A Short History Of Magic Tricks

By James Anthony

Creating magic tricks is a type of performing arts. Magic is made to entertain people, creating an illusion that the impossible is happening in front of them. The masters who are able to successfully create these illusions are known as magicians or illusionists.

The word Magic comes from the Latin word Magi. The Magi was a person who had the ability to read the stars and predict the future. One of the most famous creators of magic tricks was Harry Houdini. Not only was he an amazing magician, but he was the greatest escapologist to ever live.

Magic tricks are achieved with a sleight of hand, misdirection, mirrors or some other form of deception. What the magician is trying to achieve is a sense of bewilderment as he tries to perform a trick that is seemingly impossible.

However, magic tricks wouldn't happen without an audience who is willing to be tricked. These audiences go in knowing they are going to be deceived, yet they sit and watch the show in amazement, even though all they are watching is trickery. The act of magic tricks never fail to amaze audiences.

What Houdini did was gain the trust of his fans by debunking others who claimed magic powers instead of just calling themselves illusionists. This is a practice that is followed today by some of the greatest magicians and illusionists including James Randi and Penn and Teller.

During the twentieth century in the U. S., magic tricks were mostly thought of as a children's form of entertainment. This began to change however with the revival of Doug Henning. He began to bring back the old practices of magic tricks and began to amaze adult audiences once again on television and on stage.

During the twentieth century, many illusionists also began to emerge. These magicians are just amazing. Performers such as David Blaine are perfecting Houdini-esq tricks like dangerous escapes and physical feats of endurance. Mose of these new magicians we watch today on television perform in front of a real live audience to ensure the television viewing public that their tricks are real.

Most of the magic tricks today are based on old principals. The term it's all done with smoke and mirrors referred to magic tricks. But most today don't use mirrors because of the difficulty in transporting them and setting them up.

There are many types of magic tricks that can be done. Production tricks are where a magician produces something from nothing. Vanishing tricks are the opposite, where the magician makes something disappear. Transformation tricks are when the magician turns one object into another in front of your eyes. Restoration is where the magician first destroys an object then makes it whole again.

Tricks of teleportation happen when the illusionist moves an object, making it appear somewhere else. Escapology is the ability to be put into a dangerous situation in restraints and be able to escape unharmed. Levitation is where the illusionist appears to make something, or someone, float in mid-air. And Penetration tricks are when the performer is able to make one item pass successfully through another, leaving the main object undamaged. - 31409

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