“A man who was once called the greatest agent in the show remarked to me that the customers for a magic show now were only ‘kids, bohunks and magic nuts.’ At one time he was the agent for what was then the greatest magic show in existence. I believe this man’s judgment is sound.

“But it is obvious that magicians have only themselves to blame. The Thurston show was at one time known as the most valuable property in the show business. No magic show even remotely approaches that status now.

“Obviously, magic itself is not to blame. It attained this distinction once. It attained this distinction when its method of presentation was geared and attuned to the times.”

-Dariel Fitzkee, “Showmanship for Magicians,” 1944

To fully understand where we as magicians are today, we have to take a close look at where we came from as is denoted by historians. The following article strongly draws on the writings of Milbourne Christopher in his superlative book, “The Illustrated History of Magic.”

The very first writings of magicians comes from the Westcar papyrus which denotes a magician by the name of Dedi who was summoned to kingly court of Cheops in Egypt. It is believed that Dedi was an Egyptian. Dedi’s magic is recorded in the Westcar papyrus which is dated circa 1700 B.C.

Thereafter, magicians appear to be most widely known in the courts of kings as well as in the streets as performers for the masses throughout history, up until somewhere in the 6th century. In the 500s A.D., Christianity began to take hold in Europe and magicians were considered, by the church, to be in league with the devil. This belief did not hold water in Persia and China. As a result, the far east (removed from the Christian empire) still held magicians in high esteem.

Even with the persecution of magicians, courts in England and Europe continued to consider magicians as entertainment for kings, princes, dukes and other royalty. Further, in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries magicians were quite often employed by royalty to turn base metals into precious metals. Magicians plying such trades were generally referred to as alchemists.

During these years, in The New World (what would become North America), the British colonies mostly made magicians as well as actors and juggling troupes illegal since such inanities were useless in communities that were required to civilize an untamed land. Again, this hatred was spearheaded by the Christian groups (in this case the Puritans and the Quakers).

Furthermore, many magicians were considered to be witches and quite often found themselves in a position to be stoned (or what we popularly believe today as being burned at the stake). Ironically, many of the items that were created by magicians like trick knives were used by inquisitions to prove them witches - talk about being hoisted on your own petard. Throughout these years of persecution, magic still continued to thrive in the far east.

During those years, specifically in the mid 1500s, books were published that began to expose magician’s methods. The most influential of those books was “The Discoverie of Witchcraft,” by Reginald Scot. Scot was attempting to stop the persecution of witches (magicians) by explaining the methods used to trick the public. Of worthy note is that many of the principles described in Scot’s work are still used today.

This all brings us to the late 19th century and into the early 20th century, quite often referred to as “The Golden Age of Magic.” The Father of Modern Magic, Robert-Houdin, took magic to the next level and made it accessible to the general masses of the public. Seamlessly he melded sleight of hand presentation with large stage illusion, based on historical devices that were available to him and he ushered us into what became one of the greatest times to live if you were a magician.

And then, something terrible happened - we lost our way.

While World War II raged on, Fitzkee began to look at the state of magic and he didn’t like what he saw. Magicians were simply not moving with the time and in that period what came to be known as “The Fitzkee Trilogy” was published. Since those days, only the most hard core of magicians have paid any attention to Fitzkee and yet his observations are still pertinent over half a century later.

Still, let’s take a look at a handful of magicians who have heeded Fitzkee and his writings.

In the 1960s through the ‘70s, Harry Blackstone, Jr. managed to carve a lucrative path in the field of magic. His signature trick, “The Floating Light Bulb,” made not only a name for him that was removed from his father but steadily enchanted audiences, which allowed him to continue on his path as a magician. Still, the changing scene of entertainment ultimately sunk his show since more and more people were tuning into television rather than going to the theater to see a magician.

As more people were putting televisions into their home magic had to change with the times. Not only that, but the generation that would emerge - “The Love Generation” - would cause magic and magicians to take a different turn in order to survive.

Again, heeding Fitzkee’s advice, the diminutive Doug Henning took the stage. Dressed in colorful costumes with long, curly, tresses and looking like someone who had just smoked a joint backstage, Henning caught the eye of an entire generation. If magic was to survive then it would take a magician who could step outside of the mold of top hats and tails and step into the garb that was causing the conservative crowd to beat their chests and believe that the fabric of society was ripping apart.

Not only did Henning take the industry by storm, but he put together a show for Broadway that still is in the top 5 shows for the all time record of a run. Henning’s Broadway show ran for well over 4 years which only proves Fitzkee’s theory even today. If magic is to survive, then it must follow the trend of what modern audience’s want as entertainment.

As the 1960s and ‘70s gave way to the ‘80s, what could be considered a naïve nation began to grow up. We lost our innocence with the Korean police action and the Vietnam war, further aggravated by problems at home - problems like the clashes of the military with students which lead to deaths on the campus of Kent State University.

And, of course, in 1983 we were given the beginning of the end of entertainment as we knew it, MTV. This new format of music entertainment, the music video, featured giving quick snippets of visual input in conjunction with the music itself. No longer should entertainment need to hold attention more than 3 seconds at a time. Life had changed, society had changed and the American family had changed. Everything was fast paced and the only way to survive in the emerging economy was to live fast.

Using this format, we saw the new face of magic emerge in the 1990s and that was David Blaine. He took magic tricks that we all used and that we all got 5 to 10 minutes out of in presentation, stream lined them and presented them the same as music videos sans presentation of any kind - quick snippets of information intended to knock the spectators out with inexplicable tricks. Any magician in the 1990s who was plying his or her trade will certainly remember spectators asking about Blaine and asking if they could do the same thing. And, the ultimate question: “Is he real?”

Blaine’s celebrity pushed his career in other directions and he became more of a stunt man than magician, but he gave way to Criss Angel who took advantage of stooges, editing and Hollywood style devices. Presently, as I write this, it is Criss Angel who reigns as America’s top dog in magic. Not so in England, though.

In my next article I will begin to dissect the audience of today and the popular magicians who are using today’s audiences to further their careers. While in the states Angel will be one of the leading names, I will look at magicians who are not as well known but who are making a lucrative living nonetheless. I will further look at the other side of the pond and which magicians are making the most of today’s audiences. I will then try to use these magicians as templates and see how we can use this information in our own business of magic, from the greatest of us to the least.

Until then, take care and thank you for reading.

Mike