26 Mar Famous Magicians That Shaped My World
Famous Magicians: 21 Legendary Performers Who Shaped Modern Magic
From Houdini to David Copperfield, here are the famous magicians who built modern magic - the legends, the modern stars, and the personal influences that shaped a close-up career.
Ask any magician how they fell into this strange and wonderful trade, and you'll get a story about the famous magicians who lit the spark. For me it was a Paul Daniels magic kit one Christmas - and a hobby that politely refused to stay a hobby.
So this is part love letter, part definitive list. The four magicians who genuinely shaped my world come first - the legends I grew up watching and, in a couple of cases, actually met. After that comes the bigger picture: a run-down of the most famous magicians of all time, from Houdini and David Copperfield to the modern stars lighting up Las Vegas and your phone screen. Twenty-one names, each with the signature trick that made them.
If you're still working out what kind of performer you're even looking at - escapologist, mentalist, close-up worker, stage illusionist - my guide to the different kinds of magicians breaks it down. Otherwise, let's meet the greats.
Who is the most famous magician of all time?
Harry Houdini is widely regarded as the most famous magician of all time. The Hungarian-American escapologist became a household name in the early 1900s and his surname is still a byword for any daring escape. Among modern magicians, David Copperfield is the most commercially successful of all time.
Who is the greatest magician in the world today?
There's no single answer, as "greatest" is hugely subjective. David Copperfield remains the benchmark for grand illusion, while Shin Lim is the standout close-up card magician of his generation, and David Blaine, Dynamo and Criss Angel lead the modern street and TV scene.
What was Harry Houdini famous for?
Houdini was famous for his escape acts. His most celebrated illusion was the Chinese Water Torture Cell, where he was suspended upside down in a locked, water-filled tank. He also spent his later years exposing fraudulent psychics and mediums.
Who is the best British magician?
Britain's most famous magicians include Paul Daniels, who dominated prime-time TV for decades, mentalist Derren Brown, and modern street magician Dynamo, known for appearing to walk across the River Thames. Each defined British magic for a different generation.
- 01Paul Daniels - the magic kit that started it all
- 02David Copperfield - crafting illusions for the ages
- 03David Williamson - the magician's magician
- 04Greg Wilson - the architect of my style
- 05Blaine, Brown & Penn & Teller
- 06The definitive list of famous magicians
- 07The pioneers - Houdini & Blackstone
- 08The Vegas & stage legends
- 09The modern stars
- 10So who are the greatest magicians?
Paul Daniels - a magic kit like no other
If you grew up in Britain, Paul Daniels was magic.
Through the late 80s and early 90s, this one Brit owned Saturday-night telly - not with grand spectacle, but with sheer wit and showbiz charm, plus a partnership with the mysterious Debbie McGee that remains one of his best-loved illusions. Millions tuned in to the Paul Daniels Magic Show to watch close-up magic, grand illusions and a parade of other famous magicians.
His signature was the Cups and Balls - fast, baffling, and a masterclass in misdirection that's still studied today. One Christmas I unwrapped the Paul Daniels magic kit, and the hobby got somewhat out of control. If you fancy following the same path, here's how to become a magician. Paul sits right at the top of the list of famous English magicians.
"That's me, book in hand, picked up from a tiny magic shop in Mevagissey on a family holiday. I've still got it. Some habits never let go."
David Copperfield - crafting illusions for the ages
The grand wizard of wonder - and arguably the most famous magician in the world.
Copperfield was the first illusionist I ever saw in the flesh, and decades on he's still top of the shops - firmly in anyone's top 10 best magicians of all time. His show at the NIA in Birmingham was nothing like this fourteen-year-old had ever seen, and it was the artistry, not the spectacle, that hooked me for life.
His signature illusions are the stuff of legend: making the Statue of Liberty vanish and walking through the Great Wall of China. All in a day's work for the most commercially successful magician of all time.
David Williamson - the magician's magician
You won't always find David on a famous magicians list. That's a crime.
My all-time favourite. The American close-up master pairs unparalleled skill with the timing of a stand-up comedian - strong, funny magic, just the way I like it. Back in the late 90s I wore out a David Williamson video cassette, long before YouTube existed. Hailed as "the magician's magician" by the magic community, his act is a riot of comedy, endless gags and finesse that might give Harry Potter a run for his money.
He's as at home in front of a huge crowd as he is at a close-up table, and his signature Striking Vanish and three-shell routines are textbook. If you ever get the chance to catch him live, take it.
Greg Wilson - the architect of my style
Greg taught me that the best close-up magic isn't rehearsed to death - it's lively, off the cuff, and a little bit cheeky. I lapped it up like a sponge ball.
I first bumped into Greg Wilson at an IBM meet-up in Llandudno back in '99 - my debut year at a magic gathering, and an experience like no other. I still make sporadic trips to the Blackpool convention, but the nostalgia from those early IBM meets remains unrivalled.
Greg shaped my whole approach to close-up magic: lively, unconventional and sprinkled with humour. He introduced me to "gorilla" magic - his signature brand of impromptu, off-the-cuff sleight of hand performed anywhere, with anything to hand. I bought every videotape and DVD he put out, and if he's ever lecturing nearby, I make sure I'm on the front row.
Carrying the torch
Those four shaped how I perform. This is where it all landed - close-up magic, inches from the audience, the same lively, off-the-cuff style Greg Wilson drilled into me, with a bit of Williamson cheek thrown in.
There's hundreds more clips on my Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Three more famous magicians who earned their place
They didn't shape me personally - but no honest list of famous magicians could leave them off.
His style isn't quite my cup of tea, but credit where it's due - Blaine's late-90s street magic sparked a whole new wave and made ordinary people (muggles) suddenly want a magician in the room. His signature is endurance: buried alive, encased in ice, and held inside a sealed glass box over the Thames for 44 days.
Twenty-five years ago a young Derren Brown turned up at the IBM convention with a twin drawing duplication, just before TV stardom. The mind-reading stuff isn't really my thing, but he's a phenomenal entertainer - Britain's top psychological illusionist, famous for stunts like predicting the lottery and the live Russian roulette special.
You'll know them from Fool Us, but I remember them on late-night Channel 4 as the rebellious lads of magic - spilling secrets long before the Masked Magician. Their signature is the exposed trick: showing you exactly how it's done and fooling you anyway. Catch them on the Las Vegas strip if you can.
The most famous magicians of all time
Beyond the four who shaped me, here are the famous magicians - and their signature tricks - that built modern magic. We'll start at the very beginning.
Harry Houdini
The most famous magician of all time, and the reason "Houdini" still means escape. A Budapest-born escapologist who conquered America, his signature was the Chinese Water Torture Cell - suspended upside down in a locked, water-filled tank, holding his breath while he picked his way free. He spent his later years debunking fraudulent psychics, and died in 1926. A century on, no name in magic is bigger.
Harry Blackstone Jr.
Heir to his father's golden-age tradition, Blackstone Jr. carried the torch for classic American stage magic. His signature was the Floating Light Bulb - a glowing bulb drifting out over the audience with no wires in sight - alongside the Dancing Handkerchief and the Buzzsaw. His production held the record for the longest-running magic show on Broadway, a last great flourish of the grand-illusion era.
James Randi
"The Amazing Randi" began as an escape artist who beat Houdini's record for time sealed in an underwater coffin. He's best remembered, though, for what he did next: becoming the world's most famous paranormal debunker, using a magician's knowledge to expose fraudulent psychics - most famously Uri Geller - and offering a million-dollar prize to anyone who could prove real powers. Magic's great honest sceptic.
Siegfried & Roy
For over a decade the most famous magicians in Las Vegas, this duo defined the Strip. Their signature was the big-cat illusion - white tigers and lions appearing, vanishing and transforming amid Liberace-level spectacle - at their Mirage residency, which ran from 1990 until a tiger injured Roy on stage in 2003. No act did more to make Vegas the world capital of magic.
Lance Burton
The model of the classy, polished stage magician. His signature was an exquisite dove act - silk, candles and birds produced from thin air in top hat and tails - which in 1982 made him the youngest performer and first American ever to win the FISM Grand Prix, magic's world championship. He went on to one of the longest headline residencies in Las Vegas history at the Monte Carlo.
The Pendragons
Jonathan and Charlotte Pendragon were the fastest hands in magic. Their signature was Metamorphosis - the classic trunk-swap illusion performed at lightning speed, the two of them changing places in a blink. Athletic, theatrical and impossibly quick, they turned a century-old trick into a world-record spectacle and a staple of the international stage.
Mac King
One of Las Vegas's best-loved comedy magicians, instantly recognisable in his plaid suit. For over twenty years his afternoon show was a Strip institution, built on signature bits like the Cloud King rope routine and pulling a live goldfish from thin air - magic and belly-laughs in equal measure. Proof that the funniest act in the room can also be the most skilled.
Murray SawChuck
The spiky-haired "Dennis the Menace of magic," Murray made his name as a finalist on America's Got Talent with the largest illusion ever attempted on the show - vanishing a 1918 steam locomotive in seconds. A Vegas headliner and the resident magic expert on Pawn Stars, his signature blend is big-scale illusion wrapped in comedy and chaos.
Jeff McBride
A magician's magician and one of the craft's great teachers. His signature is a kabuki-inspired mask act - faces and full costume changes materialising from nowhere - fused with world-class card and coin manipulation. Founder of the McBride Magic & Mystery School in Las Vegas, he's shaped a whole generation of performers as much through teaching as performing.
Dynamo
The Bradford-born magician who made street magic appointment television. His signature stunt was appearing to walk across the River Thames towards the Houses of Parliament in 2011, followed by levitating beside the Shard. His series Magician Impossible turned a generation on to magic and made him one of Britain's most famous magicians today.
Criss Angel
The rock-and-roll face of 2000s magic. His signature is levitation - most famously the hover lift that floats him in a beam of light above the Luxor pyramid - showcased on his hit TV series and stage show Mindfreak. A long-running Las Vegas residency cemented him as one of the most-watched magicians of the modern era.
Shin Lim
Quite simply the finest close-up card magician of his generation. His signature is self-choreographed sleight of hand set to music - cards appearing, vanishing and transforming at his fingertips in total silence. The 2015 FISM close-up champion and the only person to win America's Got Talent twice, he's living proof that close-up magic can headline the biggest stages in the world.
Cyril Takayama
A Hollywood-born magician who became a superstar in Japan and an early viral sensation online. His signature is the "hamburger" trick - reaching into a printed restaurant menu and pulling out a real, fully made burger - alongside jaw-dropping street illusions. Visual, surreal and built for the camera, his clips have racked up hundreds of millions of views.
Michael Carbonaro
Magic's great prankster. His signature format is hidden-camera magic - posing as a shop clerk or barista and performing impossible feats on unsuspecting members of the public, who have no idea they're watching a magician. His series The Carbonaro Effect ran for five seasons and turned baffled real-world reactions into must-watch television.
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OMG moment?
These legends got me into magic. Twenty-eight years on, I bring that same close-up magic to weddings, corporate events and parties across the UK - the kind of thing your guests are still talking about weeks later.
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So who's the greatest magician of all time? It's impossible to say, and probably the wrong question. Houdini owns history, Copperfield owns spectacle, Shin Lim owns the close-up table - and the four who shaped me will always top my own list. The best magician in the world is simply the one who leaves you wondering how, long after the trick is done.
Bring a bit of that magic to your day.
The legends above got me hooked. These days I bring close-up magic to weddings, corporate events and parties across the UK - 28 years in, 200+ five-star reviews, no cheese. See what's included, then drop an enquiry and I'll reply within hours.
