A timeline of magic

From fairground conjuring to theatre art to television spectacle — two centuries at a glance.

1. 1700–1800

   Fairs and Courts

   Before purpose-built theatres, conjurers worked the fairgrounds and the courts of princes, selling to crowds or to aristocrats. The paying ticket-holder in between did not yet exist.

   • 1750–1803 🇮🇹 Giuseppe Pinetti
2. 1800–1880

   Dawn of Modern Magic

   The era in which conjuring shed its fairground roots and became a theatrical art. Performers set aside wizard robes and walked on stage in evening dress.

   • 1793–1863 🇮🇹 Bartolomeo Bosco
   • 1805–1871 🇫🇷 Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin
   • 1806–1875 🇦🇹 Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser
   • 1839–1917 🇬🇧 John Nevil Maskelyne
   • 1839–1911 🇺🇸 The Davenport Brothers
   • 1844–1896 🇺🇸 Alexander Herrmann
   • 1849–1922 🇺🇸 Harry Kellar
   • 1853–1912 🇯🇵 Shōkyokusai Tenichi I
3. 1880–1930

   The Golden Age

   Full-evening touring shows filled grand theatres worldwide. Magicians became international stars, and Japanese troupes toured Europe and America.

   • 1853–1932 🇺🇸 Adelaide Herrmann
   • 1854–1922 🇨🇳 Ching Ling Foo
   • 1861–1918 🇬🇧 Chung Ling Soo
   • 1861–1944 🇬🇧 Talma
   • 1869–1936 🇺🇸 Howard Thurston
   • 1874–1926 🇺🇸 Harry Houdini
   • 1886–1944 🇯🇵 Shōkyokusai Tenkatsu I
   • 1888–1980 🇯🇵 Shōkyokusai Ten'yō
   • 1892–1934 🇺🇸 Black Herman
4. 1920–1970

   Refinement of the Craft

   An era that prized the performer's hands and timing over machinery. Close-up work and pared-down stage acts were established as art forms.

   • 1889–1972 🇯🇵 Tenkai Ishida
   • 1892–1975 🇺🇸 Joseph Dunninger
   • 1894–1992 🇨🇦 Dai Vernon
   • 1895–1973 🇬🇧 Cardini
   • 1896–1982 🇯🇵 Adachi Ryūkō
   • 1897–1962 🇺🇸 Dell O'Dell
   • 1915–1992 🇺🇸 Fetaque Sanders
   • 1926–2006 🇺🇸 Channing Pollock
   • 1926–1980 🇳🇱 Fred Kaps
5. 1960–2000

   The Television Era

   Television specials delivered magic into millions of living rooms overnight, expanding the audience by orders of magnitude.

   • 1913–1971 🇮🇳 P. C. Sorcar
   • 1934–1979 🇯🇵 Tenko Hikita I
   • 1940–2022 🇯🇵 Haruo Shimada
   • 1947–2000 🇨🇦 Doug Henning
   • 1956– 🇺🇸 David Copperfield
   • 1975– 🇺🇸 Penn & Teller
6. 1990–

   Contemporary

   Close-up work returned to centre stage, and talent shows and streaming keep producing new stars.

   • 1965– 🇯🇵 Tomohiro Maeda
   • 1991– 🇺🇸 Shin Lim