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"Portal" is a magic trick performed by the illusionist David Copperfield, in which he takes a member of the audience and transports both of them to a pre-selected location (Hawaii, the Hoover Dam, Australia, etc.), before reappearing on stage. This effect was featured in David Copperfield's shows from 2000 to the summer of 2007, and then again from the winter of 2007 to the spring of 2008. Additionally, it was featured in the 2001 CBS television special Copperfield: Tornado of Fire.
The effect of the illusion is a disappearance of the magician and an audience member, and their reappearance in the pre-selected location via video feed. Various parts of the illusion are designed to take place throughout the whole show, with the climax as the final part of the performance.
Throughout the show, various audience members are called up on stage to collect various items that Copperfield will supposedly take with him on the "journey". This includes a picture of the magician and other audience members, the initial of an audience member on Copperfield's arm, and other proofs that show the video is not pre-recorded.
In the final segment of the show, Copperfield reads the letter of an audience member wishing to be transported to their perfect place. Copperfield then calls the audience member on to the stage to join him.
A picture of the magician with the audience member is taken, and then showed by the two men on video after the disappearance. After the reunion of the audience member with a loved relative, Copperfield appears back in the audience on the other side of the stage. Subsequently, mist and rain pours down on the audience members as Copperfield returns to the stage to take his final bow.
Douglas James Henning was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician.
David Seth Kotkin, known professionally as David Copperfield, is an American magician, described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history.
The cups and balls is a performance of magic with innumerable adaptations. Street gambling variations performed by conmen were known as Bunco Booths. A typical cups and balls routine includes many of the most fundamental effects of magic: the balls can vanish, appear, transpose, reappear and transform. Basic skills, such as misdirection, manual dexterity, sleight of hand, and audience management are also essential to most cups and balls routines. As a result, mastery of the cups and balls is considered by many as the litmus test of a magician's skill with gimmick style tricks. Magician John Mulholland wrote that Harry Houdini had expressed the opinion that no one could be considered an accomplished magician until he had mastered the cups and balls. Professor Hoffman called the cups and balls "the groundwork of all legerdemain".
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, Cardini, Tony Slydini, Helder Guimarães and Tom Mullica.
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.
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.
Street magic falls into two genres; traditional street performance and guerrilla magic.
The Indian rope trick is a magic trick said to have been performed in and around India during the 19th century. Sometimes described as "the world’s greatest illusion", it reputedly involved a magician, a length of rope, and one or more boy assistants.
Buatier de Kolta was a French magician who performed throughout the latter part of the 1800s in Europe and the United States.
David Copperfield has performed a levitation illusion in several magic shows since 1992 in which he appears to fly on stage for several minutes, while surrounded by audience members. The flight is notable for its graceful motion and unencumbered appearance. The illusion was included in Copperfield's CBS TV special The Magic of David Copperfield XIV: Flying—Live The Dream (1992), and has been repeated several times during Copperfield's live tours around the world. The method was created by John Gaughan. An essential contribution to make fluid movements was given by his assistant, dancer and choreographer Joanie Spina.
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.
Origami is a magic stage illusion with a Japanese paperfolding theme, designed by Jim Steinmeyer. It was originally performed in 1986 by Canadian illusionist Doug Henning, using a working prop constructed by illusion builder John Gaughan. Illusionist David Copperfield later introduced presentational changes that would be widely copied by other performers.
Richiardi Jr., was the stage name of magician Aldo Izquierdo Colosi, who became famous for dramatic and gory stage presentations of classic stage illusions.
A magician's assistant is a performer in a magic act who is not billed as the magician or principal name in the act.
Clearly Impossible is a variation of the illusion of sawing a woman in half devised by Jonathan Pendragon.
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.
Daniel White is an American magician, producer, and creative consultant. In March 2015, White began performing a headline show produced by Theory11 at The NoMad Hotel in New York City, titled "The Magician at The NoMad." The critically acclaimed show has been featured in Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, and 12 times on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Jason Latimer, known by the stage name LATIMER, is an American illusionist. In 2003, he became one of four Americans ever to win the title Grand Prix "Best Overall" at the World Championships of Magic. In 2012, Latimer starred in the six live British television specials on the BBC One's "The Magicians," and won UK competition overall. In 2014, Latimer joined Penn & Teller and Christen Gerhart as a judge on the American magic competition television series Wizard Wars on the Syfy channel. In 2015, Latimer launched the Impossible Science program in San Diego, CA. Currently, Latimer is the curator of Impossible Science for the Fleet Science Center and oversees the Impossible Science Initiative in science centers throughout Southern California. Jason co-hosts Science Channel's series SciJinks with The Big Bang Theory's Johnny Galecki and Mythbusters: The Search's Tamara Robertson. In 2018, Jason joined the likes David Copperfield and David Blaine as one of the few recipients of the prestigious Golden Grolla Award from the Masters of Magic in Saint-Vincent, Italy. In 2018, Jason was the closing speaker of the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C., for recognition of Impossible Science and changing education with wonder.
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".