Magicbox

Magic Tricks - An Overview

Magic tricks are art forms that keep audiences captivated by either the impression of an unbelievable or impossible illusion being formed by completely natural means. These magic tricks or magical illusions have been passed down throughout the years and have taken on new meanings as the centuries have come around.

A magician is the name for a performer of these arts. Magicians can be sometimes widely known due to the type of magic they practice whether they are an illusionist, escapologist or conjuror.

History of Magic

The history of magic is shrouded in secrecy but the word is usually taken from the old Persian phrase “Magi” which means magic. Throughout the course of history magic has taken on different connotations whether that be card counting, escaping from a prison or the Trojan horse trick from so many years ago.

Magic tricks and shows used to be mixed up under the guise of scientific performances. In the 1700’s there was a man called Jacob Philadelphia who travelled the length and depth of Europe and Russia to perform his magic tricks. Until his death in 1871 Jean Houdin owned and ran a theatre in the French capital Paris to perform his magic tricks and amazing feats. As a knock on effect of this other performers suddenly started to build their own magic tricks show and this was apparent when London Piccadilly played host to a duo of magicians in Egyptians Hall called Cooke and Maskelyne.

One of the previously mentioned surnames in our history of magic tricks stands out above many others. That is that of “Houdini”. As a young man he set about looking to make the most of the viewing angles of the stages that were used and to capitalize on certain aspects of trickery he had over his audiences using contraptions and assistants. His birth name was Ehrich Weiss and lived until he was 52 but took on the stage name of Harry Houdini based on the same surname of one of his predecessors mentioned earlier Jean Houdin.

One of the bigger changes that has come about in the performance of magic tricks is the silent agreement that a performer is not actually professing to hold some form of supernatural power whereas in the 1800’s this would have been quite common place.

The entertainment value in magic tricks or effects is that there is usually within an audience no explanation present for the trick that is being performed. As a result of a person / audience not being able to explain what has happened in front of their eyes then that leaves them in a sense of awe and amazement.