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.
William Lance Burton is an American stage magician. He performed more than 15,000 shows in Las Vegas for over 5,000,000 people until retiring in 2010. He serves as a judge on Criss Angel's Magic with the Stars.
Michael Ammar is an American close-up magician.
Jeff McBride, also known as "Magnus", is an American magician and magic instructor. He is known for his sleight of hand skills and specializes in the manipulation of playing cards, coins, and other small objects. His stage performances blend elements of kabuki, a Japanese theater form, with traditional conjuring. He has been recognized by the Academy of Magical Arts, the Society of American Magicians, and the International Federation of Magic Societies. He has also has set several Guinness World Records.
Sven Lennart Green is a Swedish world champion close-up/card magician, a title which he won in 1991 at the FISM convention in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is known for his seemingly chaotic routines which, in spite of first appearances, display great skill. His original techniques and presentation style form an unorthodox and innovative contribution to sleight of hand magic.
Tom Stone is the stage name of Thomas Bengtsson, a Swedish magician, editor and author.
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.
Tommy Wonder was the stage name of Jacobus Maria Bemelman, a Dutch magician who performed both close-up and stage magic. Wonder performed in Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and on Fox television.
Paul Gertner is an American close-up magician from Pittsburgh. He is best known in the magic world for his Steel and Silver book and set of DVDs.
Johnny Ace Palmer is an American close-up magician. He is famous within the worldwide magical community for his prodigious sleight-of-hand abilities.
David Roth was an American magician widely regarded as one of the world's greatest coin magicians. Roth was an important contributor to Richard Kaufman's Coinmagic, an influential text on contemporary coin technique; his major work was chronicled in David Roth's Expert Coin Magic, a book written by Richard Kaufman. Roth was associated with Fantasma Magic, a magic manufacturing and retail company in New York City before going to work for the Conjuring Arts Research Center during the last decade of his life.
Daniel Sylvester Battagline, also known as Sylvester The Jester, is an American magician, best known for playing a cartoon character who comes to life. He has had hundreds of stage and television appearances, including NBC’s "World's Wildest Magic," ABC’s "Champions of Magic III", Jerry Lewis's Muscular Dystrophy Telethon and The Discovery Channel’s "More Science of Magic." He has performed in multiple Las Vegas shows including opening for The Amazing Johnathan, and appearing at Caesar’s Magical Empire. He also produces a series of magic products, and has been credited with creating the illustrations for various magic publications, such as the cover for The Amazing Johnathan's Every Trick in the Book, and the poster for John Carney's "Mr. Mysto" act. In 1996, he also created a prop for the television show, "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch." He has been featured on the cover of several magic and culture-related magazines, such as the September 1998 issue of Magic.
Rocco Silano is an American magician, author, and lecturer.
Daryl Easton, known professionally as Daryl and born Daryl Martinez, was an American magician based in Las Vegas. In his marketing he used the self-proclaimed title of "The Magician's Magician". Daryl usually went by his forename only.
Karrell Fox was a 20th-century American magician and television performer.
Lu "Louis" Chen is a Taiwanese magician and is credited to be the only Taiwanese magician to perform in Hollywood's Magic Castle, commonly referred to as China's most renowned magician. Lu Chen has worked in television industry for over 20 years and has been considered as an iconic magic figure in the Chinese world. His TV shows has been seen by more than a billion viewers in Asia. In 2011 he was awarded “The Magician of The Year” by The Academy of Magician Arts. He graduated from Soochow University with a degree in Japanese literature.
Derek DelGaudio is an American interdisciplinary artist, primarily known as a writer, performer and magician.
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.
David Williamson is a professional sleight-of-hand artist, magician, and author. David Britland of Genii magazine called him "an exceptional stage performer" and "a magician who changed the way we do magic." He was named Magician of the Year in 2017 by the Academy of the Magical Arts, and was named an Honorary Member of prestigious British association The Magic Circle.
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.
