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!

Designer
Jim Steinmeyer
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

For the Broadway musical, a special illusion in which the hero is trapped within a solid brick wall.

Website for More Info and/or Purchasing
Arabian Tent (aka Doll House)
Designer
U.F. Grant
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

Magician carries pieces to a house on stage. He puts the pieces together and produces an assistant.

Areal Vanish
Illusion Name
Designer
Franz Harary
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

Assistants climb into a NASA space simulator and are raised above the stage where they vanish in midair.

Website for More Info and/or Purchasing
Arm Invisible (aka Transparency Illusion)
Designer
Chris Deve
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

A magician can create optical illusions with the aid of a clear screen

Arm On Visible
Illusion Name
Designer
Chris Deve
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

The magician divides his arm into three sections and removes the middle.

Artist’s Daydream
Illusion Name
Designer
Jim Steinmeyer
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

A practical production of an assistant from a small picture frame.

Website for More Info and/or Purchasing
Artist’s Dream
Illusion Name
Designer
David Devant
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

A painting of a woman comes to life and the magician produces a real assistant.

Arturo's Cutting a Girl in Six Parts
Designer
Glen Babbs (Arturo)
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

A girl is locked inside a cabinet and dissected by five steel blades. The blades are removed and she emerges unharmed.

Asrah Levitation (aka Rostrum)
Designer
Servais Le Roy
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

An assistant lies a table or couch. The assistant is then fully covered with a cloth and levitated. The assistant vanishes at the end.

Assistant’s Revenge
Illusion Name
Designer
Robert Harbin
Illusion Main Category
Short Description

The Assistant's Revenge is a transposition illusion in which two performers change places, one being locked in a frame.