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Highest Annual Earnings by a Magician
David Copperfield had the highest earnings
of any magician in 2002 with $70 million, according to the 2003 Forbes
Celebrity 100 list. The star of TV shows for both ABC and CBS, Copperfield
has performed illusions such as making a jet plane disappear and walking
through the Great Wall of China.
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Oldest Magic Society
Houdini was one of the most famous illusionists
in history. Nicknamed the King of Handcuffs, he was especially well known
as an escape artist. Apart from inventing and performing illusions, he
owned a share in Martinka's Magic Shop in New York City, and he was the
president of the Society of American Magicians from 1917 until his death
in 1926. This is the oldest magic society in the world and was founded
in Martinka's on May 10, 1902 with only 24 members.
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Most Expensive Magic Show ever Staged
Siegfried and Roy at the Mirage, starred
the German illusionists Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn and cost over
$35.7 million to stage when opened on February 1, 1990, in Las Vegas. The
show, with dozens of wild animals, a giant fire-breathing mechanical dragon,
and a cast of 60, closed after its 5750th performance on October 3, 2003
when Roy was seriously injured by a white tiger.
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Highest viewing figures for a TV Magic
Show
Canadian magician Doug Henning attracted
more than 50 million viewers for the first of his eight World of Magic
one-hour specials. The show, directed by Walter C Miller, was the first
transmitted live on NBC on December 26, 1975. guest starring Gene Kelly.
Henning performed spellbinding illusions including a re-creation of Harry
Houdini's famous water torture cell.
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Longest running TV Magic Show
Dick "Mr Magic" Williams presented 1200
programs of WMC-TV's Magicland, a weekly half hour magic show that aired
for 23 years between January 1966 and January 1989.
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Most Living Creatures produced during
a Magic Performance
Penn & Teller produced more than 80,000
bees during their television special Don't Try This At Home filmed in 1980.
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Most Copied Stage Illusion
Invented by South African Robert Harbin
in 1965, the Zig Zag Girl is the most popularly performed stage illusion
in the world. A girl, standing in an upright cabinet, is apparently cut
into three pieces with the middle of her body pulled to one side. It was
copied so quickly that Harbin published a highly priced book in 1970 (limited
to 500 copies) that allowed each purchaser to build one version of the
prop. It is estimated at least 15,000 Zig Zag illusions have been built
to date. Thus 14,500 of them are unauthorised.
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Most Escapes from Handcuffs
Nick Janson from the UK has escaped from
handcuffs locked on him by more than 1760 different police officers around
the world the world since 1954.
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Lowest Death Dive Escape
In 1997, Australian Robert Gallup was
leg-manacled, handcuffed, chained, put into a secured mail bag and then
locked in a cage with a .74sq m floor area before being thrown out of a
C-123 transport plane at 5485m above the Mojave Desert in California. With
less than a minute before impact and travelling at 240km/h, he escaped
from the sack and cage to reach his parachute secured on the outside of
the cage and deployed in time to land safely.
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Fastest Transformation illusion
American illusionist the Pendragons present,
Houdini's metamorphosis illusion at a speed that would have fooled its
inventor. Jonathan Pendragon is locked in a trunk on top of which his wife
Charlotte stands. She hides herself behind certain which drops after just
0.25 seconds to reveal her transformation into her husband.
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Largest Magic Society
Founded in 1968 in New York, USA, The
International Magician's Society boasts 37,000 members worldwide, including
among others, David Copperfield.
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Largest Illusion Ever Staged
The largest illusion ever staged was presented
by American magician David Copperfield, who created the illusion of vanishing
the Statue of Liberty in New York, on his fifth television special, The
Magic of David Copperfield, aired on CBS in 1983. The illusion was invented
by American Jim Steinmeyer and constructed by another American John Gaughan.
-This article was published
in a special publication prepared by the Sunday Telegraph, Called 'Guinness
World Records.'
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| It may not be the oldest profession in
the world, but it's got to be close to it! |
| Researchers have found evidence of magic
being performed many centuries ago, and it doesn't take much imagination
to realize that magicians in those days were seen as being very powerful.
Medieval royalty had jesters and conjurers to entertain, and it was around
that time that playing cards may have been invented. In fact the fashion
of the day remains; as today's court cards (King, Queen, Jack) are dressed
in clothes representative of when playing cards first came in to being
during the 1300's!
However, the entertainment value of magic
was sometimes overlooked and a more dangerous mood sometimes gripped the
audience. More than a few witches were killed in the old days, even when
they didn't do magic (fortunately this isn't something you'll need to worry
about today!)
Naturally it didn't take long for magic
to also be used to swindle people. Three-card Monte and its variants soon
became a classic scam that cost plenty of victims plenty of money. As long
as there's gambling, there's probably someone looking to cheat the system
and someone else who is looking to deceive the punters - both parties relying
on card slights and moves, some of which are adapted for use in modern
close up magic.
These days magic is found in every culture
around the world, for audiences it's an entertaining experience, and for
many performers it proves to be a rewarding career. Broadly, magic
can be grouped into one of four types - and these categories are in many
ways driven by the size of your audience; a group of 2000 people can't
easily watch you perform some coin tricks, but make an elephant disappear,
and they'll all notice that! |
| Illusions - a stage show using
large props. Typical effects include people being sawn in half, made to
vanish, or swap places with caged animals. These kinds of effects are often
accompanied by dry ice, spooky lighting and music, bad costumes, and an
overly dramatic flourish by the performer. There's no denying the appeal
of this kind of magic (many sharp acts have run for years in Las Vegas),
but the audience know the trickery is in the props; therefore illusion
magic can sometimes lack the "knock their socks off" appeal of close up
magic.
Small stage/Stand-up - generally
using smaller props than illusion based magic, stage work is the staple
of many professional and advanced amateurs. Rabbits from hats and doves
from pockets are the TV image of stand-up magic, but these days much
of stage magic is based on some very natural looking props and slights.
This style of magic needn't be expensive, and it's fun to learn, and even
more fun to perform!
Close-up - also known as "Walk around"
magic. This type of magic uses everyday props such as playing cards, business
cards, pens, matches, rubber bands, coins, cigarettes and bank notes. TV
has popularized David Blaine and other experts in this field, and being
able to do this kind of magic in pubs and on the street (right under the
spectators eyes) means that close-up magic packs a very powerful punch.
Children's magic - There's some
great magic designed just for entertaining children. Performing to a juvenile
audience can be very rewarding, after all kids will interact with your
show without hesitation, this means you can get some big effects and some
big laughs (and hey, their parents enjoy the break too!) This can also
be a profitable part-time job for experienced amateurs.
Within each style of magic you'll find
many variations and specialties. For example, there's a great range of
magic that uses small brass props such as coin vaults, rings, nuts &
bolts, and so on, and some people like to focus on these. For others it
might be ropes and silks, and for others it might be card magic - or even
the fine art of stealing people's watches!
Old routines are constantly being revised,
and new magic is invented by clever minds all the time - something that
makes the world of magic so interesting. Therefore, whatever your area
of interest, Hey Presto can help with lessons and supplies. Just ask! |
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