The Power of Magic

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Famous tricks

For every one of us, the word magic recalls one or two tricks, which are strangely very often the same ones, though there is an incredibly large diversity of illusions. What is interesting to note is that professionals are also very concerned about them. A lot of very classical tricks are still shown today, often with improvements, but the idea remains the same. A young magician performing in Toulouse told us about the ones that are the "majors":" First of all, I would say, "cups and balls", which started very early with games such as Bonnetot. Then, you have cards, of course, but it's a very large subject, and very diverse, it would be too long to see it in details. Then, you must not forget stage magic, with illusions such as "the woman cut in half", Chinese rings, levitation&ldots; Tricks with animals are also very representative of magic."

The description of these "majors" will help give us a wider view of magic art.

The cups and balls routine is described by Gabe Fajuri in the newspaper "Magical Past-times" as follows: " The trick is, in essence, a series of disappearances, appearances, penetrations and transference of small objects, usually balls. The magic happens under, inside, and on top of, typically, three cups or bowls. The trick comes to its conclusion when each one of the small objects are inexplicably transformed, under cover of the cups, into a large and surprising object like an apple, lemon or orange. Some modern performers have even produced live baby chickens or glasses of liquid at the trick's conclusion." A famous French magician, Dominique Duvivier, in a very impressive routine makes an extra cup appear, under the audience's nose, which needs a few seconds to realize what is going on.

The important thing about this trick is that it is supposed to be the oldest deception ever. There are great chances that it was performed in ancient Egypt. The evidence could come from Cairo, close to the village of Beni Hassan where ancient tombs are to found. The walls of these crypts are covered with murals that display scenes of daily life in ancient Egypt. In the tomb of Baqet III, a provincial governor of the region there is a scene, cause of an old debate between magician historians. It shows two men, each kneeling on the ground and facing each other. Both individuals are holding a cup-shaped object in an inverted position. Below the "cups" in their hands, are two other objects, which are identical in appearance to the so-called "cups" held by the men in the painting. Many scholars think it can be a representation of cups and balls, but there is no real proof.

This trick continued to be performed right through the Middle Ages continually being improved.

The "woman cut in half" is one of the most popular tricks ever, probably because men have always dreamed to get rid of their wives as easily as that. But it is one thing to perform a sawing and another to get the woman back!

In the Middle Ages, there was already a trick of decapitation called "La décollation de Saint Jean-Baptiste" which wouldn't have any effect on the audience, today, because it was very simple.

P.T.Selbit first performed this great illusion in 1921. In the original, the woman was lying in a case totally hidden. The magician would close the case, saw it in two pieces, separate them, reassemble the two pieces, and the woman would eventually appear healthy. The trick has evolved, showing more and more parts of the woman's body. From Golding, who let the hands and the head visible, to the Indian magician Sorcar who played the illusion with his own wife, lying on a table, not hidden at all. David Copperfield now performs this very impressive trick: he cuts himself in two pieces, then his assistant moves one of the parts, so that he can observe his legs.

Another evolution of the "woman cut in half" is the "Zigzag woman", due to Robert Harbin, in 1953. The idea is to separate the middle part of a woman's body from the rest of it.

What makes this trick so popular is the concept of mutilation: it really stuns the audience because it's the typical example of the "impossible". Moreover the act of recovering health after a wound with a snap of one's finger is an everlasting wish for everyone and nobody can help but hope it's real. The important part of these tricks is not the virtuosity of the performer, because it does not require a lot of technical quality, it's quite an easy illusion to play. But, without a good acting, and a flawless timing it would not receive so much enthusiasm. That's why so many magicians try to include this trick in their show, making it each time more impressive, by the way they present it.

The first magician to show real levitation was Robert Houdin, in 1847: he made his son float one meter above the ground, with only his neck leaning on a cane. J. N. Maskeline, showing a woman lying in the air without any support performed total levitation. This is still very popular, with the magician using a large metal ring, to convince that the woman is not held by anything, strings or whatever would come up to the audience's mind.

Although it's an old improvement, auto-levitation is very impressive when performed by Copperfield. His "flying" trick, with his specific staging seems so natural and easy made that everybody believes it's true. The problem with levitation is that it requires a lot of equipment, space and settings.

Flying and making objects fly is a very old human wish, and magic gave the illusion that it was possible. In the 19th century, some magicians tried to fly physically, with wings and all kinds of systems, which failed of course. But although human levitation is quite new in magic, people succeeded in making objects fly a long time ago. Nowadays, it's possible to see illusions such as zombie ball, or Harold Nielsen's flying violin.

The "Chinese Rings" is a very old and exotic trick that was performed in China a long time ago and that was first introduced in Europe in 1835 by Joseph Jacobs. Magicians agree to say that it's probably the best trick ever because there are so many different possibilities in the staging. This trick is also very popular for its effectiveness and its inventiveness. It is one of the rare illusions that can be performed either in stage magic or in close-up depending on the size of the rings. In the illusion, the magician shows eight free rings and then starts linking them using spectacular ways to do it. He can also have a spectator examine the rings. Until very lately the technique of the trick wasn't improved at all. A few years ago a British magician introduced levitation in the illusion and made it evolve significantly.

According to the words of a French magician " Stage magic, and particularly the classics of stage magic are evolving towards more spectacular effects". There is probably a demand from the audience to be amazed by the show. On the other hand, with the improvements made in cinema or on TV, people tend to be blasé by stage magic. More and more magicians integrate close-up tricks in their show even in Las Vegas. People need to see exactly what the magician is doing, it's even more impressive for them when it works. Magicians agree to say that there is also a difference between audiences around the world. Americans mostly like big stage shows such as Siegfried and Roy or D. Copperfield whether European love the intimacy of a close up performance (most of the performers work in tiny clubs).