Underhanded: New Magic Tricks Secrets Revealed

Old-school magicians see themselves as part of an ancient tradition of illusions and slight-of-hand. They value, guard and uphold the secrets that have been the mainstay of their profession for hundreds of years. Starting in the 1990s, Penn & Teller, a two-man team of magicians, threw open the doors of secrecy and began revealing how the tricks were done. They were the first in a long series of new magicians who had no loyalty to the secrets of the craft of magic and illusion and were more than happy to reveal secrets when the price was right. Who are these new magicians? What kind of new magic tricks secrets have they revealed? Have the new magic tricks secrets revealed been detrimental to the profession of magic as a whole or have they spurred interest in magic? Let us take a look.

Harry Houdini had no illusions that his tricks were just that, tricks. He did not believe he had supernatural powers. He was a showman and he knew it. Spiritualism was a huge draw for many people who lived during Houdini's time. Houdini did not believe any of it. He knew that these spiritualists were just doing trickery, and that their claims of supernatural power were totally false. Houdini made it his business to expose the fraud being perpetrated on people desperate to contact deceased loved ones and were willing to pay any price to do that.

In 1981, Penn & Teller got together and began doing a magic act. By 1996, they had appeared on television. Most of their tricks involved old time magic tricks invigorated with a Penn & Teller twist. What angered old-school magicians was the fact that Penn & Teller's act revealed how the tricks were done. Supporters of Penn & Teller respond that the only tricks revealed in the act were the added twists invented by Penn & Teller. No standard tricks, start to finish, were revealed. This did not seem to matter to magicians who abided by the code.

James Randi, aka The Amazing Randi, is a former magician who has worked in television, written books and is now the head of the James Randi Foundation. He, like Houdini, enjoys exposing fraudulent magicians, faith healers and others claiming supernatural powers. James Randi has debunked Uri Geller's spoon-bending trick, as well as many so-called faith healers. Randi's foundation has a standing offer to pay one million United States dollars to anyone whose supernatural claims can stand up to scientific scrutiny. So far the money remains in a bank account.

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.

Val Valentino has born the fury of other magicians claiming that Valentino has ruined their careers. They believe that since people know how the trick works, they will not watch their performances. Valentino claims that his motive for revealing magic tricks was strictly to promote magic as a profession and to get kids interested in doing magic tricks. He did, however, make a tidy sum of money for doing the shows on FOX.

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.

Don't lose the opportunity to get some cool magic. You will surprise your family and friends with a whole new set of magic tricks today!