5 of the world’s top magicians

How to grade magic when, let’s face it, most of it is trickery, sleight of hand and distraction?

Well, let’s just give these people credit. What they do is amazing, and however they do it, they should be treasured for the ability to amaze and entertain.

TOMMY COOPER

As far as making magic fun and accessible, there’s none better than Tommy Cooper. As with Les Dawson’s bad piano playing, you need to be good at magic to know how to do it badly. And Tommy performed tricks deliberately badly, entertaining UK audiences for years. The man was just naturally funny and if you need any evidence of that, check out this.

DERREN BROWN

Here’s the only magician (psychological illusionist) on this list whom I have seen perform live – at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon in the early 2000s for the record. Derren hails from a similar part of South London as I and I remember his show being captivating, as well as sitting there hoping I wasn’t selected to go on stage and be humiliated – thankfully I wasn’t seated near the front.

DAVID COPPERFIELD

The first, but not the last David to make the list. I must confess to not having seen a lot of this man’s work. Seems he’s been regularly performing in Vegas, a place I’ve only visited a couple of times, when Donny Osman and Bette Midler were the big attractions. It takes considerable skill to make something as big as the Statue of Liberty disappear, but Copperfield did it.

DAVID BLAINE

Recommended: the time David is invited into Harrison Ford’s house, performs an incredible trick with playing cards and fruit which so dumbfounds and flabbergasts the Han Solo and Indiana Jones actor that the great man tells Blaine to ‘get the f*** out of my house.’ Possibly the best reaction to a trick ever committed to film, or whatever the digital equivalent of that is.

HARRY HOUDINI

More famous as an escapologist, you’d imagine Harry would have few problems handling modern day escape rooms. He’s widely regarded by people in the know as the greatest magician of all time, and who am I to rock the boat or push the boundaries of the magic circle. Check out his most famous stunt – the Chinese Water Torture Cell, compelling because of its inherent danger.

An honourable mention here must go to PAUL DANIELS, who was a big name on British TV in the 1970s and 80s. I remember getting one of his magic sets for Christmas, which gave me an appreciation of the skill and deftness required to carry off trickery to a professional level.

There’s obviously a book-related point to this post, and yes, it’s to draw attention to my book A Dead Chick and Some Dirty Tricks. In it, a small time conjuror Dino Camballi (real name Dean Campbell) is hospitalised after being attacked with his own performance daggers. As the cop who’s assigned to guard him in hospital soon finds out, Dino is harbouring a dark secret that threatens the safety of everyone in the wards.

And, abracadabra, you can find out more about A Dead Chick and Some Dirty Tricks here.