In an era dominated by artificial intelligence and fleeting social media clips, the ancient art of magic faces its greatest trick yet: staying relevant. A century after Harry Houdini's death, modern conjurors grapple with familiar challenges—monetising mystery, guarding secrets—and a host of new digital threats. Attention spans are shrinking, and platforms like TikTok make exposing tricks a global pastime. Yet, as The Economist discovered at a Las Vegas convention, magicians are adapting with a blend of old-world wonder and new-age savvy.
The Houdini Blueprint: Wonder as a Business
Ehrich Weiss, known worldwide as Harry Houdini, was not the most technically gifted magician of his time. Peers criticised his tricks as "awful stuff." Yet, he became the 20th century's most famous illusionist, earning the modern equivalent of $200,000 a week. His genius lay not just in death-defying escapes but in masterful promotion. He used newspaper offices and police stations as stages, ensuring press coverage. He invited audiences to hold their breath alongside him, creating shared peril.
Houdini fiercely defended his craft. When a newspaper claimed his handcuff escape used a hidden key, he performed the trick naked before detectives. He battled imitators with dubious legal claims, once copyrighting a performance as a play to sue a German copycat. "Magicians are not lawyers," the article wryly notes, but Houdini's blend of spectacle and publicity set a template still used today.
The Digital Double-Edged Sword: Exposure & Adaptation
Today's magicians navigate a landscape where anyone can film and publish an act on social media. More worryingly, TikTok tutorials can dismantle years of perfected illusion in seconds. At "MAGIC Live!"—an annual Las Vegas convention—artists swap tips amidst props like the $8,000 "Jaws of Death." Here, the future of magic is debated.
Justin Flom, a controversial social media magician with billions of views, represents one extreme. He famously uploaded "SAWING A BABY IN HALF!!" in 2017, featuring his infant daughter. It garnered nearly 200 million views. This year, he released a sequel revealing the secret—a move considered heresy. "Often the secret is more entertaining than the trick," Flom argues, turning exposure into an art form and a lucrative business model.
This trend isn't isolated. A TikTok tutorial showing how a phone case vanishes got 46 million views. Another revealing street magic secrets surpassed 39 million. While some lament the loss of wonder, veterans like Asi Wind innovate by subverting exposure itself. On "Fool Us," he appeared to reveal a trick's mechanics, only to unveil a final, deeper layer of deception, leaving the secret intact and the audience in rapturous applause.
Technology: A Curse and a Toolkit
While technology jades audiences, it also offers new tools. Convention marketplaces sell microchips for card tricks. Motion-sensitive tags cue sound, and cameras allow intimate card acts to fill large stages. However, the digital age reshapes performance styles. Criss Angel notes modern audiences won't watch a single trick for three minutes. His Las Vegas show mimics a TikTok scroll's overstimulation, with rapid-fire stunts.
There's concern that YouTube-trained magicians lack the skill for long, immersive shows. Simone Marron of the International Brotherhood of Magicians observes that half perform magic "down at their crotch" for the camera, not "up in their face" for a live crowd.
The Irreplaceable Power of Live Wonder
Despite digital challenges, several magicians told The Economist that the modern world heightens demand for live, shared mystery. Venues like Los Angeles's Magic Castle, where phones are restricted and entry requires speaking to a secret owl, offer an experience impossible to replicate online.
David Blaine, who famously buried himself alive inspired by Houdini, acknowledges the shift. When YouTuber Mr. Beast copied his stunt, the video got 285 million views. "His magic is studying algorithms," Blaine shrugs. Yet, live magic's power endures. Magician Gabriella Lester finds that simple sponge-ball tricks can earn louder applause than dramatic crane escapes. Philosophy professor Jason Leddington calls it "a hiccup in the texture of everyday life"—a wonder people still crave.
Smart magicians now incorporate phones into acts. Blaine demonstrated a trick where a chosen card isolated itself not in the physical deck, but within a photo on a spectator's phone. The fusion of digital and physical wonder points a way forward.
As Houdini once said, without wonder, "we should find life scarcely worth living." In the age of AI, magicians continue their timeless mission: to deliver that essential hiccup of astonishment, proving that even when secrets are exposed, the desire for real-world mystery remains unbreakable.
