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Stage Magic
A stage illusion is a large-scale magic trick. As the name implies, stage illusions are distinct from other types of magic in that they are performed a considerable distance away from the audience, usually on a stage, in order to maintain the illusion. Stage illusions usually use large props and may involve the use of assistants or large animals.Wilson, Mark. Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. Running Press Kids. 2003. Examples of stage illusions include sawing a woman in half and levitation. Stage illusion also refers to the field or career of performing stage illusions. Stage illusions * Aquarian Illusion * Asrah levitation * Assistant's Revenge * Aztec Lady * Balducci levitation * Battle of the Barrels * Bullet catch * Cabinet escape * David Copperfield's laser illusion * Devil's torture chamber *Guillotine *Impalement * Indian rope trick *Levitation *Metamorphosis * Mismade Girl *Origami * Predicament escape * Radium Girl * Sawing a woman in half * Squeeze Box Illusio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic (illusion)
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of close-up magic, parlor magic, and stage 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 Magic (supernatural), paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world. Modern entertainment magic, as pioneered by 19th-century magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, has become a popular theatrical art form. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, magicians such as John Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant, Howard Thurston, Harry Kellar, and Harry Houdini achieved widespread commercial success during what has become known as "the Golden Age of Magic", a period in which performance magic became a staple of Broadway theatre, vaudeville, and music halls. Meanwhile, magicians such as Georges Méliès, Gaston Velle, Walter R. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Rope Trick
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. In the 1990s the trick was said by some historians to be a hoax perpetrated in 1890 by John Wilkie of the ''Chicago Tribune'' newspaper. Magic historian Peter Lamont has argued that there are no accurate references to the trick predating 1890, and that later stage magic performances of the trick were inspired by Wilkie's account. Lamont, Peter. (2005). ''The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick: How a Spectacular Hoax Became History''. Abacus. pp. 80-95, 208. There are old accounts from the 9th century (by Adi Shankara), the 14th century (by Ibn Battuta), and the 17th century (by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir) of versions of the trick, but this is denied by Lamont as the accounts described are different from the "classic" Indian rope tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackstone Magic Company
Abbott's Get Together is a long-running annual convention for magicians held in Colon, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1937 by Percy Abbott and his business partner, Recil Bordner. The Get Together is well known within the magician industry as an event to gather and share information with their peers. There are routinely multiple stage shows, a close-up magic gala, lectures, contests, and a dealer's room. The 70th anniversary of the Get-Together took place on August 1–4, 2007. The event was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed in 2021. History of the Get-Together Abbott Magic Company Percy Abbott, an Australian-born magician who owned several magic supply companies in Australia in the early 1900s, co-founded the Blackstone Magic Company in Colon, Michigan, with Harry Blackstone Sr. in 1927. Eighteen months later, the two parted ways. In 1934, Abbott reopened the business as the Abbott Magic Company with a new partner, Recil Bordner, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percy Abbott (magician)
Percy Abbott (May 3, 1886 – August 26, 1960) was an Australian magician and magic dealer who founded Abbott's Magic Novelty Company in Colon, Michigan. Abbott's business was once the largest manufacturer and retailer of magic tricks and stage illusions in the world. Biography Abbott was born in Braidwood, Australia on May 3, 1886 as one of four children. Orphaned as a youngster, Abbott and his siblings moved in with an aunt who charged the children for room and board. His early interests included theater and magic. He took part in amateur theatrical productions as a boy. He discovered magic which he would devote most of his life along with its allied art, ventriloquism. In his early 1920s, Abbott found himself performing regularly in Sydney and other Australian towns, eventually taking a position with a firm that supplied magicians with the tricks of their trade, the New York Novelty Co. Abbott would eventually open his own supply house for conjurers, called the Abbott's Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zig Zag Girl
The Zig-Zag Girl illusion is a stage illusion akin to the more famous sawing a woman in half illusion. In the Zig-Zag illusion, a magician divides an assistant into thirds, only to have them emerge from the illusion at the end of the performance completely unharmed. It was invented in 1965 by magician Robert Harbin. Harbin was frustrated by his illusions being pirated by other magicians, and this inspired him to publish the method in his book ''The Magic of Robert Harbin'' (1970). The book was limited to 500 copies, and owners of the book were granted permission to build or have built the Zig Zag Girl (or indeed any other of the items in the book). The rights to the book and the Zig Zag illusion were then in time passed to The Magic Circle in the wake of Harbin's death. The concept of dividing a lady assistant into two or three parts was something that Harbin experimented with throughout his career before creating his ultimate divide, the Zig Zag Girl. Evidence of his fascina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wringer (magic Trick)
The Wringer (also known as the ''"wringer box illusion" or " mangle box"'') is a stage magic trick. The magician places an assistant (or a shill A shill, also called a plant or a stooge, is a person who publicly helps or gives credibility to a person or organization without disclosing that they have a close relationship with said person or organization, or have been paid to do so. Shills c ... from the audience) into a large box with a set of rollers at the front. The magician turns a crank, and the assistant emerges through the rollers, now appearing flat as a pancake. The magician then opens the front of the box, revealing it to be empty. Although not always necessary, the magician may later restore the assistant to their original form. This trick can also be performed with small animals, such as ducks or rabbits. References *Dawes, A. E., et al. ''Making Magic''. London: Multimedia Books, Ltd, 1993. {{Magic-stub Magic tricks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Table Of Death
The table of death is a predicament escape that may be regarded as a magic trick or an act of escapology. Description The apparatus consists of a substantial table with an array of menacing metal spikes suspended above it. The basic premise is that the performer will be restrained on the table and must escape before the spikes are released and allowed to fall. A curtain is drawn around the apparatus to obscure the performer from view while the escape is attempted. The sequence of events is arranged so that it initially appears the spikes fall before the performer has had time to get out from under them; however, the curtain is then pulled back to reveal the performer free and unharmed. Sometimes a scrim (material), scrim is used instead of a curtain and, with back lighting, it is arranged that the audience see the silhouetted shadow of the performer struggling to escape before the spikes fall. The exact design varies slightly from one example to another but the basic arrangement r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Squeeze Box Illusion
The Squeeze Box is an illusion designed and originally performed by André Kole. Effect A person gets in a horizontal box, and sticks their head out of one end, their feet out of the other. The box is squeezed - sometimes by spinning a wheel - pushing both ends towards the middle until the person's head is right next to their feet. Both head and feet move throughout, and at the end the box is stretched back out and the person emerges unscathed. Notable performances * André Kole * David Copperfield * Siegfried and Roy Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ... References External links * {{magic-stub Magic tricks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sawing A Woman In Half
Sawing a woman in half is a generic name for a number of stage magic tricks in which a person (traditionally a female assistant) is apparently cut or divided into two (or more) pieces. History There remains a debate about the origin of sawing illusions, with some sources saying a magician named Torrini may have performed the first version in front of Pope Pius VII in 1809. However, it is more likely that the story is a fiction which has its roots in the writings of the famous French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. In his ''Memoirs'', written in 1858, Robert-Houdin described a sawing illusion performed by a magician named Torrini. Modern magic inventor and historian Jim Steinmeyer has concluded that there was probably no real Torrini and the story was merely a way for Robert-Houdin to play with ideas. It was suggested during a court case in 1922 that the trick can be traced back to ancient Egypt; however, this claim has not been substantiated.''Goldin v. Clarion Photoplays ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radium Girl
The Radium Girl is a stage illusion of the classic type involving a female assistant in a large box and is probably best categorised as a penetration or restoration-type illusion. Its origins and history are much less well documented than those of many other "big box" illusions, but some sources indicate it might be one of the earliest examples of that type of trick. References and picture captions indicate it was the creation of British magician and designer Val Walker. Description The magician recruits several volunteers from the audience. A female assistant is then introduced and one or more of the volunteers are invited to help her into a series of restraints, which consist of leather straps with short chains or cords attached. Four short straps are fitted as cuffs around her wrists and ankles, a slightly longer one as a collar around her neck and an even larger one as belt around her waist. As the first group of volunteers complete the fastening of the restraints to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Predicament Escape
Escapology is the practice of escaping from physical restraint, restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, Cage (enclosure), cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, aquarium, fish-tanks, and other perils, often in combination. History The art of escaping from restraints and confined spaces has been a skill employed by performers for a very long time. It was not originally displayed as an overt act in itself but was instead used secretly to create illusions such as a disappearance or transmutation. In the 1860s, the Davenport Brothers, who were skilled at releasing themselves from rope ties, used the art to convey the impression they were restrained while they created spirit phenomena. Other illusionists, including John Nevil Maskelyne, worked out how the Davenports did their act and re-created the tricks to debunk the brothers' claims of psychic power. However, the re-creations did n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Origami (magic Trick)
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. Effect Doug Henning version ''Origami'' was first performed by Canadian magician Doug Henning in 1986. At that time, designer Jim Steinmeyer was employed as a magic consultant by Henning. In the original presentation, Henning displays a small box, 12 inches square and decorated with Japanese-style prints, on top of a thin table. He explains that the box is held together by two ivory skewers and a wooden pole. At this point, a male assistant appears on stage carrying a large mirror, which is mounted at the rear of the table and reflects the back of the box. Henning explains that the purpose of the mirror is to allow the audienc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
