Harry Kellar was an American magician who presented large stage shows during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
P. T. Selbit (1881–1938) was an English magician, inventor and writer who is credited with being the first person to perform the illusion of sawing a woman in half. Among magicians he was known for his inventiveness and entrepreneurial instinct and he is credited with creating a long list of successful stage illusions.
William Ellsworth Robinson was an American magician who went by the stage name Chung Ling Soo. He is mostly remembered today for his accidental death due to a failed bullet catch trick.
Sawing a woman in half is a generic name for a number of stage magic tricks in which a person is apparently cut or divided into two or more pieces.
Harry Bouton Blackstone was a famed stage magician and illusionist of the 20th century. Blackstone was born Harry Bouton in Chicago, Illinois. He began his career as a magician in his teens and was popular through World War II as a USO entertainer. He was often billed as The Great Blackstone. His son Harry Blackstone Jr. also became a famous magician. Blackstone Sr. was aided by his younger brother, Pete Bouton, who was the stage manager in all his shows. Blackstone Sr. was married three times. Blackstone Jr. was his son by his second wife.
Alexander Herrmann was a French magician, better known as Herrmann the Great. He was married to magician Adelaide Herrmann, known as the Queen of Magic.
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”.
John Nevil Maskelyne was an English stage magician and inventor of the pay toilet, along with other Victorian-era devices. He worked with magicians George Alfred Cooke and David Devant, and many of his illusions are still performed today. His book Sharps and Flats: A Complete Revelation of the Secrets of Cheating at Games of Chance and Skill is considered a classic overview of card sharp practices. In 1914 he founded the Occult Committee, a group to "investigate claims to supernatural power and to expose fraud".
Isaiah Harris Hughes, better known as the Fakir of Ava, was a 19th-century stage magician, the teacher of Harry Kellar.
Joshua Jay is a magician, author, and lecturer. He has performed in over 100 countries, and he was awarded the top prize at the World Magic Seminar in 1998. He fooled Penn and Teller on their hit show, Fool Us, and he holds a Guinness World Record for card tricks. Jay has done magic on numerous television shows, most recently Good Morning America and The Today Show. Most recently, in January 2018, Joshua was recognized by the Society of American Magicians with their highest proclamation, for his contribution to the art of magic. Joshua attended Ohio State University and currently resides in New York City.
A magician's assistant is a performer in a magic act who is not billed as the magician or principal name in the act.
Will Goldston (1878–1948) was an English stage magician in the first half of the 20th century.
Harry August Jansen was a Danish-born entertainer who settled in the United States. He traveled the world as a professional magician under the name Dante the Magician.
The Bamberg Magical Dynasty were a Dutch family of magicians, consisting of six generations of Bambergs. 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 also carried on the family tradition. 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 Los Angeles Conference on Magic History is a biennial invitation-only conference created to showcase historical magic. The conference was started in 1989, designed to highlight various aspects of the history of magic from around the world. Each conference features a series of re-created performances and lectures from famous and well noted magicians. The event is co-hosted by Ricky Jay, Mike Caveney, John Gaughan and Jim Steinmeyer. Past conferences have featured unique recreations of historical illusions, including effects from Guy Jarrett, David Devant, John Nevil Maskelyne and Dr. Samuel Cox Hooker.
John Mulholland was an American magician, author, publisher and intelligence agent.
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".
