Genre

Stage Magic

30 magicians who defined stage magic, listed in order of birth.

🇮🇹 1750–1803 Giuseppe Pinetti Giovanni Giuseppe Pinetti, known in France as Chevalier Joseph Pinetti Half a century before Robert-Houdin, he raised conjuring to a courtly art — the most celebrated performer of the eighteenth century. Fairs and Courts Stage MagicIllusion
🇮🇹 1793–1863 Bartolomeo Bosco Giovanni Bartolomeo Bosco The master of the cups and balls, and the leading sleight-of-hand performer in Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century. Dawn of Modern Magic ManipulationStage Magic
🇫🇷 1805–1871 Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin The Father of Modern Magic The father of modern magic — the first to abandon wizard robes and perform in evening dress. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicManipulation
🇬🇧 1839–1917 John Nevil Maskelyne Master of the Egyptian Hall The showman who gave London a permanent home for magic and laid the foundation of British conjuring. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion
🇺🇸 1839–1911 The Davenport Brothers Ira Erastus Davenport (1839–1911) and William Henry Davenport (1841–1877) The brothers who presented their work as the doing of spirits — exposed by Maskelyne, and an apprenticeship for Kellar. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion
🇺🇸 1844–1896 Alexander Herrmann "Herrmann the Great" "Herrmann the Great" — for a generation, the very image of what a magician looked like. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion
🇺🇸 1849–1922 Harry Kellar "Dean of American Magicians" The dean of American magicians, who made the passing-on of an act a tradition. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion
🇯🇵 1853–1912 Shōkyokusai Tenichi I 松旭斎天一 — Father of Modern Japanese Magic The father of modern Japanese magic, who grafted Western conjuring onto Japan's own tradition. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion
🇺🇸 1853–1932 Adelaide Herrmann born Adelaide Scarcez The Queen of Magic, who took over the show after her husband's death and kept it running for thirty years. The Golden Age Stage MagicIllusion
🇨🇳 1854–1922 Ching Ling Foo born Chee Ling Qua The first East Asian magician to achieve world fame — and the man whose name a white performer copied. The Golden Age Stage MagicManipulation
🇬🇧 1861–1918 Chung Ling Soo born William Ellsworth Robinson The golden age's most enigmatic performer, who lived his stage persona as a life. The Golden Age Stage MagicIllusion
🇬🇧 1861–1944 Talma born Mary Ann Ford The Queen of Coins — one of the few women of the golden age to make her name on pure sleight of hand. The Golden Age ManipulationStage Magic
🇺🇸 1869–1936 Howard Thurston The Last Great Touring Illusionist The summit of touring illusion, who perfected the full-evening show. The Golden Age Stage MagicIllusion
🇺🇸 1874–1926 Harry Houdini born Erik Weisz The Handcuff King — a century on, still the single most recognised name in magic. The Golden Age EscapologyStage Magic
🇯🇵 1886–1944 Shōkyokusai Tenkatsu I 松旭斎天勝 — "Queen of Magic" The "Queen of Magic" — a Japanese star who led a company of over a hundred and toured Europe and America. The Golden Age Stage MagicIllusion
🇯🇵 1888–1980 Shōkyokusai Ten'yō 松旭斎天洋 — born Yamada Matsutarō The link between Tenichi and the postwar era — both Tenko Hikita and Haruo Shimada came out of his school. The Golden Age Stage MagicIllusion
🇺🇸 1892–1975 Joseph Dunninger "The Amazing Dunninger" He carried mentalism onto radio and television, and spent a career exposing fraudulent mediums. Refinement of the Craft MentalismStage Magic
🇺🇸 1892–1934 Black Herman born Benjamin Rucker The most prominent Black magician of his day, who built a touring circuit for Black audiences under segregation. The Golden Age Stage MagicIllusion
🇬🇧 1895–1973 Cardini born Richard Valentine Pitchford He never spoke a word on stage — and perfected the silent act as a form. Refinement of the Craft ManipulationCard Magic
🇯🇵 1896–1982 Adachi Ryūkō アダチ龍光 — born Nakagawa Hajime A conjurer who worked the yose variety halls rather than the theatre, rooting magic in a form of entertainment particular to Japan. Refinement of the Craft Comedy MagicStage Magic
🇺🇸 1897–1962 Dell O'Dell born Odella Newton She performed in rhyme, and was among the first magicians anywhere to have a television show under her own name. Refinement of the Craft Comedy MagicStage Magic
🇮🇳 1913–1971 P. C. Sorcar Protul Chandra Sorcar India's great illusionist, who toured more than seventy countries — and whose last engagement was in Asahikawa, Japan. The Television Era IllusionStage Magic
🇺🇸 1915–1992 Fetaque Sanders Fetaque Sanders Twenty-five years touring the segregated American South — the most successful Black magician of the Jim Crow era. Refinement of the Craft Stage MagicComedy Magic
🇺🇸 1926–2006 Channing Pollock The Dove Act Pioneer The performer who made the dove act a worldwide standard — among the most influential of the 20th century. Refinement of the Craft Dove ActManipulation
🇳🇱 1926–1980 Fred Kaps born Abraham Pieter Adrianus Bongers The only magician ever to win the world championship's top prize three times. Refinement of the Craft ManipulationCard Magic
🇯🇵 1934–1979 Tenko Hikita I 引田天功 — "Japan's Escape King" Japan's Escape King, who held the whole country to its television sets. The Television Era EscapologyIllusion
🇯🇵 1940–2022 Haruo Shimada 島田晴夫 — "Shimada" Japanese parasols and doves — he carried a Japanese aesthetic to the summit of the world stage. The Television Era Dove ActManipulation
🇨🇦 1947–2000 Doug Henning The Magician Who Brought Magic Back The revolutionary who threw away the tailcoat and brought stage magic back to life in the 1970s. The Television Era IllusionStage Magic
🇺🇸 1956– David Copperfield The Most Commercially Successful Magician A byword for modern magic, who astonished the world through television specials. The Television Era IllusionStage Magic
🇺🇸 since 1975 Penn & Teller Penn Jillette & Teller One who talks and one who never does — magic's pre-eminent double act, together since 1975. The Television Era Comedy MagicStage Magic