
Stage or street magic has a long history in India. Popular tricks include the rope trick, Indian basket, and Indian cups and ball.
Silvio Mantelli is an Italian Salesian Catholic priest, whose principal ministry is that of a Gospel Magician. His stage name is "Mago Sales".
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.
The Tarbell Course in Magic is a notable encyclopedia of magic amongst professional and amateur magicians. It has eight volumes; the first five were part of the original home-study correspondence course compiled in 1928 by Dr. Harlan Tarbell, the remaining three volumes being added on later.
Platform magic is magic that is done for larger audiences than close-up magic and for smaller audiences than stage magic. It is more intimate than stage magic because it doesn't require expensive, large-scale stage equipment and can thus be performed closer to the audience and without a stage. Many of the tricks performed by platform magicians are sufficiently angle-sensitive as to make them impossible to perform as micromagic. Most working magicians are parlor/platform magicians.
Dell O'Dell was the stage name of Odella Newton an American magician regarded in her profession as a pioneer who provided a role model for modern female performers. She was noted for being one of the first magicians to appear on television, on her own show, The Dell O'Dell Show, on ABC's local station in Los Angeles in 1951. She was also one of few American women to have her own circus, the Della O'Dell Society Circus, which toured the Midwest in 1925 and 1926. Before becoming one of the most popular female magicians on the night club circuit during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, Dell O'Dell also performed in vaudeville and burlesque. Her skills included juggling furniture and lecturing on physical culture.
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.
The Bamberg Magical Dynasty were a Dutch family of magicians. Six generations of Dutch magicians were named Bamberg. The Bambergs were an upper middle-class unorthodox Jewish family. The oldest sons were also magicians and carried on the tradition. This tradition was not always exclusive to just the oldest son; Theo Bamberg's two younger brothers were also magicians. Three Bambergs were court magicians entertaining the royal family. This chain was unbroken for 165 years, from the 18th to the 20th centuries.
David Tobias "Theodore" Bamberg was an itinerant magician who traveled with his full evening magic show from the early to mid part of the 20th century. In Bamberg's autobiography, Robert Parrish wrote in the introduction that no other great illusionist could match Bamberg's skill. The Fu Manchu show was known for its comedy, drama, and color.
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.
The International Fellowship of Christian Magicians was formed in 1953 by a group of individuals interested in sharing the Gospel using sleight of hand illusions. Since its humble California beginnings it has grown into an international organization with thousands of members from all walks of life. These members are not only performers of Gospel magic, but also entertainers across the world, secular and gospel, that are members of the Christian faith. Notable members include entertainers like Andre Kole, Justin Flom, Duane Laflin, Scott Wolf, and others.
