Performing Arts · Circus, Magic & Variety
A topic within Circus, Magic & Variety, itself one of 8 topics in that field and part of Performing Arts.
3 works
Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin
Argues that conjuring succeeds through psychology and stagecraft rather than mechanical trickery, recasting the magician as a performing actor rather than a trader in secret apparatus.
about 8 hours to readlink checked 17 Sept 2026Albert A. Hopkins
Catalogues the mechanical and optical principles behind stage illusions of the day, arguing that even the era's grandest illusions reduce to a small, reusable set of physical tricks.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Harry Houdini
Challenges Robert-Houdin's self-authored reputation as the father of modern conjuring, arguing he borrowed his best effects from earlier and lesser-known performers.
link checked 17 Sept 2026