Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear

Believe it or not, most magicians try not to lie. They resist not out of any particular morality or an effort to compensate for their deceptions. Audiences anticipate lies from magicians, and tend to challenge their statements. A lie often works against the deception, so the performer will avoid making statements that invite challenges or plant dan

the real "invention" of his Marvelous Orange Tree was combining sleight of hand and secret machinery into one seamless fantasy, deliberately blurring his techniques so that one started as the other left off.

more properly, the code was based on the precise amount of silence between his sparse words.We now know that Hercat was correct. The secret was synchronized counting.

If magicians have unfortunately come to view their art as deception, they must recognize that used car salesmen, advertising executives, and politicians are also artists of deception.

Mark Schantz, a touring East Coast magician, was probably the originator of the Back Palm. Maurer might have thought Schantz was Mexican because he had a habit of speaking Spanish and manipulating Mexican coins; he liked their size and weight in his hands.Although Thurston didn't originate the Back Palm, he was probably one of the first to perform

Despite the myths that have filled out Hollywood screenplays, Houdini never failed in an escape.

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Some highlights have been hidden or truncated due to export limits.

It became not only a Victorian fad, but also a religious cause. The new religion attracted celebrities like Horace Greeley, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Mary Todd Lincoln, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and even Sir Arthur ConanDoyle, the British creator of the supremely logical character, Sherlock Holmes. There were eight million Spiritualists in the United