Magicians have been part of human culture since the dawn of time. One thing a magician would never do is reveal the secrets of his profession to anyone other than someone learning to be a magician and who has sworn to honor the magician's code. The magician's code to never reveal trade secrets is taken extremely seriously by old-school magicians. But starting in the 1990s, a few practicing magicians decided to ignore the code and began to show new magic tricks secrets revealed to audiences. How has this phenomenon impacted magic as a profession? Has it been detrimental or has it encouraged young people to learn magic? Let us see what we can find out.
Harry Houdini became a staunch critic of Spiritualism, seances and other tricks claiming supernatural powers. He spent the latter part of his life debunking Spiritualist frauds. He revealed to the public how these hucksters preyed on people who were often in mourning for a lost loved one by faking contact with the loved on at a seance. Houdini did not seem to anger his fellow magicians, probably because he was only exposing people using magic to defraud people, not as entertainment.
Perhaps the most famous pair of new magic tricks secrets revealed is Penn & Teller. By 1996, they had been on television exposing trade secrets. Despite the fact that most of what they were revealing was old magic tricks with their particular spin on them, and the fact that all they revealed was the part they added, other magicians were furious. In their opinion, Penn & Teller were completely out of line.
The Amazing Randi (James Randi) began his magic career in 1966. He has since retired but has a second career of sorts debunking faith healers and other performers claiming their tricks were due to their supernatural abilities. One famous act Mr. Randi revealed as a fraud was the spoon-bending Uri Geller. At the current time, James Randi's educational foundation has a $1,000,000 prize to anyone who can show that they have supernatural abilities. They must consent to these abilities being scrutinized by researchers. So far the foundation still has all of the money in its possession.
The Masked Magician hit the airwaves in the 1990s. A series of television shows that aired on the FOX network revealed secrets behind some of the biggest and most famous illusions. He showed audiences around the UK how a magician could turn a woman into a tiger, as well as other illusions. According to Val Valentino, the Masked Magician's stage name, he wore the mask to avoid revealing himself to other magicians.
Other magicians were very angry at Val Valentino. They were worried that he had set their careers to fail by revealing their secrets. At the foundation of their worry was that people would not go to magic shows anymore. They reasoned that since people knew how the trick was done, all of the wonder would be lost. Valentino said he had only admirable motives. He wanted to revive the magic profession and get people interested in it.
Barry and Stuart, a UK-based magic act, did a series of television shows focusing on biblical miracles. They showed how Jesus could look like he was walking on water and how Moses could have split the Red Sea. Leaders of the religious community did not appreciate the shows done by these two men, although the general public did.
Has breaking the magician's code and showing the world how magic tricks are performed really ended careers of other magicians? Or, is the opposite true? Has magic seen a rise in performers? It is difficult to gauge accurately if a particular magician's career has been thwarted. What we can say is that despite knowing how tricks are performed, the public is still eager to suspend belief for the few minutes it takes to do a trick. People still like the look and feel of mystery that surrounds magic. - 31879
Harry Houdini became a staunch critic of Spiritualism, seances and other tricks claiming supernatural powers. He spent the latter part of his life debunking Spiritualist frauds. He revealed to the public how these hucksters preyed on people who were often in mourning for a lost loved one by faking contact with the loved on at a seance. Houdini did not seem to anger his fellow magicians, probably because he was only exposing people using magic to defraud people, not as entertainment.
Perhaps the most famous pair of new magic tricks secrets revealed is Penn & Teller. By 1996, they had been on television exposing trade secrets. Despite the fact that most of what they were revealing was old magic tricks with their particular spin on them, and the fact that all they revealed was the part they added, other magicians were furious. In their opinion, Penn & Teller were completely out of line.
The Amazing Randi (James Randi) began his magic career in 1966. He has since retired but has a second career of sorts debunking faith healers and other performers claiming their tricks were due to their supernatural abilities. One famous act Mr. Randi revealed as a fraud was the spoon-bending Uri Geller. At the current time, James Randi's educational foundation has a $1,000,000 prize to anyone who can show that they have supernatural abilities. They must consent to these abilities being scrutinized by researchers. So far the foundation still has all of the money in its possession.
The Masked Magician hit the airwaves in the 1990s. A series of television shows that aired on the FOX network revealed secrets behind some of the biggest and most famous illusions. He showed audiences around the UK how a magician could turn a woman into a tiger, as well as other illusions. According to Val Valentino, the Masked Magician's stage name, he wore the mask to avoid revealing himself to other magicians.
Other magicians were very angry at Val Valentino. They were worried that he had set their careers to fail by revealing their secrets. At the foundation of their worry was that people would not go to magic shows anymore. They reasoned that since people knew how the trick was done, all of the wonder would be lost. Valentino said he had only admirable motives. He wanted to revive the magic profession and get people interested in it.
Barry and Stuart, a UK-based magic act, did a series of television shows focusing on biblical miracles. They showed how Jesus could look like he was walking on water and how Moses could have split the Red Sea. Leaders of the religious community did not appreciate the shows done by these two men, although the general public did.
Has breaking the magician's code and showing the world how magic tricks are performed really ended careers of other magicians? Or, is the opposite true? Has magic seen a rise in performers? It is difficult to gauge accurately if a particular magician's career has been thwarted. What we can say is that despite knowing how tricks are performed, the public is still eager to suspend belief for the few minutes it takes to do a trick. People still like the look and feel of mystery that surrounds magic. - 31879
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