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Aztec Lady
__NOTOC__ The Aztec Lady is a stage illusion designed by British magician Robert Harbin. It is a classic "big box" illusion that involves an assistant in a cabinet and is probably best categorised as a restoration-type illusion. Description The performance begins with the magician being joined by a spectator (who might be an audience member or the host of a show of which this illusion is a part). A large upright cabinet is presented. It is just large enough to contain a person and has a stylised sillouette of a woman on the front. A female assistant is introduced. It is explained that the box divides into four sections, as indicated by lines on its front, and the assistant will be cut into four pieces. The box is opened and the assistant steps inside. She crouches down to show the individual sections of the box are apparently too small to hold her. She then stands up again and her wrists are tied to cords within the top sections of the box. It is pointed out that the only way she ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aztec Lady Illusion 2
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries. Aztec culture was organized into city-states (''altepetl''), some of which joined to form alliances, political confederations, or empires. The Aztec Empire was a confederation of three city-states established in 1427: Tenochtitlan, city-state of the Mexica or Tenochca; Texcoco; and Tlacopan, previously part of the Tepanec empire, whose dominant power was Azcapotzalco. Although the term Aztecs is often narrowly restricted to the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, it is also broadly used to refer to Nahua polities or peoples of central Mexico in the prehispanic era, as well as the Spanish colonial era (1521–1821). The definitions of Aztec and Aztecs have l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Harbin
Robert Harbin (born Edward Richard Charles Williams; 12 February 1908 – 12 January 1978) was a British magician and author. He is noted as the inventor of a number of classic illusions, including the ''Zig Zag Girl''. He also became an authority on origami. Career The young Edward first got interested in magic after an unknown ex-serviceman appeared at his school with a magic show later described as "rather poor". Williams came to London at the age of 20 and began by working in the magic department of Gamages toy shop. He began performing in music halls under the title "Ned Williams, the Boy Magician from South Africa". By 1932 he was appearing in the ''Maskelyne's Mysteries'' magic show in various London theatres. He was the first British illusionist to move from stage performing to television, appearing in the BBC TV show ''Variety'' in 1937''The Times'', "Broadcasting", 9 February 1937, p.9, col. A and numerous times after the war when the BBC resumed broadcasting. He develo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magician's Assistant
A magician's assistant is a performer in a magic act who is not billed as the magician or principal name in the act. The role of an assistant can include holding the props that are used by a magician, shifting props onto and off the stage, and serving as a living prop in illusions that involve manipulation of the human body. Other aspects of the role can include dancing or acting as visual ornamentation, sometimes for simple aesthetic purposes and sometimes to misdirect audience attention. The figure of the glamorous female assistant has become a stereotype or icon in art, popular media and fiction. Although magicians' assistants appear to play a supporting role and receive a lesser billing than the magician who appears to be the source of illusions, the assistant is often the one making the mechanics of the illusions work. In the words of Joanie Spina, who worked for 11 years as principal assistant, choreographer and artistic consultant to illusionist David Copperfield, "I did ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic (illusion)
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It is to be distinguished from paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world. Modern entertainment magic, as pioneered by 19th-century magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, has become a popular theatrical art form. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, magicians such as Maskelyne and Devant, Howard Thurston, Harry Kellar, and Harry Houdini achieved widespread commercial success during what has become known as "the Golden Age of Magic." During this period, performance magic became a staple of Broadway theatre, vaudeville, and music halls. Magic retained its popularity in the television age, with magicians such as Paul Daniels, David Copperfield ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magician's Assistant
A magician's assistant is a performer in a magic act who is not billed as the magician or principal name in the act. The role of an assistant can include holding the props that are used by a magician, shifting props onto and off the stage, and serving as a living prop in illusions that involve manipulation of the human body. Other aspects of the role can include dancing or acting as visual ornamentation, sometimes for simple aesthetic purposes and sometimes to misdirect audience attention. The figure of the glamorous female assistant has become a stereotype or icon in art, popular media and fiction. Although magicians' assistants appear to play a supporting role and receive a lesser billing than the magician who appears to be the source of illusions, the assistant is often the one making the mechanics of the illusions work. In the words of Joanie Spina, who worked for 11 years as principal assistant, choreographer and artistic consultant to illusionist David Copperfield, "I did ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Vernons Girls
The Vernons Girls were an English musical ensemble of female vocalists. They were formed at the Vernons football pools companyLarkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 461 in the 1950s in Liverpool, settling down to a sixteen strong choir and recording an album of standards. Career As a 16-piece vocal group, the Vernons Girls appeared on the ITV show '' Oh Boy!'' with the house band between 1958 and 1959, and made a series of relatively successful singles for the label Parlophone between 1958 and 1961. Their 1958 LP released on Parlophone was arranged and conducted by Peter Knight, with sleeve notes by Eamonn Andrews. This record is significantly different from their later pop hits, featuring such fifties standards as " We'll Gather Lilacs", "Lonely Ballerina", and the "Cuckoo in the Clock". Led by Maureen Kennedy, from 1961 the group reduced their membership to five and then three members,Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At the time, the only other channels were the television licence, licence-funded BBC One and BBC Two, and a single commercial broadcasting network ITV (TV network), ITV. The network's headquarters are based in London and Leeds, with creative hubs in Glasgow and Bristol. It is publicly owned and advertising-funded; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. Until 2010, Channel 4 did not broadcast in Wales, but many of its programmes were re-broadcast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goodliffe's Abracadabra
''Abracadabra'' was a British weekly magic magazine whose publication life spanned sixty-three years. The first issue was published on 2 February 1946; the last issue was published on 28 March 2009; a total of 3,296 issues. Name Although the magazine name was ''Abracadabra'', it was also known as ''Goodliffe's Abracadabra'' and the readers nicknamed it ''Abra''. Origins The weekly magazine ''Abracadabra'' was created by Charles Goodliffe Neale (1912 – December 26, 1980). He was a magician and author. From the very first issue, Goodliffe (as he preferred to be called) gave the magazine the cover tag line of "The Only Magical Weekly in the World". Goodliffe was a man of strong views and the magazine became the arena of many controversial debates about magic and magicians, sometimes initiated by the readers themselves through their contributions and letters.''Magic: Illustrated Dictionary'' by Geoffrey Lamb, Kaye & Ward Ltd (London), 1979 After Goodliffe's death After Goodliff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
