In 2015 the McCord Museum in Montreal, Canada, was gifted with the Allan Slaight Collection, one of the largest treasuries of posters and documents on magic in the world. Published in conjunction with the exhibition Illusions. The Art of Magic at the McCord Museum, this volume presents 250 exceptional posters from this collection, dating from the 1880s to the 1940s. During this period, known as the Golden Age of Magic, droves of traveling magicians and prestidigitators fought a veritable advertising war. All over the United States and Europe, city walls and billboards were plastered with posters offering tantalizing previews of their most spectacular tricks, giving poster designers and printers of the era a golden opportunity to flex their imaginations and load their work with devils and demons, skeletons and skulls, bodies and decapitated heads, playing-cards and rabbits, alluring assistants, phantasmagoria and esoteric symbols. Seven authors recognized as experts in their respective fields introduce this dazzling array of color and fantastic imagery, providing insights to explain the full historic, social and artistic value of these magnificent posters.

Optical illusions, a magical melding of science and art, appeal to all ages. This lavish full-color book looks at both the science (the peculiarities of human vision that make illusions possible) and the art (famous deceptive images and their creators). Included are a wide variety of eye-fooling tricks, including those practiced by Mother Nature herself.

Finally back in print, the complete Blackstone story and the history of magic from the 1920s to today. This much in-demand classic gift book contains over 250 photos & drawings exploring the complete Blackstone story and a vivid and varied appreciation of the history, science, and art of illusion and magic from ancient Egypt to vaudeville to Broadway, Las Vegas, and television. It contains 20 classic magic routines in detailed execution. Traces the history of magic, describes the acts of prominent magicians, and demonstrates some basic cup, card, and coin tricks.

Magic is an age-old art form, which has the power to amaze and amuse both children and adults alike. This fully illustrated book includes over 120 amazing magic tricks to be used on a variety of different occasions. It offers simple tricks as well as some designed for the more advanced practitioner. History of Mystery: the book opens with an introduction to the most important events and names in magic's rich history, including comedy and close-up magicians, illusionists and television magicians. Card Magic: the scope for performing tricks with cards is enormous. This chapter explains how to grip, shuffle and control cards, how to force cards, do self-working tricks and peform advanced card flourishes. Dinner Table Magic: items found on the dinner table can be used to entertain and amaze your guests. The tricks in this chapter focus on glasses, napkins, cutlery, straws, cups and sugar cubes. Match Magic: the shape and size of matches make them ideal for creating optical illusions and simple magic tricks. With a box of matches in your pocket, you can perform an entire magic show. String, Cord and Rope Magic: the cut and restored rope effect is a staple of the magician's repertoire. This chapter shows how to do this and other illusions such as making a knot disappear at will. Mind Magic: your audiences will believe that you have psychic powers with the routines in this chapter. There are many ways of creating the impression of mind-reading and thought transference. Silk, Thimble and Paper Magic: tricks using handkerchiefs and small objects have always been popular. This chapter shows how to do a variety of sleights of hand with these everyday props. Money Magic: everyone enjoys watching money appear out of thin air! Once you have learnt basic techniques such as palming and vanishing, there are many tricks to perform with both coins and banknotes. This book reveals the secrets of a wide range of tricks, and explains how to achieve a polished performance, with tips and advice on planning patter, rehearsing, and creating your own performance style. Step-by-step instructions with over 1000 photographs make it an indispensable guide for anyone seeking to master this fascinating art.

Get ready to learn one of the most powerful illusion techniques in existence. This is a crash course in all things Black Art. You will learn everything from methods to lighting and the science behind it in great detail. This is 110 pages of amazing. Once you have learned the techniques and strategies, you get 10 illusion creations to put it all to work. What's more, the book includes the Audience Member Vanish, a closely guarded illusion with any audience member (no stooges!). Chris Stolz is one of the top magic consultants working today. He has used the knowledge and techniques in this book to astound audiences all over the world and now, you can too. HIDING IN THE SHADOWS is your Black Art playbook. It's excellent! Finally a book that addresses the subject of black art in illusion design in a practical, no nonsense way. This book belongs on every magician's bookshelf! "Chris Stolz has written an important treatise on the subject of black art illusions and methodology that should be studied by magicians & illusionists of all levels." JC SUM IllusionBooks.com Review What's Inside Methods & Concepts: In this section, I take you through a series of effective Black Art methods, from masking, to shadows on a prop, to tunnels and more. I also take you through dealing with common challenges like blue curtains and wood finish floors! Lighting Theory: Here, I take you through some of the basics of stage lighting along with many of the lighting concepts we use to hide black on stage. I cover everything from pupil constriction to volumetric beams of light used to hide your B.A. Interview With A Lighting Designer: We get some valuable insights from a Lighting Design who has done everything from corporate to Broadway. Lighting Setups: This section contains a series of simple lighting setups you can use to light any of the methods and illusions covered in the book. These are effective setups that I still use today and will give you a great base on which to build your lighting design. Illusions: There are 9 illusions in the bookids. Most of the illusions are workers that you can take from venue to venue along with a couple big crazy concepts for those looking to add a little more adventure to your lives! Which ones you build and perform is of course up to you, but I promise you that each illusion will educate you and inspire new ideas!

Highly instructive book by a noted authority on the subject analyzes every phase of conjuring, from sleights, devices, misdirection, and controlling audience attention to incorporating patter and the effective use of assistants.

Nothing delights and amazes more than brilliantly performed magic tricks and this comprehensive box set contains everything the budding magician needs to put on a dazzling show.