Year: 2023

Exactly what is it that magicians do?

I would like to say that basically magicians come on the stage or on our screens and they lie. That’s what they do.

Take a very simple card trick. The magician says to a probably unwilling audience member, “I have an ordinary pack of cards here. They are all different, look. I will shuffle the cards so we don’t know which card is where. Pick a card at random, you have a free choice. Put it back at random, you have a free choice. Look, I have a banana here, I will make you card inside the banana. It’s not there? Oh no, it’s been under your chair the whole time.”

So, the cards may be ordinary, or they may not. Things can be done to alter the shape or surface of a card, for example, that is not immediately detectable.

The cards may not all be different. They could be. If they are fanned out, you may not see them all.

Pick a card at random, a free choice. Well, maybe, or maybe it was forced.

It’s in the banana. Not, that’s misdirection. And the card under the chair may not be your card, but a duplicate.

The magician does not have to say anything at all. By their actions, they imply they are doing something they really are not. It’s just a lie. And maybe we like being lied to.

Did Copperfield actually vanish the Statue of Liberty? No, of course not.

Magic seems to be something just perfect for television, but, of course, magic on stage has been around for a very long time.

Las Vegas seems to be the place to go. There are so many magic shows, including Penn & Teller, David Copperfield, Criss Angel, Piff the Magic Dragon…

In the UK, Derren Brown does shows, more mental trickery than illusions, and sometimes there are shows with a number of younger, up-and-coming stars doing essentialy old fashioned variety.

The Mischief Comedy Group, those jolly folk behind The Play That Goes Wrong, did a Magic Goes Wrong show recently with the help of Penn & Teller, mostly Penn, or so it seemed. When this closed, some of the cast maintained their part of the act for a time.

Of course, on tv, classic magicians like David Nixon and Paul Daniels had long running shows, Penn & Teller have Fool Us, the talent shows often have magicians on doing stuff. So there’s plenty of it about.

The classical view of the magician is someone in a dinner suit with a top hat, someone with some style or class.

They are making this appear or disappear: rabbits, birds, cards, snooker balls, candles whatever. The suit is an especially good place to hide things.

Nowadays, the style has changed. Penn & Teller do appear in suits, but more casual. The trend is for more pop, disco style outfits.

When Robert Harben did the Zig-Zag Woman, he was dressed in a dinner suit.

The Paul Daniels Magic Show ran on UK tv for a long time, something like 15 years, but was cancelled for something more modern. Current magicians seem to be more into dancing, especially disco, as a prelude to a trick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv44u9V75YE