Magic or illusion? Miracles or sleight of hand? Since childhood, we have all been interested in watching various tricks and magicians performing them. This post will remind someone, and introduce someone to the greatest virtuosos of illusions in the history of mankind.
One of the first magicians was the French physicist Nicolas-Philippe Ledru (1731-1807), who performed under the pseudonym Comus. Ledru was a demonstrative physicist, since he built his illusions on a scientific basis. Comeau took his pseudonym in honor greek god festivities and feasts of Coma. Ledru became famous for his light and sound illusions, magnetic and electrical effects. Already at that time, the public was shown a female robot with the face of an alien, who took on the color of the pupils of a person looking at her. She knew how to follow simple commands, artificial hand was able to write down thoughts. This miracle robot delighted and terrified the royal court at the same time. Louis XVI. Nicolas did a lot of useful things for science, enriching it new system For nautical charts and the possibility of curing epilepsy with electricity. Interestingly, his pseudonym became so popular that in France at the beginning of the 19th century. The magician Comus II worked successfully. The next famous illusionist is Alessandro Cagliostro (1743-1795). His real name is Joseph Balsamo. Having lost his parents at an early age, childhood addicted to fraud. He was raised by his maternal aunt Vincenza Cagliostro, and after her death the young man appropriated an interesting surname, and at the same time the title of count. He began his path to the heights of optical deception by selling fake treasure maps and various miracle potions.
With the help of illusion, he turned a small diamond into a weighty stone, could veil chips and cracks, gild an ordinary rusty nail and turn rough material into satin silk. Count Cagliostro claimed that he knew the secret of the philosopher's stone, and managed to convince the public that it was 300 years old. Cagliostro also visited Russia and allegedly tripled Potemkin’s gold reserves. The Count conducted magical sessions, inventing an elixir of immortality. The scandals associated with his experiments reached Catherine. The dissatisfied empress ordered Cagliostro to be expelled from the country. However, mystically, at four different border posts, the documentation contained the count’s signature. But there was no reassurance for him in other countries either. His mysterious activities were associated with various political adventures. He ended his life in Italy, imprisoned on charges of charlatanism.
The story of this adventurer and illusionist is so full of adventures that it is reflected in both literature and cinema; just remember our legendary film “Formula of Love”. Italian illusionist Giuseppe Pinetti brought the art of illusion to the theatrical stage. The magician's performances were distinguished by a refined ambiance and splendor, which made it possible to raise the art to a new level of spectatorship. In London in 1784, Pinetti demonstrated the possibility of a “third” eye: he read closed books and recognized objects in boxes. These performances were a huge success, and Pinetti was invited to Windsor Castle to the court of George III. The show was a brilliant success; dozens of exotic animals, assistants, mirrors and complex mechanisms took part in it. He then toured in Germany, Portugal and Russia. In his tricks, the illusionist used knowledge of physics, chemistry, mathematics, mechanics and medicine. One of his most famous tricks is the swallow trick. Pinetti took the bird out of the cage; it died in his arms. Then he gave one of the spectators to hold the swallow and asked her to breathe on the body. And, miraculously, the swallow came to life! The whole point is that the illusionist imperceptibly pressed on the bird’s carotid artery and temporarily deprived it of consciousness.
Having achieved fame and fame, Pinetti became very capricious and spoiled. He could afford to be late to the court of Emperor Paul and inexplicably change the time on the clock. Arriving at the court, the illusionist was a full hour late for his 7-hour performance, this caused indignation among all the courtiers. What a surprise they were when Pinetti entered and announced that it was not 8, but only 7 o’clock. The watches of those present miraculously moved back. But after the end of the magician's performance they began to show him again right time. The activities of the Italian Giovanni Bartolomeo Bosco (1793-1863) are no less shrouded in legends. His “revivals” of killed birds captured the imagination of the crowd and weakened people’s vigilance. Cutting off the heads of a white and black dove, he seemed to deliberately rearrange them and, noticing a mistake, correct it. The birds came to life. This was regarded as a real miracle and witchcraft. Spectators were attracted by Bosco's tricks with coins, playing cards, scarves and balls.
Comparing himself with Mephistopheles, he imitated him in appearance and manner of dressing. The virtuoso of illusions was looking for adventures and adventures. During the Napoleonic campaign against Russia, having accidentally found himself in the French army, he continued to entertain the soldiers, quietly emptying their pockets. Having been captured, he did not despair in the harsh conditions of the Siberian frosts, but, on the contrary, only improved his tricks, thereby managing to conquer Russian hearts. Returning to Italy, Bosco became a regular at rich salons, where he was invited to surprise the public.
David Werner (1894-1992) "The Professor" and teacher of most of today's magicians and illusionists was born on June 11, 1894. His contribution to the development of the modern world of illusion can hardly be overestimated. But his main achievement in life is considered to be his victory over Gary Houdini himself, who was never able to solve Werner’s “Ambitious Cards” trick. Werner, probably the best card magician in history, continued to improve his skills until last days own life. He worked under the pseudonym Dai Vernon, which he acquired as a result of a banal typo in a newspaper. He was the first to discover micromagic. Modest and charming by nature, he knew how to win people over and taught many the art of illusion. He lived a long and exciting life and died on August 21, 1992 at the ripe old age of 98.
Mystery permeates the entire life of the talented and unpredictable Harry Houdini (1874-1926). Real name - Eric Weiss, born in poor family and from childhood I learned street “professions”. Traveling circus performers and magicians fascinated the child. So he became carried away by the illusion. At the age of 18, he turned into Houdini, changing the surname of the magician Houdin, and borrowing the name from Kellar Harry. But worldwide fame Houdini didn't get it because card tricks, and thanks to its excellent physical fitness- he performed great amount tricks, most of which are relevant and attractive to viewers in our time. Houdini performed tricks in which he was chained and thrown from a bridge, buried underground in wooden box, without any reserve of air and the illusionist came out of these difficult situations with a smile on his face. He was imprisoned in the most reliable prisons and cells in the world, but literally in a matter of minutes he got out of captivity, bound and lowered into vessels completely filled with water upside down, where he had a maximum of 2-3 minutes to save himself from death.
Release tricks were central to his program, and wherever he toured, they attracted huge audiences. He was also interested in cinema and aviation. He was the first to fly over Australia. IN last decade During his career, Houdini published a number of books that revealed the secrets of his skill. He was seriously concerned that, under the influence of spiritualism, which was popular in those years, many illusionists began to disguise their tricks with the appearance of communication with otherworldly forces. Accompanied by a constable dressed in civilian clothes, Houdini began to attend seances incognito in order to expose charlatans, and was noticeably successful in this.
One day, while on tour in Montreal, Harry was relaxing in his dressing room when three students walked in, one of whom was a college boxing champion. He asked Mr. Houdini if he could really take several hard blows to the stomach without feeling anything. Houdini, lost in thought, nodded, and the student unexpectedly dealt the artist two or three blows. Houdini barely stopped him: “Wait, I need to get ready,” after which he tensed his abs: “Here, now you can hit.” The student hit him a couple of times and felt the maestro’s iron abdominal press on himself. When the students left, Houdini only rubbed the place that had been bruised from the first unexpected blows. For several days, as always, he did not pay attention to the pain, but these blows provoked a rupture of the appendix, as a result of which peritonitis developed. In 1926, there were no antibiotics, and survival was possible only by miracle, but Houdini amazed everyone again! The fans rejoiced - here he is Houdini, the conqueror of death, who does not obey earthly laws. However, nine days later, on October 31, 1926, on the eve of Halloween, Harry Houdini died. Many years have passed since his death, but the Houdini phenomenon has not been fully studied to this day.
Soviet illusionists
Kio is already a whole dynasty. Its founder was Emil Teodorovich Girshfeld-Renard (1894-1965). At the beginning of his career, he worked at the Moscow Theater of Miniatures, and later became interested in the circus. A wide variety of jokes circulated around his name. The artist himself even offered to decipher it with humor. There are such versions as one letter dropped from the word “cinema”, KIO - “Kiev Famous Deceiver”, “How Interesting to Deceive”, “Sorcerer from Ossetia”. The manner of performing the trick was easy, relaxed, everything turned into a simple joke.
The book “Tricks and Magicians” by Emil Teodorovich is a useful guide for artists of this genre. The children continued their father's work. Since 1992, Emil Emilievich has been working for six months in Japan, where he has his own audience, and in Russia for six months. Igor worked in the state circus for 30 years, he had a short affair with Galina Brezhneva.
On September 16, 1956, our world first met David Seth Kotkin, known to us as David Copperfield. His parents were Jews, while his grandparents emigrated from the USSR. David has had a phenomenal memory since childhood; he first repeated the trick shown to him at the age of 4. He started with card tricks and gradually developed his skills in the difficult business of illusion and magic.
David began his career at the age of 12, when he gained recognition in the community of American illusionists, and at the age of 16 he was already teaching a “magic course” at New York University. He has been awarded 21 Emmy Awards and has also been known as "Wizard of the Century" and "Wizard of the Millennium". Copperfield is famous for many stunts, such as "Passing Through the Great Chinese wall", "The Disappearance of the Statue of Liberty" "Escape from the Burning Raft at Niagara Falls" and many others.
In New York, David Copperfield opened a cafe named after him. There are no waiters there. A voice from the darkness asks what the visitors will eat, then what they ordered seems to materialize on the tables out of thin air.
Original taken from
The first document containing information about the art of illusion is considered to be an ancient Egyptian papyrus called Westcar. It is named after the owner of this congress, where it was originally located. This document contains legends that date back to 2900 BC. e., in those days Pharaoh Khufu reigned. One of the legends tells about famous trainer JEDI, who knows how to reattach a severed goose's head, and also dominates the lion, which followed him without holding ropes.
1. WEBA-ANER - a great magician, also mentioned in Westcar. He is famous for miraculously transforming a toy crocodile statue into a living alligator.
2. In literature, the first mentions of magicians begin in the 16th century. T. Folengo in his work “Macaronada” talked about BOCCAL de BARGAMOSC.
3. A trick where the head is first cut off and then reattached was performed by the Italian magician BALDUCCHI. In his trick, he used a live rooster; its head was initially tied under the wing. Instead, another rooster's head was attached to the neck. The magician ordered the rooster to run, “cut off” its head, and “blood” flowed everywhere. He then showed this severed head to curious spectators. Afterwards, he covered the bird with a stole, removed the head that was under the wing, and hid the severed head. In the end, the rooster got up and ran around as if unharmed.
4. ERISH WEISS, who bore the pseudonym HARRY HOUDINI, is a great magician of all times. Since childhood, he dreamed of being a magician like ROBERT-HOUDIN and therefore decided to take a pseudonym for himself, meaning “similar to HOUDIN.”
5. The trick with a rabbit emerging from a hat is often considered a classic trick. However, this trick is not performed very often. It is believed that the first person to demonstrate this trick is HENRY ANDERSON in the 1830s. But such an attribute as a magician’s hat can be easily purchased at a magic and illusion store.
6. The first person to pronounce the words “Sim-Sala-Bim” as a spell was the illusionist DANTE from Denmark (1885-1955). In fact, all these three simple words were taken from ordinary verse.
7. HENRYROLTAIR (1853-1910) he is known for his tricks on a bicycle, with the help of which he fluttered in the air and performed a “dead loop.” In further practice, Roltair began to levitate a car with the driver sitting in it, which is why he is one of the great magicians peace.
None of the above tricks, even with the participation of assistants, led to accidents.
8. During the “sawing up a woman” trick performed by HORACE GOLDIN (1873-1939), there was an ambulance around the building with a sign saying “if the saw does slip.”
IN modern world magicians and illusionists are especially popular. They put on grandiose shows and often appear on television, surprising viewers with their skills. But once upon a time things were completely different. In pagan times, such people were attributed magical properties, with the advent of the Middle Ages, they were called sorcerers and executed, publicly burned at the stake. Centuries have passed since then, and times of enlightenment began, when the nature of illusions began to be interpreted using scientific methods. In this article we will talk about the most famous illusionists in the world, whose performances excited the minds of the public.
Houdini's real name is Eric Weiss. He was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest (Hungary), although the magician himself claimed that he was born in Wisconsin (USA). The desire to master the skill of an illusionist appeared in childhood. Already at the age of 10, Eric entertained the public by demonstrating tricks with cards. IN early years he decides to take a pseudonym. The tricks of the best illusionist in the world simply stunned the audience who attended his performances:
- In a matter of minutes, he was freed from his shackles and managed to get out of the water-filled tank.
- His disappearing elephant stunt shocked the London public.
- In front of the audience, Harry was suspended in a bag from the ledge of a skyscraper. Using incredible flexibility, he easily freed himself from the bonds.
- He passed through the walls, leaving the audience bewildered.
- In a few minutes, Harry Houdini could emerge from the bottom of the Thames River, although before that he was dropped into it with a load weighing 30 kg.
- Another no less amazing trick was the release from death row in Butyrka prison.
One of the world's most popular illusionists died at the age of 52 from peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix. The accident occurred in Montreal. Three admirers of Houdini's talent entered his dressing room. One of them asked if it was true that the illusionist was able to withstand strong blows to the stomach. To which Harry responded with an affirmative nod. He didn't expect the guy to immediately strike. After this incident, he experienced pain, but the illusionist did not pay attention to them, which led to a rupture of the appendix. Since antibiotics were not discovered until three years after Harry Houdini's death, he died due to his inability to fight the infection.
Dai Vernon
Dai Vernon (real name David Werner) is rightfully considered one of the world's greatest illusionists. He was born in Canada, June 11, 1894. His card tricks are so amazing and mysterious that Harry Houdini himself couldn't find the answer to how Dye performs the "Ambitious Cards" trick. The illusionist made a great contribution to the development of this genre. Vernon became a teacher for many magicians, and he honed his skills until the end of his life. Dai Vernon did not live only 2 years before his centenary. He died in 1992 in California (USA).
David Copperfield
One of the most famous illusionists in the world is David Copperfield (real name David Seth Kotkin). He was born on September 16, 1956 in New Jersey (USA).
He developed a passion for magic in early childhood thanks to his grandfather, who taught David several tricks with cards. His career as an illusionist began at age 12. David is accepted into the American Society of Magicians, in which he was the youngest member. Until 1974, the magician performed under the pseudonym Davino, then he changed it to David Copperfield. This name was inspired by the works of Charles Dickens.
At the age of 22, he became popular thanks to the show The Magic of ABC, in which he acted as the host.
Today, the world's most popular illusionist has a whole arsenal of tricks and tricks that amaze the imagination. The most famous of them:
- Escape from Alcatraz.
- A trick with the disappearance of large objects: an airplane, the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The audience of spectators numbered more than 1000 people. The show was broadcast on live on several popular TV channels.
- Passing through the famous Chinese Wall and other tricks.
Uri Geller
World-famous illusionist Uri Geller was born in Tel Aviv in 1946. His tricks are full of mysticism and seem to be something supernatural. He bends spoons with ease without any effort. Many people remember him as a man who could stop time. They say that the famous “Big Ben” once stopped thanks to Uri Geller, but this fact was not filmed and therefore has no documentary evidence. Some illusionists call their colleague a fraud because they do not believe that he could have performed the above-described trick of stopping the clock.
Nevertheless, the audience is delighted with his paranormal abilities, although the illusionist himself is somewhat tired of such fame and would like to become an ordinary pop magician.
David Blaine
The list of famous illusionists in the world includes the American David Blaine White. He was born in Brooklyn on April 4, 1973. Since 1997, he has staged street performances, showing fascinating magic tricks to passers-by. His show, aired on ABC, received high ratings and became very popular among viewers. Since 1999, David Blaine has been performing epic stunts:
- He is buried alive in plastic container.
- The illusionist was frozen in ice.
- For 35 hours, Blaine stands motionless on a 22-meter column.
- He spent 44 days completely without food, being imprisoned in a box suspended over the Thames.
- In 2008, he demonstrated holding his breath for 17 minutes and 4 seconds.
Chris Angel
Criss Angel is rightfully considered the most successful illusionist in the world, after Harry Houdini. He showed the wonders of levitation and surprised spectators by walking on water. But tricks and illusion are not all that Chris is famous for. Being versatile personality, he practices yoga, music and directing, hones his stuntman skills and practices hypnosis. Criss Angel owns a bar-restaurant and several shops. In 2006, the illusionist published a book in which he shared the secrets of his tricks.
Lance Barton
Lance Barton is one of the most popular illusionists in the world who has performed in front of such influential people, like US President Ronald Reagan and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. The American magician was born in Louisville (Kentucky) on March 10, 1960. Lance's interest in the world of illusion manifested itself in early age. As a five-year-old child, he got on the Gary Collins show and became a volunteer assistant to the illusionist while performing one of the tricks. Since then, Barton has been passionate about this skill. The boy showed great interest in magic tricks, so Colins undertook to teach Lance, revealing to him the basics of the professional craft.
Now Barton is demonstrating his abilities in Las Vegas. A theater was built to host his shows. According to viewers, Lance's best trick is when he takes out various items and pigeons out of nowhere.
Emil Keogh
Emil Teodorovich Girshfeld, known to many as Kyo, was born on April 11, 1894. His first stage name was Renard. This illusionist became the founder of the famous circus dynasty magicians. When Emil Keogh turned 26 years old, he joined the cast of the Moscow Odeon Theater of Miniatures. Over time, the passion for the circus took over. Until 1921, he managed to work as an administrator, uniform worker and bereitor. He began performing his first tricks on the stage of the Hermitage and Akarium pop theaters. Keogh developed many tricks that are still used by illusionists today.
18th century magicians
In the 18th century, illusionism became one of the most popular entertainments. Magicians used various tricks, sleight of hand and even special devices to create an illusion that amazed the audience. The most famous in this form of performing art were:
- Nicolas-Philippe Ledru (Comus). He was not only an illusionist. Thanks to his great knowledge of physics, Comeau demonstrated various scientific experiments. He often spoke before royalty and aristocratic society. The best numbers were considered: “siren”, which answered questions from the audience; a “robot woman” who dresses at the request of those present; “face with eyes”, whose pupils changed color; an “artificial hand” that captures the public’s thoughts on paper.
- Bartalameo Bosco. The famous magician spent his childhood in poverty, but thanks to his talent he was able to get out of poverty. Bosco demonstrated incredible mastery of illusion. He could decapitate the pigeons and change their heads, but after all this the birds remained alive.
- Alessandro Cagliostro. In his childhood, he made a living by selling potions and fake treasure maps, and was involved in fraud. After the death of his aunt Vincenza, Cagliostro Alessandro takes her surname and the title of count. Demonstrating his abilities, he amazed the audience with the fact that he could significantly increase the size of a diamond and even eliminate a crack from gemstone. Cagliostro claimed to have found the elixir of immortality and learned the secret of the philosopher's stone. The count's life was so fascinating that his image began to be used in various films and novels.
Illusion is a mystery that attracts and fascinates. At all times magicians illusionists gathered crowds of people for their performances, and some of them left a mark not only in the souls of people, but also in history. Our article is dedicated to the best magicians in the world who, thanks to their dexterity, skills and talent, captivated thousands of spectators.
Let's start from earlier times. Illusion, as an art, dates back to antiquity. The predecessors of modern magicians, illusionists, captivated people with their skills at fairs back in the Middle Ages. The best magicians in the world start their story with late XIX century. At this time, the illusionist Harry Houdini, who is still called the greatest illusionist in history, gained widespread fame. Magic tricks were not just a craft for him. He turned them into a real show.
- pseudonym of Eric Weiss, born in Budapest on March 24, 1874 into a poor family. Boy with early childhood conquered his acquaintances with his incredible abilities, and already at the age of 10 he began to earn money by performing magic tricks in entertainment establishments. He became famous all over the world thanks to his release tricks. Having his body trained to the point of “plasticine” allowed him to perform incredible somersaults and escape from the most incredible shackles: shackles, handcuffs and a straitjacket. One of the qualities he possessed was the ability to expose his colleagues in the shop, often right at the “magic” sessions, which caused their strong indignation. Harry Houdini wrote books, made films and was a real star and the best magician of his time.
The only colleague whose trick Harry Houdini could not solve was Dai Vernon. He was an honored illusionist who trained more than one generation of magicians, but he behaved modestly and did not gain such brilliant fame as his opponent Harry.
The next great magician we will talk about is Uri Geller, who was born in Israel on December 20, 1946, 72 years after Harry Houdini. Magician and illusionist Uri Geller presented himself as a magician and wizard. All his tricks were presented as transcendental miracles. He went down in history thanks to his ability to stop clocks and the most important focus of his life was stopping Big Ben. He was regularly accused of fraud, but this did not stop him from becoming the author of the famous television show. He also writes books, acts in films and is one of the judges of the “Battle of Psychics”.
The next great magician was born in New Jersey on September 16, 1956. He was distinguished by a phenomenal memory and already at the age of 12 he performed magic tricks professionally and joined the American Society of Magicians. At the age of 16, David began teaching the art of illusion at the university, and at the age of 17 best magician In his time, he took part in the musical "The Wizard", where he took the pseudonym "Copperfield" after Dickens' character. Since the age of 18, he has been hosting his own television show, and his tricks are becoming increasingly large-scale. His ideas are multifaceted and represent entire events in the illusory world: the disappearance of the Statue of Liberty, the ability to fly, passing through the Great Wall of China, escaping from Alcatraz prison and an exploding building, falling from Niagara Falls, disappearing from an Orient Express carriage, liberation from a straitjacket, survival in a column of fire. Today David Copperfield is one of the most famous people planet, and his show is one of the most exciting in the world. He uses all possible achievements of science and technology, as well as many assistants. All his tricks are high budget and require a whole team of professionals to implement.
A representative of a different genre, the so-called “street magic” -. Born in New York in 1973. This is a new wave of magicians. David Blaine began to gain popularity by finding things hidden among spectators, “revitalizing” pigeons. World fame came to him thanks to his performances: burial alive in a plastic container, freezing in ice, standing for 35 hours on top of a 22-meter column, imprisonment without food for 44 days in a box above the surface of the Thames, holding his breath under water for 17 minutes, burial in container underground for 170 hours, staying inside the iceberg for 62 hours, with body temperature dropping to 33.7 degrees. David Blaine is an active participant in the Guinness Book of Records and is a millionaire.
Of course, in our time the art of illusions is developing, and new bright tricks and new famous names are appearing.
Today, the illusion show has become available in a more intimate format. Now invite a magician to the party– it’s prestigious and exciting. True masters of their craft and talented magicians and illusionists will cheer up and entertain guests at a wedding, corporate event, anniversary, children's day birth. Booking a magician for a holiday has become affordable even for a low-budget event, because illusionist programs can be designed for different times and audiences.
Mystery has attracted people since ancient times and today, despite progress, magicians illusionists-favorite guests at events, and their show programs are always exciting and impressive.
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