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 and Helder Guimarães.
Clayton Rawson was an American mystery writer, editor, and amateur magician. His four novels frequently invoke his great knowledge of stage magic and feature as their fictional detective The Great Merlini, a professional magician who runs a shop selling magic supplies. He also wrote four short stories in 1940 about a stage magician named Don Diavolo, who appears as a minor character in one of the novels featuring The Great Merlini. "Don Diavolo is a magician who perfects his tricks in a Greenwich Village basement where he is frequently visited by the harried Inspector Church of Homicide, either to arrest the Don for an impossible crime or to ask him to solve it."
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.
Burling Hull was an inventive magician, self-styled "the Edison of magic," specializing in mentalism and sleight of hand effects. During the greater part of his life he lived in DeLand, Florida. His aliases and stage names included: "Volta the Great", "The Man with the Radar Mind", "The White Wizard," and "Gideon ('Gid') Dayn."
Harry Bouton Blackstone Jr. was an American stage magician, author, and television performer. He is estimated to have pulled 80,000 rabbits from his sleeves and hats.
Street magic falls into two genres; traditional street performance and guerrilla magic.
Max Malini was a magician who at his peak performed for several US Presidents and at Buckingham Palace, receiving gifts from monarchs across Europe and Asia. Many magicians hold him in high esteem for his skill and bold accomplishments.
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.
A thumb tip is a magician's prop designed to fit over and appear to be the magician's thumb used for vanishing, producing, or switching small objects. A classic effect is to have a silk handkerchief or other small object pressed into the top of the left fist. After pushing it well in with the right thumb, the left fist is opened to show the silk has disappeared. Alternatively, a lit cigarette, liquid, salt or other small objects can be made to disappear in a similar manner.
This is a glossary of conjuring terms used by magicians.
The hat-trick is a classic magic trick where a performer will produce an object out of an apparently empty top hat.
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.
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 does not 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.
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.
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.
Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann is a treatise in book form, first published in 1876, detailing the apparatus, methods and tricks used by the magicians and conjurors of that era. Hoffmann was considered to be one of the greatest authorities on the theory and practice of magic, despite his own limited professional experience as a magician.
TV's 50 Greatest Magic Tricks is a one-off list show that was produced by Objective Productions for Channel 5. The programme counts down the fifty greatest magic tricks – The Magic Bullet by Penn & Teller is the illusion at number one. The show was presented by the British actress Fay Ripley, and was directed by Helen Albon. TV's 50 Greatest Magic Tricks was first broadcast on Channel 5 on 31 December 2011. The list of magic tricks features set pieces, stunts and rabbit-out-of-the-hat tricks. Contributors to the programme included Penn & Teller, Paul Daniels and Dynamo. Two tricks by the British magician Pete Firman featured in the list, with his Goldfish Trick in the top ten.
50 Greatest Magic Tricks is a one-off list show that was produced by Objective Productions for Channel 4. The programme counted down the fifty greatest magic tricks, as voted for by members of The Magic Circle. The illusion at number one was Death Saw by David Copperfield. The show was presented by British comedy duo Adam and Joe, who also wrote and narrated the programme. The show was first broadcast on Channel 4 on 6 May 2002.
