It was no easy task to create a list of the 100 Greatest Magic Tricks of all time. To distil centuries of the craft of magic into an orderer list which would naturally include a lot of my personal opinions. So, this is a list of my favourite and most amazing magic tricks of all time, although by no means definitive list, from some incredible grand illusions, to some mind-blowing close-up magic and mentalism.
Spoiler alert, the rabbit from hat trick does not make the list.
Appearing Beer – Dom Chambers
Dom’s fantastic routine is the perfect demonstration of a performer who knows their character and how to play off it. He’s energetic and funny and this trick made a huge hit on AGT.
Appearing Tiger – Siegfried & Roy
What’s better than appearing beer, well appearing a tiger is pretty cool. Siegried and Roy were a mainstay of the Las Vegas strip for many years until Roy was ‘attacked’ by one of their tigers (there’s some debate that the tiger was trying to save him) and the show finished in 2003. Roy Horn later died of Coronavirus in 2020. Siegfried died a few months later in 2021.
Bottle & Glass Trick – Tommy Cooper
Tommy Cooper is arguably the greatest comedy magician of all time. He was not a great magician, in fact his style was to mess up and treat the tricks as a farce, but this is one of the few tricks in his repetoir he would perform flawlessly.
The Frog – David Blaine
What’s better than appearing beer, well appearing a frog. From your mouth. David Blaine, one of my earliest inspirations in magic, continuously pushes forward what’s possible (and acceptable) in the art form.
What makes this more amazing to me is that this is a skill that you – yes you – could learn, should you actually want to.
Second Sight – Thommy and Amelie – The Clairvoyants
Two person telepathy is an incredibly difficult skill to develop. It takes years and year and years of training to learn and its even more difficult to make it entertaining. These guys are great!
Laser Deal – Lennart Green
Lennart Green may not be a household name but he is certainly know by magicians. He was famously disqualified from FISM (AKA. the Olympics of magic) for using stooges in his act – which it turned out he wasn’t – and he was awarded first place the following year.
Paper Balls Over The Head
The fun thing about this trick is that the whole audience are in on it and the only person that it fools is the one spectator up on the stage.
Signed Card Magic – Shin Lim
Shin Lim is undeniably a creative and technically incredible performer. Many magicians use signed cards in magic to demonstrate that they’re not using duplicates when a card appears from an impossible location, but this routine is next level!
Entertainment Pickpocketing – Apollo Robbins
It’s very common when a close-up magician tells people what they do that at least one audience member will make the hilarious joke about you stealing their wallet or watch.
Apollo is the GOAT when it comes to this. Strong magic combined with incredible misdirection skills to fleece spectators of all their valuables.
The Spirit Cabinet – Falkenstein & Willard
The Victorian Spirit Cabinet is an infamous seance demonstration. Derren Brown has modernised this in his TV shows and on stage, but this classic performance gives bring other-worldly vibe which is amazing.
Scissors Through Jacket – Mike Caveney
The title really does say it all, except that the jacket in question belongs to a random audience member. This trick has drama, comedy and a fantastic kicker ending.
The Egg Bag
One Egg. One Bag. 5 minutes of hilarious entertainment from the one and only Jeff Hobson. This is a masterclass in the fact that it’s not the trick that matters, it’s the entertainment value and engagement you can bring to your audience.
The Gypsy thread – Eugene Burger
Eugene Burger was the epitome of the story teller magician. His incredible voice helped him weave a narrative with his magic that elevates this simple effect into a minor miracle.
The Carrot Goldfish – Mac King
No fish were harmed in the making of this magic trick. What I love about this is that it starts of as just a joke and ends with a really strong piece of magic. Mac King deserves a spot her as, in my opinion, one of the best family entertainers of all time.
Bottle Through Table – Fay Presto
Fay Presto popularised if not actually created the concept of close-up magic at restaurants and events. And the bottle through table is a perfect example of the incredible magic you can show people at the table. I have met people all over the world that know of Fay for this very effect.
Marshmallow Test – Justin Willman
I genuinely believe that Magic For Humans (Justin Willman’s magic show on Netlix) is the greatest TV magic show of all time. It perfectly displays Justin’s personality, speaks to its generation through humour and contemporary pacing, flow and structure and – importantly – Justin makes the tricks about the audience members rather than the performer. This is a great example of that.
David Blaine – Watch Through Window
I’ve said before that David Blaine was a major inspiration for me. This effect, where he vanishes someones watch, and then reaches his hand through the glass window of a nearby shop to retrieve it is perfect visual TV magic.
The Salt Pour – Young-Min Kim
The salt pour has been performed in many ways over the years, it’s a real classic of stage magic, but Young-Mins take is beautiful, dramatic, powerful and awe-inspiring.
Orange Tree Illusion – Scott Penrose (à la Houdin)
The father of modern magic Robert Houdin had a wonderful effect involving an mechanical orange tree, whereby an audience members handkerchief vanished and was produced by two butterflies. Scott Penrose presents this illusion here.
Cut and Restored Rope – Gaeton Bloom
The cut and restored rope has been performed for many years and – generally quite similarly – involving a section of white rope. But Gaeton Bloom takes the concept to a whole new level, using the microphone cable instead of rope, and thus elevating this basic concept to new heights. (The trick starts at 6:40)
Card on Ceiling – Michael Ammar
As someone who performs a lot of card magic, I know that you’re always building towards a big finish. And there isn’t much bigger a finish that the signed card appearing stuck to the ceiling 20 foot above your head.
There are a couple of pubs in London, where we magicians used to hang out, that if you were to look up, you would notice several playing cards plastered to the ceiling even several years later.
Dog Racing Hypnosis – Derren Brown
Derren Brown is a giant of modern mentalism. This effect from his early series demonstrates him hypnotising a book maker to pay out with a losing ticket.
Three Fly – Simon Coronel
To describe this trick as 3 coins moving from one hand to the other doesn’t really do it justice. Simon won at FISM with this routine and also fooled Penn & Teller, so it obviously must be better than it sounds on paper!
Bill Switch
Simon appears here again as I love his fresh take on this oldie. When you perform magic you often get asked if you can multiply money. And the answer is yes, he can!
Floating Table – Losander
This is a beautiful illusion where a table slowly rises into the air and flys.
Coin in Can
Popularised by Chris Angel, this trick (originally created by Wayne Houchin) is a perfect piece of street magic baed on the old coin in bottle trick. The coin is signed and appears inside an emptied coke can.
The Artist’s Dream
This stage illusion has fast become a classic of stage magic. The effect is presented in many different ways, but the effect is that the magician magically extracts his assistant from a painting.
Coin Matrix
Coin magicians love performing the matrix but none do it as cleanly and beautifully as Armando Lucero. There are few people that can make a room full of seasoned magicians gasp in amazement, but this man can. This is just a short version of his infamous matrix routine.
