Want to see something amazing? I can make myself disappear. All it takes is a little magic... Mike's magic tricks have helped him learn how to focus, earn extra credit, improve his reputation and stand up for himself. But his new confidence is about to face its biggest challenge yet - the school talent show! Mike signs up immediately. After all, what magician would pass up the chance to perform on a real stage? But then, he learns that Nora, his friend and trusted magician's assistant, has a massive case of stage fright. And Jackson will be sitting in the audience, just waiting to cause trouble... If things keep going wrong, Mike might need a magic trick to help him disappear!

This work revisits the golden age of theatrical magic and silent film to reveal how professional magicians shaped the early history of cinema. The author treats cinema and stage magic as overlapping practices that together revise our understanding of the origins of motion pictures and cinematic spectacle.

"Adapted by Louise Dickson from the book The vanishing cat"--T.p. verso.

"Magic tricks with instructions inside!"--Cover.

"Adapted by Louise Dickson from the book The vanishing cat"--T.p. verso.

Professional magician Joshua Jay's (author of Magic: The Complete Course) brief and fascinating essays offer an inside look at how the very best magicians think about magic, how they practice and put together a show, what inspires them, and the psychology behind creating wonder and being tricked when we expect both, as well as why we seek magic in the first place.

Mike plans to perform magic at the school talent show, but learns that his assistant Nora has stage fright.