Repository

What follows is an alphabetized list of major illusions and effects. The list includes PUBLIC DOMAIN, LICENSED, and PROTECTED illusions. Please review our DEFINITIONS page for more detail on the differences between these categories.

DISCLAIMER: The Illusion Repository assumes no risk or responsibility for the information listed here nor for your purchases or builds and provides this list as a professional courtesy.

If you are truly interested in purchasing one of the “protected” illusions, please call your favorite builder and see if they are authorized to build the illusion. Oftentimes a builder may simply pay a fee to the designer for the right to build a single unit (a one–off). In that case, the builder may not be listed, but would still be authorized by the designer to build the illusion as a one-off.

The other way to purchase an illusion from this list would be to directly contact the designer. Often the designer can recommend a preferred builder. (e.g. Jim Steinmeyer prefers that clients contact him directly.)

In some cases the illusions listed here are NOT available for purchase or performance. Some have been exclusively licensed to individual performers and are not available to the public. So when in doubt, CONTACT THE DESIGNER! And don’t worry – most designers (including the “big names”) are more than happy to help – it’s their job!

Moon Shadow
Illusion Name
Designer
Franz Harary
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

A magician produces his assistant inside a glass container. Her shadows appear first on the cloth and the cloth is removed showing she has appeared.

Website for More Info and/or Purchasing
Moore Slicer (aka Slicing a Lady in Half)
Designer
Phil Moore
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

The magician visibly saws through an assistant.

My Lady’s Ring
Illusion Name
Designer
Robert Harbin
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

A ring vanishes from a box and appears on the stem of a flower in a second box.

Mystique
Illusion Name
Designer
Ryan C. Reed
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

A platform-style metamorphosis effect - an assistant stands on a platform and instantly changes into the magician.

Website for More Info and/or Purchasing
Illusion Name
Designer
Clive Allen (aka Mad Jack)
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

Performer "reveals" to the audience how the lady appears in the box, only to fool them with a surprise ending!

Website for More Info and/or Purchasing
Oh! (aka The Mahatmas Outdone)
Designer
Charles Morritt and Nevil Maskelyne
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

An assistant is restrained inside of a curtained area. The curtains are drawn up revealing the assistant has vanished.

Op-Art
Illusion Name
Designer
Jim Steinmeyer
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

Op-Art is a gradual, visual disappearance of the magician's assistant into five square panels.

Website for More Info and/or Purchasing
Origami
Illusion Name
Designer
Jim Steinmeyer
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

An assistant goes into a box that is folded up and stabbed with swords. The illusion is reset and the assistant emerges unharmed.

Website for More Info and/or Purchasing
Palanquin
Illusion Name
Designer
Jack Gwynne
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

The magician shows an empty cabinet and then produces one or more assistants.

The cabinet as typically presented
Designer
Thomas W. Tobin
Illusion Main Category