MAGIC! MARVELLOUS, MESMERIZING, MYSTERIOUS...

When The Magic Circle was founded in 1905, magic was enjoying a golden age. The popularity of the music halls was at its height and magicians provided welcome variety amongst the comedians, jugglers, singers and musical acts. However, as other types of entertainment began to assert themselves, magicians had to adapt their skills accordingly, whether in the more demanding environment of nightclubs, where the performer is expected to perform surrounded, or under the direct scrutiny of the television camera, where the slightest movement, undetectable on a large stage, would be apparent. The history of any performance art is the history of its practitioners, and featured here are some great names that have taken magic forward during the last century, and advanced its popularity.

♥ John Nevil Maskelyne ♣ David Devant ♠ Harry Houdini ♦ Chung Ling Soo ★ Horace Goldin ♠ Cardini ♥ Robert Harbin ♣ John Calvert ♠ Channing Pollock ★ Tommy Cooper ♦ Fred Kaps ♣ Paul Daniels ♦ David Copperfield ♠ Penn and Teller ♥ The Pendragons ★ Siegfried and Roy