The early days
"Magic is a form of performance art that creates phenomena that appear on the surface to contradict the laws of nature and logic." So says the earliest recorded reference to magic, an Egyptian papyrus from 2778 BC that was unearthed in 1838 and is now held in a museum in Berlin.
The papyrus tells the tale of a magician called Djed-djedi, who was summoned by the pharaoh. The pharaoh had a goose beheaded, and as Djed-djedi began to chant, the head and body began to move together, rejoining and resurrecting the goose. However, when asked to work his magic on the corpse of a convict, Djed-djedi refused, saying he did not have the requisite experience.
Starting in the streets
The further development of magic performance can be traced back to the first century AD, when it expanded into the markets. At that time, magicians were known as "juggers," and they were itinerant, putting on simple shows to entertain villagers wherever they went.
The late Middle Ages
Magic's darkest hour. Magicians began encountering fierce opposition from the Catholic Church, and magic that hadn't been approved by the Church was considered the work of Satan and called "black magic." Magicians could only stage a limited range of tricks, and as playing cards were still not commonplace, the most common tricks involved birds and animals.
The first book of magic
In 1584 Englishman Reginald Scot wrote a book entitled The Discovery of Witchcraft, aimed at differentiating between the methods used by magicians and evil witchcraft. Many of the secrets behind magic tricks were revealed in the book to prove that the "mystery" of magic was in fact purely achieved through natural, rather than supernatural, means.
From the street to the theater
In the 19th century, Scottish magician John Henry Anderson-known as The Great Wizard of the North-became one of the first magicians to bring magic shows into theaters, ushering in the golden age of magic performance, which peaked with famous 20th-century Hungarian-American escapologist Harry Houdini. Houdini specialized in slipping handcuffs and escaping from straitjackets, as well as his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell act. In addition to this, Houdini was a pioneer in revealing fraudsters using magic tricks to fool people into believing they had supernatural powers.
The fall of magic
As the movie industry took off in the 1930s, people's tastes in entertainment changed, and like circuses and traveling roadshows, magic shows saw a dramatic decline in popularity.
Magic today
Today the neon lights of Las Vegas have come to replace the temple and church fires of old for magicians, and magicians have reinvented their methods and spread the art to entertainment centers everywhere. This has created a new generation of superstar magicians like David Copperfield, whose shows have once again brought the attention of people around the world to the art of magic.
@List.jpg?w=522&h=410&mode=crop&format=webp&quality=80)
