4 For thousands of years human beings have tried to use rituals and symbols to influence events and change situations for their benefit These practices eventually came to be known as magic People also practiced another form of magic called conjuring Known today as stage street or practical magic this kind of magic uses clever tricks to create the illusion of impossible feats EARLY DAYS OF MAGIC The earliest known magic trick was performed in Ancient Egypt almost five thousand years ago That illusion is known today as the cups and balls trick It was still being performed in Rome about three thousand years later During the Middle Ages the first books showing how to perform various illusions were published At the same time magic was often used by gamblers to gain an advantage Other people used it as a way to convince people that they possessed great and mysterious powers The Middle Ages was a time when some people such as circus performers began using illusions to entertain audiences MAGIC THROUGH TIME Abracadabra is a magic word often used in stage magic tricks Many years ago people believed the word had healing powers How To Use This Book The magic tricks in this book are meant to inspire you to get into magic to keep learning and to create your own magic tricks You can follow the steps provided or use your imagination to modify the tricks using different props and ideas MAGIC THROUGH TIME
OCCULT AND WITCHCRAFT The study of paranormal abilities and practices or things that cannot be explained by science is known as occultism Witchcraft is the practice of performing spells and rituals Because early illusionists seemed to perform impossible feats such as causing objects to vanish many of them were associated with both witchcraft and occultism Performers also often claimed to possess magical powers which helped to confirm these beliefs In 1584 an Englishman named Reginald Scot published a book titled The Discoverie Of Witchcraft It included a section that showed that many feats of witchcraft were simply tricks performed by people attempting to fool the audience His book was one of the earliest publications that explained how magic was performed However witchcraft and magic remained controversial and many copies of his book were burned During the Middle Ages witchcraft was illegal in many countries The punishment was death Thousands of people accused of witchcraft were executed many of them by being burned at the stake CHUNG LING SOO Much of magic is based on deception and illusion but some magicians go even further than you might imagine when tricking their audience Take the story of Chung Ling Soo Chung Ling Soo was a popular magician in the early 1900s He claimed to be half Chinese and to have been raised by a Chinese magician In reality he was a white American named William E Robinson who had copied much of his act from the actual Chinese magician named Ching Ling Foo However his deception was so convincing that most of the public didn’t find out his true identity until after his death Chung Ling Soo died in 1918 while performing a faulty bullet catch trick 5
STAGE MAGIC Alexander Herrmann was one of the most popular magicians of the late 19th century Better known as Herrmann the Great he was famous for his spectacular shows throughout North America and Europe Modern stage magic didn’t begin to take shape until the 1800s Before then it was usually performed at fairs by traveling magicians In 1845 the French magician Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin opened a magic theater in Paris Others followed in London Glasgow and elsewhere Having theaters designed for magic allowed magicians to perform previously unthinkable illusions 20TH CENTURY MAGIC The first half of the 20th century was considered a golden age for stage magic Many magicians worked their way up through the ranks starting off as apprentices to other magicians while learning the craft From there they would develop or steal illusions and create their own shows Howard Thurston one of the greatest magicians of all time developed a show so massive it took eight train cars just to transport it Eventually with the rise of movies the popularity of magic declined Some magicians were able to move to television and created early versions of special effects to produce new illusions But magic performances were no longer the grand spectacles they had once been Harry Kellar was an American magician who performed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries One of his best known illusions was the levitation of a female assistant 6
NEW ERA OF MAGIC Magic became popular again in the 1970s Beginning with Canadian magician Doug Henning’s popular Broadway show in 1974 big stage magic entered a new era Much of this new golden age centered on Las Vegas where huge stage shows remain popular today Performers such as Siegfried and Roy David Copperfield and Penn and Teller all produced giant astounding new shows Today magic has undergone another revitalization with illusionists such as David Blaine Criss Angel and others using a style of performance known as street magic They record ABRACADABRA As stage magic became a more popular entertainment individual magicians became superstars The most famous of these was Harry Houdini who was an expert in what came to be known as escapology after his death Other well known performers were Harry Blackstone Sr and Harry Blackstone Jr Howard Thurston Carter the Great and William Ellsworth Robinson aka Chung Ling Soo performances in which they perform tricks for unsuspecting bystanders on the street who are often shocked and amazed David Blaine is an American magician best known for his high-profile feats of endurance In 2012 he performed a 72-hour endurance stunt during which he was electrified by one million volts of electricity FATHER OF MODERN MAGIC Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin is often called the father of modern magic Born in France in1805 he originally trained as a watchmaker He was one of the first magicians to wear evening wear such as tuxedos Possibly his most important contribution was his 1845 opening of a magic theater He took magic off the street and combined it with the dignity of the theater The theater also made it possible to build more complex illusions that could only be done on a stage that was designed specifically for the trick Houdin’s influence was so great that famous magician Harry Houdini pictured right based his performing name on Houdin 7
