Magic Disappearing Acts

Simple text, photos, and step-by-step instructions teach readers about disappearing magic and tricks performed by notable magicians. Readers will love learning to do these fun disappearing acts to make coins, marbles, and even water disappear!

Meet Bessie Lee! The Teeny Houdini chapter book series from author Katrina Moore and illustrator Zoe Si begins with a simply magical story. The adventures of Teeny Houdini come in short, easy-to-read chapters full of hilarious illustrations—a favorite series for building confident readers! Bessie Lee might be the teeniest in her first-grade class, but with the tap-tap-tap of her wand, some glitter, and a little magic . . . she’s going to dazzle the crowds to win the school talent show. But when a trick goes disastrously wrong, Rufus, the class hamster, disappears! Can Bessie find a way to bring him back in time? Or is Rufus truly gone forever? Teeny Houdini, also known as Bessie Lee, is an overly excited, mischievous first grader who bounces off the walls—and off the page—with her volume, enthusiasm, and grand ideas, which are just too big for her tiny frame. Bessie’s multigenerational Chinese American family is the warm center of the stories, from exasperated but loving big sister Bailey to the always encouraging and understanding Gramma. Kid-friendly and engaging, the Teeny Houdini series is a good fit for early chapter book readers. And as a bonus, kids learn the real and simple steps to a different magic trick in each book!

Romantic and intriguing, DISAPPEARING ACT is another compelling book to add to James's growing canon of work with HCPA. Ages: 12+ Matt Cooper is twelve, and spends quite a bit of his time honing his magic skills and tricks. He doesn't realise that his great-grandfather, Mattheus Coperneau, was a professional magician whose career came to a disastrous end when a trick he performed backfired spectacularly. What neither Matt nor Mattheus realise is that there's an even older story behind the failure of Mattheus's 'disappearing trick' and a tragic romance is at the bottom of it all. In 1889, Joachim tannislaus is a young scientist with a stellar career in front of him and half the girls in the small principality of Montilagus pursuing him. But Joachim loves Princess Agneta, who is also studying at the university. When he and Agneta are caught in an embrace, he is thrown into prison to perish, but Agneta gives him a dose of the potion they have been working on in secret, little knowing that the elixir has given him the possibility of eternal life. When Matt and his family return to Montilagus to clear his great-grandfather's name, Matt discovers that there's more to magic than meets the eye.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Terry McMillan comes an honest look at a modern romance, from love at first sight to painful reality to working toward a happy ending.... Franklin Swift was a sometimes-employed construction worker and a not-quite-divorced dad of two. Zora Banks was a teacher, singer, and songwriter. They met in a Brooklyn brownstone, and there could be no walking away.... In this funny, gritty love story, Franklin and Zora join the ranks of fiction’s most compelling couples as they move from Scrabble to sex, from layoffs to the limits of faith and trust. Disappearing Acts is about the mystery of desire and the burdens of the past. It’s about respect—what it can and can’t survive. And it’s about the safe and secret places that only love can find.

When the Ghostwriter team takes a trip to Broadway, Alex mysteriously vanishes, and the gang must figure out how his disappearance relates to the appearance of two famous Broadway magicians.

Taylor uses performance theory to explore how public spectacle both builds and dismantles a sense of national and gender identity. Here, nation is understood as a product of communal "imaginings" that are rehearsed, written and staged - and spectacle is the desiring machine at work in those imaginings. Taylor argue that the founding scenario of Argentineness stages the struggle for national identity as a battle between men - fought on, over, and through the feminine body of the Motherland. She shows how the military's representations of itself as the model of national authenticity established the parameters of the conflict in the 70s and 80s, feminized the enemy, and positioned the public - limiting its ability to respond.

You don’t need a white tiger, expensive props, or hours of preparation to do magic. With a little practice, some clever misdirection (which lays at the heart of all magic tricks), and showmanship, you can surprise family, friends, and coworkers using a few everyday items! If you’re looking to saw a beautiful women in half or make buildings disappear, we’re sorry, but this book isn’t you. But if you want to act out little miracles that you can perform on the spur of the moment with items that are usually within reach, then Magic For Dummies can show you how. Magic For Dummies features more than 90 easy-to-perform deceptions, illusions, and sleights of hand for any event or occasion. You’ll discover how to perform entertaining card tricks, coin tricks, disappearing acts, as well as the always-popular mind reading trick. You’ll even see how easy it is to make money disappear as well as melt a saltshaker! Chock-full of show-stopping tricks, Magic For Dummies will: Get you started with easy-to-learn magic tricks Let you turn a restaurant into a your stage with tricks that include utensils, mugs, and even food Show you how to use a deck of cards to perform endless magic tricks Make you the life of the party with tricks such as “Call This Number,” “The Strength Test,” and “The Phantom Photo” Get you out of tough situations by giving you ten things to say when things go wrong Filled with photos, patter, and presentation tips for every trick in the book, Magic For Dummies offers a great opportunity to become familiar with some of the coolest magic tricks ever performed. With the help of author David Pogue and the stunning tricks contributed by thirty-five of America’s top professional magicians, you’ll be leaving your friends, family, and coworkers spellbound at your mastery of the mystical arts.

This work revisits the golden age of theatrical magic and silent film to reveal how professional magicians shaped the early history of cinema. The author treats cinema and stage magic as overlapping practices that together revise our understanding of the origins of motion pictures and cinematic spectacle.