Magic is No Longer Illusion: The Duel of Magicians in Revealing the Secrets to Longstanding Magic Tricks

You've just seen a rare traditionalist stage magician do the old mainstay illusion of sawing the woman in half in an old theatre in your hometown. You may be one of the few people left on planet earth who doesn't know how that illusion is done and you ask the magician later (while getting his or her autograph backstage) how it's done. "Very well," the magician says wryly. You think it's a corny reply--but it's an old (nearly Vaudevillian) standby response when asked how a magic trick or full-scaled illusion is done. And then...you wake up and realize that you were just dreaming being at this show. It's probably a product of something you experienced in your past--because old-school, traditionalist magicians really don't exist much any more. Nevertheless, some new-school magicians still hold the traditional magic tricks and illusions in high regard. They just upgrade them by making them look modern--but still use the same longstanding principles. These are the ones who adhere to the old magician's code to never give away the secrets. And these are the same ones who are a part of an intense artistic battle that gets louder every year. It's the battle of old secrets being revealed by younger and hipper magicians who think that the art form of magic needs new ideas and the old ones don't matter any longer.