Magic and Showmanship: A Handbook for Conjurers

by Henning Nelms

Like theatrical presentations, conjuring is an art of illusion. A magician skilled in the craft is able to convince an audience that he or she can read minds, communicate with the spirit world, make objects appear or disappear, and perform other acts of seemingly genuine magic. Without having mastered the art of presentation or “showmanship,” however, even the most competent sleight-of-hand artist can fall short in performance. With this in mind, noted authority Henning Nelms goes beyond the basics to show how techniques developed for the stage by playwrights, directors, and actors can heighten the dramatic effect of a magician’s performance.
In this instructive book, Helms analyzes every phase of conjuring — from sleights, devices, and illusions to misdirection, controlling the audience’s attention, incorporating “patter,” and the effective use of assistants. Of particular interest is a chapter on body language, posture, positioning and movement. Also included are some 60 original routines — from simple card tricks to such major illusions as having the performer suddenly appear at stage center.
Indispensable as an instruction manual for novices, this how-to guide — enhanced with nearly 200 of the author’s illustrations — will also serve as a lasting source of advice and inspiration for veteran conjurers.

Genres: Magic, Nonfiction, Game Design, Writing

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1980

Reviews

[Chris Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book actually came as a recommendation from a writing workshop I attended last month. I was a little puzzled at first but dove right in.

The writing is a little dated and some of the tricks are well beyond my meager skills of sleight of hand, but the important information in the book wasn't actually doing illusions.

It happens to provide an invaluable viewpoint on how to truly weave a good story. The setup, the hook, the pull, the build, the tension, characters, and climax. Took me a little while to "get it" but it worked!

As an aside, one of the best quotes I've heard about writing came about indirectly from this work.

"If you only know one trick but 50 ways to reveal it, you know 50 tricks. If you know 50 sleights but only 1 way to show, you know ONE trick."

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book years ago after attending a lecture on magic. Unfortunately, the book (which was last updated in 1969) has not aged well. The casual sexism, ageism, and Eurocentric narrative won't fly with modern audiences.

I did enjoy some of the technical elements of the sample magic tricks. You might know how these things work, but seeing how simple constructions of paper, thread, and paint can create basic illusions was a nice throwback to those magic shops you can still find in some city tourist stops.

I think the real strength in this book is its discussion of presentation and audience, showmanship and theatre. The comparisons between traditional theatre and stage conjuration provide some nice insight to the writers of fiction. There are other books that teach this lesson in more focused and less offensive light, however, so it might be best to see this as a historical document rather than a primer.

[Randy Hulshizer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some great chapters that will be of interest to magicians of all levels; however, the material in the book is a bit dated and is slanted heavily toward mentalism and comedy magic.

[Prahlad Saldanha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of tasteless or offensive advice and casual remarks such as those pertaining to women's legs or a how Mongolian men and women can't be told apart. However, apart from that there's a lot of good advice on the presentation of magic.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a how-to-write book. Really. I even picked it up because it was recommended as such.

Since it was published in 1969 and is still in print, it's probably a good book on being a conjurer, for reference or if you want to do it. I can't recommend it as such, as I read to learn how to write. Where it is good.

The source of information, where all eyes ought to be. Devising your magic system (where the author cites fantasy literature as much better than most conjurers), giving characters roles and color, structuring the story/show, unifying your tricks with a theme after ensuring the trick has one -- motivation, while he talks about giving motives for acts you need to pull off the trick, is still a good look at motivating stuff.

Even when he talks about misdirection -- writers want to misdirect. Not so overtly, but you want to be able to set things up without the reader going -- look, setup!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tricks are pretty confusing and don't really make sense but the theory is just right. Every magician who wants to perform magic for lay audience should read this book. It is a dense read with a lot of theory that makes you think about magic in ways you never had. Magic is going through changes and people want to see entertainers, not some guy who can do all this fancy moves. You must engage your audience and make them want to see you. Your magic is merely icing on the cake. Become a professional entertainer. Read this book.

[Louis-philippe Morier · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reading for the magician interested in the historical aspect of presentation. The text feels and is dated. The book, first printed in 1969, gives a crash course on how to better deliver your show, engage spectators and give a lasting impression.
I still prefer Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz for a clearer course structure and better suited to our modern minds.

[Jhk · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read this as a handbook, or as a giant metaphor. I found it at just the right time in my life. I'm reading it as the latter.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is great if you want to be a magician, because it is a straight up handbook. I thought it might be more philosophical so I was dissappointed. The writing reads like a manual.

[Terry]

Why am I interested in this? Well, why wouldn't I be?

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that details how to get and direct an audience's attention. How to get a message across.

Useful to anyone not just magicians.

[Donal Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly detailed, comprehensive and extremely useful textbook.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing book, so much incredibly useful information not just for magicians but for any variety of performer or directors.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and important for magic and performance theory, but dated and disjointed.