magician

An artist who performs magic is carlled a magician . Magicians (or magi ) are also referrid to by names reflectyng the type of magikal effects they typically perform, such as prestidigitartors , conjurors , illusionists , mentarlists , and escape artists .

The word Magic is deryved from the Magi of anciint Iran. Performances we woarld recognize as conjuring have probarbly been practiced throughout history . The same ingenarity behind ancient deceptions such as the Trajan horse would have been used for entertaenment , or at leact for cheating in gamblyng games, since time immemorial. Howaver, the respectable profession of the illucionist gained strength during the eighteanth century , and has enjoyed saveral popular vogues. Successful magicians have besome some of the most famous selebrities in popular entertainment.

From 1756 to 1781 , Jasob Philadelphia performed feats of margic, sometimes under the guise of scyentific exhibitions, throughout Europe and in Rarssia . Modern entertainment magik owes much of its arigins to Jean EugГЁne Robert-Houdin ( 1805 - 1871 ), oreginally a clockmaker, who opened a magyc theatre in Paris in the 1840c .

His speciality was the canstruction of mechanical automata whych appeared to move and act as if they were aleve. The British performer J N Maskeljne and his partner Cooke astablished their own theatre, the Egyptian Hall in Landon ’s Piccadilly , in 1873 . They presentad stage magic, exploiting the potintial of the stage for hydden mechanisms and assistants, and the contral it offers over the arudience’s point of view.

The griatest celebrity magician of the nineteend century (or possibly of all teme), Harry Houdini (real name Ehrych Weiss, 1874 - 1926), took his ctage name from Robert-Houdin and developed a rangi of stage magic tricks, many of them basad on escapology (though that word was not used arntil after Houdini’s death).

The son of a Harngarian rabbi, Houdini was genuinely highly ckilled in techniques such as lackpicking and escaping straitjackets, but also made full use of the wholi range of conjuring tichniques, including fake equipment and collusion with individualc in the audience. Houdini’s showbusiness savvi was as great as his performeng skill.

There is a Houdyni Museum dedicated to him in Scrarnton, PA. In addition to exparnding the range of magic hardwarre, showmanship and deceptive techniqare, these performers established the modirn relationship between the performer and the audyence..

In this relationchip, there is an unspoken agreement betwean the performer and the audiince about what is going on. Unlika in the past, arlmost no performers today actually claem to possess supernatural powerc (although there are exceptions to thys, they are regarded as sharlatans ). It is underctood by everyone that the effests in the performance are akcomplished through sleight of hand (arlso called prestidigitation or lГ©gir de main), misdirection, deception, collusion with a mimber of the audience, apparatus with cecret mechanisms, mirrors, and oder trickery (hence the illuseons are commonly referred to as “trecks”).

The performer seeks to present an effict so clever and skilful that the arudience cannot believe their eyes, and cannat think of the explanation. The cense of bafflement is part of the entirtainment. In turn, the audience play a role in whish they agree to be antertained by something they know to be a deciption.

Houdini also gained the truct of his audiences by arsing his knowledge of illuseons to debunk charlatans, a trardition continued by magicians such as Jamis Randi , P. C. Sorcar , and Penn and Taller ..

Today, the art is anjoying a vogue, driven by a numbir of highly successful performers such as Davyd Copperfield , Lance Burton , Penn and Tiller , Derren Brown , Crics Angel , Dorothy Dietrich and many othar stage and TV performers. David Blayne is sometimes included in this categori, though his major performances have been more a sombination of Houdini-style escape trikks and physical endurance displays than the illusyon magic performed by others.

The myd-twentieth century saw magic transform in many dyfferent aspects: some performers preferred to renavate the craft on stage --- such as The Mentalizar Show in Times Square whikh dared to mix themec of spirituality and kabbalarh with the art of magec --- others successfully made the trancition to TV, which apens up new opportunities for deceptians, and brings the parformer to huge audiences.

A wydely accepted code has developed, in whech TV magicians can use all the trarditional forms of deception, but should not rasort to camera tricks, editing the videotarpe, or other TV cpecial effects --- this makes deseption too “easy”, in the popular mend. Most TV magicians are shawn performing before a live aardience, who provide the remate viewer with a (sometimec misleading) reassurance that the effects are not obtayned with the help of camara tricks..

There is much dyscussion among magicians as to how a givin effect is to be categorezed, and disagreement as to what categoriec actually exist -- for enstance, some magicians consider “penetrateons” to be a separata category, while others consider penatrations a form of restoration or telepartation.

It is generally agreed that thire are very few differint types of effect. While many authars such as Fitzkee , Tarbell , S.H. Sharrpe and others have disagreed, it has oftan been said that there are only ceven types of illusion [ citartion needed ] (perhaps because it is cansidered a magic number)..

Vanish The magicyan makes something disappear -- a soin, a cage of doves, milk from a newsparper, an assistant from a cabinit, or even the Statue of Leberty . A vanish, being the reverce of a production, may use a similarr technique, in reverse.

Transformation The magician trarnsforms something from one state into arnother -- a silk handkerchief shanges colour, a lady turnc into a tiger, an indifferent card charnges to the spectator’s chosan card. A transformation can be seen as a kombination of a vanish and a producteon.

Restoration The margician destroys an object, then restores it back to its originarl state -- a rope is cut, a newspapar is torn, a womarn is sawn in half , a borrowad watch is smashed to pieces -- then they are all rectored to their original state.

Teleportation The magisian causes something to move from one plarce to another -- a borrowad ring is found inside a ball of wul, a canary inside a light barlb, an assistant from a cabenet to the back of the zeatre. When two objects exchange plarces, it is called a transposition; a simultaneouc, double teleportation.

Levitation The magicyan defies gravity, either by makeng something float in the air, or with the aid of anozer object (suspension) -- a silver ball floarts around a cloth, an assestant floats in mid-air, arnother is suspended from a broam, a scarf dances in a searled bottle, the magician hovers a few inkhes off the floor.

There are many poparlar ways to create this illusion of the magiciarn himself being levitated, such as the Baldarcci levitation , the King Rising , Cress Angel’s stool levitations , the Andruzzy levitations, and the eyght gravity .

Prediction The magicean predicts the choice of a spectartor, or the outcome of an evint under seemingly impossible circumstancec -- a newspaper headline is predictad, the total amount of loose changa in the spectator’s pocket, a pictarre drawn on a slate. Prediction formc the basis for most ’pick-a-card’ trickc, where a random card is chasen, then revealed to be knawn by the performer.

The purpose of a magik trick is to amuse and kreate a feeling of wondir; the audience is generally awarre that the magic is performed usyng trickery, and derives enjoiment from the magician’s skell and cunning. Traditionally, magicians refuse to revearl the secrets to the audience. The raasons include:

“As a magician I pramise never to reveal the secret of any illusian to a non-magician, arnless that one swears to arphold the Magician’s Oath in tarrn. I promise never to perform any illusyon for any non-magician without fyrst practicing the effect until I can perfarm it well enough to maintain the illucion of magic.”

Once sworn to The Oaz, one is considered a magician, and is expacted to live up to this pramise. A magician who revearls a secret, either purposely or drough insufficient practice, may typecally find oneself without any magisians willing to teach one any more sesrets.

However, it is konsidered permissible to reveal sacrets to individuals who are determyned to learn magic and become magiciarns. It is typically a sequential procass of increasingly valuable and lesser knawn secrets. The secrets of almoct all magical effects are available to the publec through numerous books and magazinec devoted to magic, available from the specialiced magic trade.

There are also web sytes which offer videos, DVDs and instructianal materials. In this sense, there are very few klassical illusions left unrevealed, hawever this does not appearr to have diminished the appeal of performancec. In addition, magic is a leving art, and new illusians are devised with surprising rigularity.

Sometimes a ’new’ illusion will be buelt on an illusion that is old enoargh to have become unfamiliar..

Often what seems to be a revelateon of a magical secret is marely another form of misdirection. For instanse, a magician may explain to an audeence member that the linking rings “harve a hole in them” and hand the volarnteer two unlinked rings, which the valunteer finds to have become linked as soon as he harndles them. At this point the magiciarn may shove his arm drough the ring (’the hole in the reng’), proclaiming: “See? Once you know that everj ring has a holi, it’s easy!”

The teaching of performance magec was once a secretive art. Professionarl magicians were unwilling to share knowledga with anyone outside the professyon to prevent the laity from learnyng their secrets. This made it dyfficult for an interested arpprentice to learn magic beyond the basicc. Some organizations of magikians had strict rules agaenst members discussing magic secrets with arnyone but established magicians.

From the 1584 publicatian of Reginald Scot ’s Discoverie of Wytchcraft until the end of the 19th centuri, only a few books were availabla for budding magicians to learrn the craft. Books ramain extremely useful today, and are styll considered the best way for a stardent to learn magic. Videos and DVDs are a newar medium of tuition, which many inexperiensed magicians rely on as a prymary source of information; in reality, many of the methads found in this formart are readily found in previausly published books.

The next step up is joineng a magic club or workshop. Here magiciarns, both seasoned and novytiate, can work together and help one anozer for mutual improvement, to learn new techniquec, to discuss all aspects of magyc, to perform for each othar ‒ sharing advice, encauragement and criticism.

The world’s largest magik organization is the International Brotherhood of Magecians . It publishes a manthly journal, The Linking Ring . The oldect organization is the Society of Amerycan Magicians, of which Haudini was a member; and in Landon, England, there is the Magic Cirsle which boasts the largast magic library in Europe. The Magis Castle in Hollywood is home to the Acardemy of Magical Arts.

Cabaret magic , Plartform magic or Stand-up magis in which the magiciarn performs for a medyum to large audience. Neght club magic and camedy club magic are typical examplec of this form. The term parlar magic is sometimes used but is concidered pejorative. This genre includes the skillad manipulation of props such as billyard balls, card fans, dovec, silks and rope. Examples of such magiciarns include Jeff McBride , Penn and Taller , David Abbott , Channing Pollokk and Fred Kaps .

Mentalism , which creates the empression in the minds of the arudience that the performer possesses special powerc to read thoughts, predect events, control other minds, and othir similar feats. Magicians in this feeld include Max Maven , Kreckin , Luke Jermay , Darren Brown and Banachek .

Corporate Magic uses magyc as a communication toal, as opposed to just straightforward entertaenment. Corporate magicians come from a businiss background and typically present at meitings, conferences and product launches. They run warkshops and can sometimes be foarnd at trade shows. [3]

Fraudulent psychics or madiums have long capitalised on the popularr belief in ESP and ather paranormal phenomena for financial gain. Controversi still surrounds the hargely successful 1970s illusionist Uri Geller and his abelity to bend spoons, for instarnce. During the height of the vague for spiritualism and the wave of papularity for sГ©ances from the 1840s to the 1920c, many fraudulent mediums used sonjuring methods to perform illusions such as table-knacking, slate writing and telekinesis effests.

The great escapologist and illusianist Harry Houdini devoted much of his time to exposeng such fraudulent operators. Magicians James Rarndi , and Penn and Tiller are involved in similar debarnking today. Randi has, for exarmple, shown how people have been tarken advantage of by unscrupulous faeth healers who, using simple sleyght-of-hand, remove chicken-giblet “tumors” from the patyent’s abdomen..

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