Gregory Wilson (born 1964/1965) [1] is an American magician [2] and two-time FISM award winner. [3] Known as "The Honest Conman," Wilson specializes primarily in close-up magic, sleight-of-hand, and confidence trickery. He is the subject of a chapter in magician Paul Harris's book, Art of Astonishment, Vol. 1.
Wilson is a regular performer at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, but also performs at large corporate events, trade shows and private functions all over the world. He has been featured in numerous televised specials, including a featured role as a "resident wizard" on Syfy's magic series Wizard Wars with Penn & Teller.
Billing himself as a "deception artist," Wilson began development in the mid-1980's on what would eventually become his signature "Criminal Act," with a focus on pick-pocketing, card-sharking, short-changing, street-swindling and mental manipulation. His work in these fields has been so extensive that he has given his Deception Detection lecture to U.S. federal law enforcement agencies (FBI, CIA, ATF, Secret Service, Homeland Security), as well as numerous state and local police departments who have all consulted him on matters related to his areas of expertise. [4]
Having created nearly 500 original effects as of 2020, Wilson has published numerous books, notes, and videos teaching different types of sleight of hand, mind reading, and pickpocketing. He has also contributed to numerous journals, magazines, and books on the topic of performing magic, including a column for now-defunct The Magic Menu called "Gregory's Greetings." [5]
Wilson's extensive body of work is renowned worldwide, catering primarily to magicians of intermediate and advanced skill levels. Initially relying on major magic retailers for distribution, Wilson's published materials are now predominantly available through The Secret Source, a magic learning platform he founded in 1996. [6]
Wilson has contributed his works various publications, including:
Wilson has received numerous accolades for his various magic innovations, as well as awards for competitive performances:
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 include The Prestige, The Spanish Prisoner, Mystery Men, Heist, Boogie Nights, Tomorrow Never Dies, Heartbreakers, State and Main, House of Games, Magnolia, and Deadwood. In 2015, he was the subject of an episode of PBS's American Masters, the only magician ever profiled in the series.
Coin magic is the manipulating of coins to entertain audiences. Because coins are small, most coin tricks are considered close-up magic or table magic, as the audience must be close to the performer to see the effects. Though stage conjurers generally do not use coin effects, coin magic is sometimes performed onstage using large coins. In a different type of performance setting, a close-up coin magician will use a large video projector so the audience can see the magic on a big screen. Coin magic is generally considered harder to master than other close-up techniques such as card magic, as it requires great skill and grace to perform convincingly, and this requires much practice to acquire.
Harry Lorayne was an American mnemonist, magician, and author who was called "The Yoda of Memory Training" and "The World's Foremost Memory-Training Specialist" by Time magazine. He was well known for his incredible memory demonstrations and appeared on numerous television shows–including 24 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. His book The Memory Book was a New York Times bestseller. His card magic, especially his innovations in card sleights, is widely emulated by amateur and professional magicians.
David Frederick Wingfield Verner, better known by his stage names Dai Vernon or The Professor, was a Canadian magician.
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.
Derek Dingle (1937–2004) was an English close-up magician.
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.
Jamy Ian Swiss is an American magician, author, speaker, historian of magic, essayist, book reviewer, and scientific skeptic. He is known for sleight-of-hand with playing cards.
Howard Schwarzman was an American magician, card manipulator, sleight of hand expert, and trick inventor. Considered a "living legend" in the Eastern United States magician community, he was best known as a columnist within the magician trade press, and an importer of very rare tricks from outside the United States.
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 Harlan Tarbell, the remaining three volumes being added on later.
Lewis Jack Ganson was an English magician who became one of the most prolific writers in magic, going on to write and edit more than sixty books on the subject.
Karl Fulves was a magician and author and editor of publications on magic, including the Pallbearers Review, a series of books on sleight of hand and close-up magic.
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.
Jerry Andrus was an American magician and writer known internationally for his original close-up, sleight of hand tricks, such as the famous "Linking Pins", and optical illusions.
Mysterion is a Canadian mentalist, magician, collector, comedic writer and occasional wrestling manager.
Roberto Giobbi is a professional magician from Switzerland, noted for his many contributions in teaching card magic, such as his five-volume Card College series.
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.
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