A two-hour special compiling and ranking 50 of the greatest magic tricks ever seen on TV.
Some magic effects are so mysterious, they've confounded illusionists for hundreds of years. How can a mechanical man defeat a world chess champion? How can a live bullet be stopped in mid-air? Magic has an ancient history, and one master magician, Steve Cohen, is on a quest to uncover the secrets behind these legendary feats and more.
An Honest Liar tells the incredible story of the world-famous magician, escape artist, and world-renowned enemy of deception, James 'The Amazing' Randi. The film brings to life Randi's intricate investigations that publicly exposed psychics, faith healers, and con-artists with quasi-religious fervor. A master deceiver who came out of the closet at the age of 81, Randi created fictional characters, fake psychics, and even turned his partner of 25 years, Jose Alvarez, into a sham guru names Carlos.
An anthropological study of a cargo cult in a fictitious self-marginalized commune, which existed next to the Moscow Ring Road - a highway that marks the boundaries of the Russian capital - and survived mainly on roadside trash. Although the road provided for their basic needs, the existence of the commune was extremely precarious and highly dependent on the roadway's fluctuations. This dependency led them to develop a cargo cult of the road.
Debate on the launch of Basque television (ETB, Euskal Telebista).
As ITV's move from its iconic base on Quay Street to the Orange Tower at MediaCityUK nears completion, this tribute looks back at 56 years of Granada television. Beginning from its inception in 1954, including rare archive footage of its co-founders, brothers Sidney and Cecil Bernstein, replays archive clips of some of the programmes and performances filmed and produced there - from Coronation Street, Prime Suspect, Jewel In the Crown, and Stars In Their Eyes, to the television debuts of The Sex Pistols, Take That, and the Beatles.
Roger Boussinot directed this episode of the French television show Italiques, which features an overview of the art and career of Fantastic Planet illustrator Roland Topor. It aired on August 8, 1974.
Walt Disney Presents, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Disney’s Wonderful World, Walt Disney, The Disney Sunday Movie, The Magical World of Disney. These are some of the titles of the Disney anthology series that first aired as Disneyland in 1954. Ron Howard and Suzanne Somers serve as hosts for the musical celebration.
Described as "Houdini with a sunnier disposition," illusionist Lamont Ream extends his magic beyond cards and coins to his work as a live-in caregiver.
In his most revealing performance yet, the one-hour special features an exploration into Blaine’s trademark style of street magic as he once again stuns his audience.
A feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within. The film examines the re-emergence of archaic techniques of ecstasy in the modern world by weaving a synthesis of ecological and evolutionary awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic compounds.
International Magic Presents: The Derren Brown Lecture is an 80-minute lecture DVD of close-up mentalism and subsequent discussion of various aspects of Brown's performance. Again, this product is not intended for general consumption but is directed at magicians and mentalists only.
One-off documentary in which Britain's best-known magician tries to hit the big time in the United States. Beginning in Illinois, Daniels must rely on the skills acquired during 30 years of performing to build a new career in just four weeks. Narrated by Graham Norton.
Jack Parsons: Jet Propelled Antichrist is a story about one of the fathers of modern rocketry and a founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which as part of NASA still leads the way in the development of rockets and the exploration of space. He was also an occultist, a sorcerer and a magus. The infamous magician Aleister Crowley the self-proclaimed Great Beast called him son. He called himself ‘The Antichrist’ and was repeatedly investigated by the FBI. At the age of 38 Parsons died in a mysterious explosion that made headlines around the US. Officially it was a tragic scientific accident — other interpretations of the event persist to this day.
Jeff McBride is a magician, a master of the arts of deception, and a follower of a spiritual path based on a form of magic. As a teenager, he was already appearing on national TV and has since become world renowned among lovers of magic and illusion. He is equally adept at gracing a stage in Las Vegas or Paris, performing a card trick under your nose, and teaching a master class to already accomplished conjurers. He says that real magic is a path to sacred reality.
Michael Maxwell not only teaches you how to properly perform The Balducci Levitation but he also shares exclusive inside tips from David Roth. David has made the levitation one of his featured effects for lay audiences for many years and never tipped the "real work' until this video was made.
Short educational film about television
With the brand-new songs "My Life Is Magic", "Skin I'm In" and "Man In The Moon" - each with video clips from the cinema film "Daniel, the Magician" - Daniel Küblböck presents current new releases on DVD for the first time.
Sleight of hand magician Ricky Jay blends light comedy and close-up magic to entertain a live audience. He discusses everything from the birth of the classic cup and balls trick to 14th century poetry.
Documentary examining the medieval myth of the Philosopher's Stone, a Holy Grail-type relic which supposedly held the key to alchemy and immortality. Many noted alchemists and adventurers searched obsessively for the artifact hoping to learn its powerful secrets, a quest which allegedly drove some to madness and others to celestial encounters.