Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician Robert-Houdin (1805–1871).
Magi were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Persian texts, predating the Hellenistic period, refer to a magus as a Zurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest.
Douglas James Henning was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician.
Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since the late 1970s. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic.
Newton Edward Daniels, known professionally as Paul Daniels, was an English magician and television presenter. He achieved international fame through his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994.
The Magic Circle is a British organization dedicated to promoting and advancing the art of magic.
Dominic Simon "Dom" Wood is an English entertainer, magician and presenter of radio and television, best known as one half of the double act Dick and Dom, with the other being Richard McCourt. From 14 October 2007 to September 2008, he and work partner McCourt presented the Sunday morning show on BBC Radio 1 from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm, but later left the show due to TV commitments.
Val Valentino is an American magician. Valentino starred in a series of four television specials exposing the methods behind numerous classic magic tricks and illusions on the Fox network. In the specials, he used the stage name the Masked Magician and concealed his true identity by wearing a mask with a squid like design, being aware of the stigma amongst the magic community with publicly exposing tricks. As the finale to the final special, Valentino revealed his identity as the Masked Magician, garnering some notoriety amongst the magic community, and instigating several lawsuits.
A magic convention is a gathering of professional magicians, magical hobbyists, dealers, collectors of magical apparatus, books and ephemera, and other students of the art of magic. It provides a place for lectures of subjects related to the craft, as well as a series of sample performances of noted or innovative techniques. Many conventions also hold competitions to judge who excels at a particular style, and present awards in various categories such as sleight of hand, card tricks, mentalism, and stage illusions. The largest magic convention is The Blackpool Magician's Convention which is attended by over 3,500 magicians.
Cyril Takayama is an American magician of French, Moroccan and Japanese descent who is perhaps best known for his magic performances around Japan.
Keith Patrick Barry is an Irish mentalist, hypnotist, magician and activist for the elderly.
Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod are a duo of Scottish BAFTA-nominated magicians and comedians whose work has been seen on television and on stage around the world. The double act are known for their comically dark performing style, for taking as inspiration the accounts of Biblical miracles and faking paranormal phenomena to form the basis for some of their illusions.
Franz Harary is an American magician and inventor who has appeared on television shows such as the first episode of NBC's The World's Greatest Magic, on which Harary made the Space Shuttle appear to vanish.
Stage or street magic has a long history in India. Popular tricks include the rope trick, Indian basket, and Indian cups and ball.
Todd Robbins is an American magician, lecturer, actor, and author.
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.
Dan Sperry is an American magician and illusionist. He lives in New York City and Las Vegas.
Mat Franco is an American magician best known for his personality driven, skill-based sleight of hand magic. He gained fame as the first magician to win America's Got Talent, in the show’s ninth season. Franco went on to produce and star in his own primetime TV specials on NBC, Mat Franco’s Got Magic. In 2015 he created and debuted his live stage show in Las Vegas, Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly, and he is currently headlining at The LINQ Hotel + Experience at the Mat Franco Theater. In addition to winning "Best Magic Show" at the Best of Vegas Awards, Franco's live production was the top-rated magic show in Las Vegas according to Billboard.com in 2021. Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly was awarded Best Show on the Las Vegas Strip again in 2022.
Benjamin Hart is an English magician. In 2007, he was awarded the "Young Magician of the Year" award by The Magic Circle. Hart has worked on British television and is an inventor and designer of magic tricks and stage illusions. In 2014, he starred in Killer Magic on BBC Three. Hart was a finalist on Britain's Got Talent in 2019.
Liang-Shun Lim, known professionally as Shin Lim, is a Canadian-American magician, recognized for his use of card manipulation and sleight of hand. He is known for elaborate close-up card magic routines, during which he remains silent with the tricks set to music. He is self-taught, having learned most of his skills from watching YouTube, and has in turn shared some of his own techniques in videos on the site.
