History of magic
The beginnings of magic in history
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Magic is one of the oldest performing arts in the world in which audiences are entertained by stage tricks or illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats by natural means. These feats are called magic, tricks, effects, or illusions.
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The History of Magic goes back to the ancient and remote, since since the beginning of the history of mankind has wanted to amaze and surprise others, what people call it a magical moment. Magic has always been part of the mysterious, and has been present in each of the historical moments as well as in various religious themes, but with the passing of time, this perspective of magic has been transformed into wonderful things, where the unknown is not usually synonymous with something good and amazing.
Magic has gone through numerous stages and has even suffered from prohibitions, since in the past in the history of magic, people who were seen involved in some kind of spell or trick were punished and rejected. But with the advancement of the history of modern magic, people capable of performing magic tricks and illusionism are considered interesting and wonderful people, as they surprise and amuse themselves with acts that escape the logic of people.
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Magic has existed since ancient times since mysticism and magic have always been important to explain things that humans cannot explain, but the first news we have written about a magic function is approximately 5000 years ago. This performance was in the hands of the magician Dedi and was offered to Pharaoh Cheops, in Egypt. The reference appears in the Westcar papyrus and it describes the function as it was carried out, the main game being the decapitation of a bird followed by the recomposition of the animal. Another effect that appears in detail was the transposition of the heads of two different colored chickens and the return to normality.
Modern magic
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There are various documents dating from the 15th century that describe acts of magic in great detail. Some books describe and instruct about the so-called oldest magic effects in history. This literature tried to show that the fear of magic was unfounded and tried to make magic an art for entertainment purposes. But it was not until the eighteenth century that magic gradually ceased to be something frowned upon and began to be a spectacle of entertainment in the squares of the cities of the time.
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In the early 18th century, when belief in witchcraft was declining, the art became more and more respectable and the demonstrations became a service to wealthy private patrons. A notable figure in this transition was the English showman, Isaac Fawkes , who began promoting his act in advertisements in the 1720s - he even claimed to have performed for King George II . Their routines contained illusion effects in which eggs were bagged and turned into birds.
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A founding figure of modern entertainment magic was Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin , originally a watchmaker, who opened a magic theater in Paris in 1845. People lined up to see his magic show. His specialty was building mechanical automatons that appeared to move and act as if they were alive. One of his greatest acts, the orange tree, was the inspiration for the movie " The Illusionist " ( The Illusionist 2006 )
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Escapist and magician Harry Houdini took his stage name from Robert-Houdin and developed a number of stage magic tricks, many of them based on what became known after his death as escapology . Houdini was genuinely adept at techniques such as "lock picking" and straitjacket escaping. Houdini's skill in show business was as great as his performance skill. There is a Houdini museum dedicated to him in Scranton, Pennsylvania .
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On June 10, 2016, the government of the United States of America passed a resolution accepting magic as "a rare art form, of great value, and a national treasure."
