What should I read, watch, or listen to about magic/illusion?
June 25, 2017 9:09 PM Subscribe
I love any and all non-fiction about magic, and would like to find more of it.
I really enjoy learning about the theory of magic and the lives of the performers. I loved An Honest Liar and have read this interview with Penn and Teller a number of times. I liked Hiding the Elephant. What documentaries, podcasts and articles should I check out?
I really enjoy learning about the theory of magic and the lives of the performers. I loved An Honest Liar and have read this interview with Penn and Teller a number of times. I liked Hiding the Elephant. What documentaries, podcasts and articles should I check out?
"The Amateur Magician's Handbook" by Henry Hay is a classic -- though it's a very practical book about how to perform magic.
posted by smcameron at 9:46 PM on June 25, 2017
posted by smcameron at 9:46 PM on June 25, 2017
Have you seen Tony Slydini's classic 1970s performances on the Dick Cavett show? First appearance - second appearance. He was an old master of close-up magic, and he does at least one trick in such a way that the audience can understand his use of misdirection. The links in this old MeFi post goes into more detail.
posted by Rhaomi at 9:51 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Rhaomi at 9:51 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Familiarize yourself with the works of Ricky Jay, including this DVD.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:59 PM on June 25, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:59 PM on June 25, 2017 [5 favorites]
Actor/stand-up comic Steve Martin started as a magician. His memoir details learning and performing magic, before transitioning to comedy. Born Standing Up.
posted by Homer42 at 12:09 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Homer42 at 12:09 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
There is a very fun Japanese TV series called Trick in which a terrible magician and a stuck-up professor solve ostensibly supernatural mysteries. I'm not sure where you can get it with English subtitles but it's worth seeking out. (My apologies, I somehow missed "nonfiction" despite its appearing several times in your question.)
posted by Polycarp at 1:11 AM on June 26, 2017
posted by Polycarp at 1:11 AM on June 26, 2017
You don't specify books, but Magic 1400s to 1950s is beautiful.
posted by yankeefog at 2:09 AM on June 26, 2017
posted by yankeefog at 2:09 AM on June 26, 2017
Seconding Magic 1400s to 1950s. It's gorgeous and you can find it cheaply online. Perfect if you love quality books that are the size and weight of a large marble slab (I do).
posted by Hugobaron at 4:04 AM on June 26, 2017
posted by Hugobaron at 4:04 AM on June 26, 2017
Seconding Penn and Teller:Fool Us. The funnest part of the show is trying to translate the clues Penn gives us about how the trick was done as well as seeing some often super cool magic acts.
posted by wittgenstein at 7:05 AM on June 26, 2017
posted by wittgenstein at 7:05 AM on June 26, 2017
Make a free account and have a search through Ask Alexander, the online database of the Conjuring Arts Research Center. You'll find something worth reading, although at the free level of access you may not actually be able to read it there.
(Full disclosure: I work there and created most of those digital objects.)
posted by Devoidoid at 8:41 AM on June 26, 2017
(Full disclosure: I work there and created most of those digital objects.)
posted by Devoidoid at 8:41 AM on June 26, 2017
Netflix streams 'Breaking the Magician's Code,' a series from the 90s that demonstrates how some illusions are done. Mitch Pileggi from the X Files snarkily narrates. I thought it was pretty neat.
posted by JulesER at 9:02 AM on June 26, 2017
posted by JulesER at 9:02 AM on June 26, 2017
Oh I have the best answer for this: Derren Brown. You can find just about everything he's ever done on YouTube, and his book Trick of the Mind is great, as is his book on Happiness (though it's less about magic).
I would start with the stage shows, like Enigma or Svengali. Or Hero at 30,000 Feet.
posted by guster4lovers at 10:26 PM on June 26, 2017
I would start with the stage shows, like Enigma or Svengali. Or Hero at 30,000 Feet.
posted by guster4lovers at 10:26 PM on June 26, 2017
I feel pretty comfortable saying the next thing you should do is read Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear, by Jim Steinmeyer, the best illusion designer of the past 50 years. It has an introduction by Teller.
Steinmeyer created illusion designs for Henning, Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, the Pendragons, Blackstone, and many more.
From the PR material:
Jim Steinmeyer’s 2003 book is a journey thorough the rich history of magicians, their creations and their quest for the impossible. Starting with Houdini’s famous and infamous illusion of making an elephant disappear, Jim traces the various inventions in “optical conjuring,” from Pepper’s Ghost to Tobin’s Proteus Cabinet and the famous wonders at Egyptian Hall. The book discusses the creative masters of the art, including David Devant, Charles Morritt and Guy Jarrett. The book has received rave reviews. Publisher’s Weekly called it “a find.” Magician Teller, of Penn and Teller, reviewed it in the New York Times and called it “a loving celebration,” concluding that “no author has ever better conveyed magic’s joys, terrors and longings.”
It's available from his website, or from Amazon.
If you enjoy watching illusions, puzzling over how illusions are done, and then finding out how they're done, this is the book for you. I can only think of one major illusion principal that is not described in this book. But it's not just a "how-to": Steinnmeyer puts the problems in the perspective of their time, goes into detail about each magician's situation, history, and approach to magic, and in the end gives what he believes is the solution to a long-not-understood illusion.
posted by lockedroomguy at 6:17 AM on July 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Steinmeyer created illusion designs for Henning, Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, the Pendragons, Blackstone, and many more.
From the PR material:
Jim Steinmeyer’s 2003 book is a journey thorough the rich history of magicians, their creations and their quest for the impossible. Starting with Houdini’s famous and infamous illusion of making an elephant disappear, Jim traces the various inventions in “optical conjuring,” from Pepper’s Ghost to Tobin’s Proteus Cabinet and the famous wonders at Egyptian Hall. The book discusses the creative masters of the art, including David Devant, Charles Morritt and Guy Jarrett. The book has received rave reviews. Publisher’s Weekly called it “a find.” Magician Teller, of Penn and Teller, reviewed it in the New York Times and called it “a loving celebration,” concluding that “no author has ever better conveyed magic’s joys, terrors and longings.”
It's available from his website, or from Amazon.
If you enjoy watching illusions, puzzling over how illusions are done, and then finding out how they're done, this is the book for you. I can only think of one major illusion principal that is not described in this book. But it's not just a "how-to": Steinnmeyer puts the problems in the perspective of their time, goes into detail about each magician's situation, history, and approach to magic, and in the end gives what he believes is the solution to a long-not-understood illusion.
posted by lockedroomguy at 6:17 AM on July 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
principle, not principal
posted by lockedroomguy at 7:00 AM on July 4, 2017
posted by lockedroomguy at 7:00 AM on July 4, 2017
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