The world's greatest and most celebrated magicians, conjurers and illusionists can make us believe the unbelievable, the impossible possible. But, of course, just like everybody else these conjurors had to start at a beginning. They too had to learn simple (but effective) card tricks, easy (but imaginative) coin tricks and basic (but still mind boggling) sleight-of-hand tricks before advancing to more innovative and radical skills and techniques. Amazing Magic Tricks is a cool compendium of diverse tricks to inspire all aspiring magicians to pick up a wand and impress their friends and family! Full of trivia as well as simple illusions to practice, perfect and perform at home, Amazing Magic Tricks will guide you on your way to becoming a master magician quicker than you can say 'Ta-Dah!'.

Like all great adventures, this one starts with someone trying to get a girl. After all, King Meneleaus didn't go to Troy for the baklava. Playwright, journalist, comedian and best-selling author Mark Leiren-Young recalls his teenage escapades in his hilarious new memoir and coming of age story, Free Magic Secrets Revealed. A geeky bully-magnet, Mark was seventeen and wanted to be a playwright, but even more than that, he wanted to impress Sarah, who he'd pined for since elementary school. It's 1979 and, thanks to Doug Henning, magic is hip so Mark hooks up with Randy, a stoner magician, and Kyle, an ambitious young actor, to chase fame -- and the women of their dreams. The three teenagers team up to put on a small-time magic show, attracting the attention of a big-time promoter who convinces them they have a shot at a world tour ...except they need bigger illusions, an original soundtrack and a better supporting cast. Seeing a chance at having all their dreams come true, they sacrifice their grades, their money and eventually their dream girls to create a show they hope will be like Star Wars on stage. But they're not that good. Mark's script makes no sense because it's part one of a trilogy. Randy promises to build magic tricks he can't actually make. And Kyle will do anything for the show -- except wear the helmet that's critical to the plot and half the illusions. And is it worth getting your head cut off to get a date? The show goes on and the guys embrace their fate -- determined to show the world what they can do.

In the vein of Neil Strauss' The Game and Joshua Foer's Moonwalking with Einstein comes the fascinating story of one man's colorful, mysterious, and personal journey into the world of magic, and his unlikely invitation into an underground secret society of revolutionary magicians from around the world. Magic Is Dead is Ian Frisch's head-first dive into a hidden world full of extraordinary characters and highly guarded secrets. It is a story of imagination, deception, and art that spotlights today's most brilliant young magicians-a mysterious club known as the52, who are revolutionizing an ancient artform under the mantra Magic Is Dead. Ian brings us with him as he not only gets to know this fascinating world, but also becomes an integral part of it. We meet the52's founding members-Laura London, Daniel Madison, and Chris Ramsay-and explore their personal demons, professional aspirations, and what drew them to their craft. We join them at private gatherings of the most extraordinary magicians working today, follow them to magic conventions in Las Vegas and England, and discover some of the best tricks of the trade. We also encounter David Blaine; hang out with Penn Jillette; meet Dynamo, the U.K.'s most famous magician; and go behind the scenes of a Netflix magic show. Magic Is Dead is also a chronicle of magic's rich history and how it has changed in the internet age, as the young guns embrace social media and move away from the old-school take on the craft. As he tells the story of the52, and his role as its most unlikely member, Ian reveals his own connection with trickery and deceit and how he first learned the elements that make magic work from his poker-playing mother. He recalls their adventures in card rooms and casinos after his father's sudden death, and shares a touching moment that he had, as a working journalist, with his childhood idol Shaquille O'Neal. "Magic-the romanticism of the inexplicable, the awe and admiration of the unexpected-is an underlying force in how we view the world and its myriad possibilities," Ian writes. As his journey continues, Ian not only becomes a performer and creator of magic-even fooling the late Anthony Bourdain during a chance encounter-he also cements a new brotherhood, and begins to understand his relationship with his father, fifteen years after his death. Written with psychological acuity and a keen eye for detail, Magic Is Dead is an engrossing tale full of wonder and surprise.

A creepy magician with a shadowy act. A legend that goes back to the dawn of time. Eerie-on-Sea just got stranger. And darker... A mysterious stage magician has set up in the theatre at the end of the pier, with an act so hypnotic and strange that Herbie Lemon and his friend Violet Parma suspect dark forces are at work. Meanwhile, folk are disappearing from Eerie-on-Sea, and no one knows why. There is an Eerie legend that goes back to the dawn of time, about a creature made of darkness that devours the shadows of the living. But could the Shadowghast really have returned?

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, an exuberant biography of the world's greatest escape artist "Will leave [readers] entertained and astonished, and that's a kind of magic of its own."-Jerry Z. Muller, Jewish Review of Books In 1916, the war in Europe having prevented a tour abroad, Harry Houdini wrote a film treatment for a rollicking motion picture. Though the movie was never made, its title, "The Marvelous Adventures of Houdini: The Justly Celebrated Elusive American," provides a succinct summary of the Master Mystifier's life. Born Erik Weisz in Budapest in 1874, Houdini grew up an impoverished Jewish immigrant in the Midwest and became world-famous thanks to talent, industry, and ferocious determination. He concealed as a matter of temperament and professional ethics the secrets of his sensational success. Nobody knows how Houdini performed some of his dazzling, death-defying tricks, and nobody knows, finally, why he felt compelled to punish and imprison himself over and over again. Tracking the restless Houdini's wide-ranging exploits, acclaimed biographer Adam Begley tells the story of a mystifying man's astonishing career. About Jewish Lives: Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award. More praise for Jewish Lives: "Excellent."-New York Times "Exemplary."-Wall Street Journal "Distinguished."-New Yorker "Superb."-The Guardian

Magic, Simon During suggests, has helped shape modern culture. Devoted to this deceptively simple proposition, During's superlative work, written over the course of a decade, gets at the aesthetic questions at the very heart of the study of culture. How can the most ordinary arts--and by "magic," During means not the supernatural, but the special effects and conjurings of magic shows--affect people?

"Modern Enchantments" takes us deeply into the history and workings of modern secular magic, from the legerdemain of Isaac Fawkes in 1720, to the return of real magic in nineteenth-century spiritualism, to the role of magic in the emergence of the cinema. Through the course of this history, During shows how magic performances have drawn together heterogeneous audiences, contributed to the molding of cultural hierarchies, and extended cultural technologies and media at key moments, sometimes introducing spectators into rationality and helping to disseminate skepticism and publicize scientific innovation. In a more revealing argument still, "Modern Enchantments" shows that magic entertainments have increased the sway of fictions in our culture and helped define modern society's image of itself.

Famed puzzle expert explains math behind a multitude of mystifying tricks: card tricks, stage "mind reading," coin and match tricks, counting out games, geometric dissections, etc. Probability, sets, theory of numbers clearly explained. Also, more than 400 tricks, guaranteed to work, that you can do. 135 illustrations.

The most complete treatise on sleight-of-hand coin conjuring, including best traditional methods and modern innovations. Guides you systematically from basic techniques, through integrated tricks to complete routined acts (18 in all). 510 clear illustrations by Nelson C. Hahne. The best manual for amateurs, an encyclopedic source for professionals.

Magical Mathematics reveals the secrets of fun-to-perform card tricks--and the profound mathematical ideas behind them--that will astound even the most accomplished magician. Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham provide easy, step-by-step instructions for each trick, explaining how to set up the effect and offering tips on what to say and do while performing it. Each card trick introduces a new mathematical idea, and varying the tricks in turn takes readers to the very threshold of today's mathematical knowledge. Diaconis and Graham tell the stories--and reveal the best tricks--of the eccentric and brilliant inventors of mathematical magic. The book exposes old gambling secrets through the mathematics of shuffling cards, explains the classic street-gambling scam of three-card Monte, traces the history of mathematical magic back to the oldest mathematical trick--and much more.

Dumbstruck - A Cultural History of Ventriloquism centres on the evolution of ventriloquism from demonic phenomenon to popular entertainment in order to analyse the shifting cultural values attached to the natural and disembodied voice. It moves from late classical accounts of oracles through theological disputes about the nature of magical voices, medieval mysticism, early modern possession cases, philosophical debates about ventriloquism in the Enlightenment, the rise of ventriloquism as popular entertainment and the appearance of the dummy in the nineteenth century to discussions of twentieth-century technology and occult belief. The book is at the intersection of cultural history, literary theory, and aesthetics.

72 spectacular and entertaining tricks: card locations, coincidence tricks, mental magic with cards, tricks with double endings, tricks with two decks, predictions, tricks with borrowed decks, trick poker deals. Easy-to-learn, clearly illustrated, these tricks produce spectacular effects with a minimum of practice.

70 of the best rope tricks ever devised using overhand knots, slip knots and square knots. Dissolve knots, cut and restore ropes, make ropes magically shrink or grow longer, rope escape tricks, flourish knots. 423 illustrations and clear, easy-to-follow directions make performing these startling feats foolproof.

Make an eggshell turn a somersault, spin a coin so that it lands on "heads," teach a bear to climb a string, and perform other acts of scientific wizardry Martin Gardner, the master of mathematical puzzles, shares more than 80 of his finest magic tricks, teaching children and adults the scientific properties behind water, air, fire, heat, motion, gravity, inertia, friction, electricity, magnetism, sound, and light.
Fun and fascinating, the simple maneuvers require only basic everyday props, and those requiring matches, knives, boiling water, and other tricky items are marked with a symbol that lets kids know they'll need assistance from an adult. Helpful drawings illustrate each stunt.

This comprehensive book contains everything the budding magician needs to put on a dazzling show at home. Expert guidance from a professional magician reveals how to perform more than 200 illusions, ranging from party tricks, close-up magic and stage magic to confounding puzzles and awe-inspiring stunts. It reveals how you can make a coin vanish, have x-ray vision, read an audience member's mind and cut a volunteer in two. Whatever your previous experience and skill level, this exciting and inspiring book will enable you to confound and impress friends and family, providing hours of enjoyment for both performer and audience alike.

India's association with magicians goes back thousands of years. Conjurors and illusionists dazzled the courts of Hindu maharajas and Mughal emperors. As British dominion spread over the subcontinent, such wonder-workers became synonymous with India. Western magicians appropriated Indian attire, tricks and stage names; switching their turbans for top hats, Indian jugglers fought back and earned their grudging respect. This book tells the extraordinary story of how Indian magic descended from the realm of the gods to become part of daily ritual and popular entertainment across the globe. Recounting tales of levitating Brahmins, resurrections, prophesying monkeys and 'the most famous trick never performed', Empire of Enchantment vividly charts Indian magic's epic journey from street to the stage.

Clear diagrams and step-by-step instructions for performing 18 simple feats of prestidigitation: Strength Test, Untangled, Elastic Lock, Mystic Spinner, Rollaway, Heavyset, The Great Escape and many more, using such ordinary objects as coins, rubber bands and string.

From the author of The Last Chance Hotel comes a brand new fantastical mystery series! Praise for THE LAST CHANCE HOTEL: 'Blending magical adventure with Golden Age crime mystery, this delightfully atmospheric spin-off from the author of The Last Chance Hotel confirms Thornton's place as one of the most original children's writers around.' WATERSTONES 'A jolly, atmospheric mystery.' THE TIMES Magic must never be misused ... When there's a murder in the village and a hag is heard howling at the local inn, secret witch Raven Charming realizes she could have a rival - one who practises the worst kind of magic. With the help of amateur sleuth, Mortimer Scratch, and Nightshade, a talking cat with a feline sense of detection, she sets out to solve what's been going on ... A magical murder mystery perfect for fans of Robin Stevens and Harry Potter Book 1 in a new spin-off series from the author of The Last Chance Hotel, chosen as Waterstones Book of the Month and nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Award Features fan-favourite Nightshade as the star of her very own mystery!

Easy-to-master crowd-pleasing tricks, require a deck of cards and offer beginners experience in handling an audience. Instructions.

This marvelous treasury of card magic presents the exact details of 155 professional card tricks that anyone can learn. The world's number-one card wizard, John Scarne, reworked an exciting series of classic card tricks to eliminate the need for sleight-of-hand. Simple instructions and clear diagrams illustrate Houdini's "Card on the Ceiling," Blackstone's "Card Trick Without Cards," Carlyle's "Piano Card Trick," Milton Berle's "Quickie Card Deal," and Scarne's own "Drunken Poker Deal" and "Knockout Card Trick." Scarne presents all tricks with advice on accompanying patter, offering helpful suggestions about the kinds of words and gestures that give performances a professional gloss. Introduction. Index.