magic

Hypnotist, Injured During Act, Leaves Three in Trance

Max Read · 06/04/11 04:01PM

Hypnotists need to be very careful: David Days, a hypnotist performing in Portland, England, left three people in a trance on Friday night after being knocked out during a fall in the middle of his act.

Ahmadinejad 'Bewitched' by Magician Adviser

Jeff Neumann · 05/15/11 11:35PM

An influential former supporter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, told the Iranian magazine Shoma that the president has been acting "unnaturally" due to a spell that was cast by his main adviser, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei.

Ahmadinejad's Advisers Jailed for Practicing Witchcraft

Seth Abramovitch · 05/05/11 09:17PM

An ongoing fight between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei has taken a turn for the weird, as several of the president's closest advisers have been arrested and charged with being "magicians" and invoking djinns, or spirits.

Ooo, They Might Have Found a New Particle

Hamilton Nolan · 04/06/11 07:38AM

We interrupt your morning stupor for some news of our universe's most fundamental particles! The NYT advises us of the hottest news in physics today: researchers at Fermilab's particle accelerator think that they may have discovered the Higgs boson, a heretofore purely theoretical particle that endows certain things with mass, such as your ill-informed arguments about the nature of the universe, if you casually toss around the term "Higgs boson" like you know what it means.

Castle Makes Magic and Murder Look Easy

Emily Chen · 01/11/11 01:30AM

While examining the death of a magic shop owner, Castle and Beckett revisit their childhood as well as cliched themes à la The Prestige. However, secrets of the trade aren't the only ones being revealed during the investigation. Highlights inside.

Here Is the Worst "Magician" Ever

Matt Cherette · 09/28/10 12:35PM

OH LAWD is this bad. Like, really, really bad. Here's a video of a girl performing a magic trick—making herself disappear, I suppose. The thing, though, is that she fails. Miserably. Get your Tuesday schadenfreude fix on, inside.

You Too Can Be a Mystical D-Bag with This Criss Angel Magic Kit

Henry Baker · 08/27/10 04:33PM

Want to learn how to pour salt from your hand and impress girls while wearing trucker hats? You're in luck, with the "Magician of the Century"'s own magic kit. Hilariously, Criss isn't in this, and opted for a stand-in.

The Curse of Stonehenge Is Upon Us

Hamilton Nolan · 08/12/10 03:39PM

The Way We Live Now: tempting the gods of the hanging stones. You can't afford to keep Stonehenge looking nice? Then all of your other troubles are a moot point, friend. Druids know how to kill your home equity, fast.

The Grossest Card Trick Ever

nightintern · 08/09/10 09:10AM

In this clip, street magician Gavin McInnes attempts to wow an audience with an old fashioned card trick that keeps going awry. Luckily, he's got an unexpected trick up his, um, sleeve.

How To Cast Magic Spells

nightintern · 07/01/10 10:00AM

In case lighting a candle, listening to "Rhiannon" on repeat, and saying "wingardium leviosa" aren't working, here's how to cast a magic spell.

How to Get Unlimited Free Subway Rides for Only $27

Adrian Chen · 04/25/10 01:31PM

There is a magical key—available for just $27!—which allows the holder to unlock every subway gate in New York. It is illegal of course. Still, Someone needs to make one of these for ice cream trucks. [NYDN, pic]

American Optimagicians Will Triumph

Hamilton Nolan · 02/09/10 03:44PM

The Way We Live Now: Optimagically. We choose to believe that good times are ahead despite plain evidence to the contrary. As long as someone somewhere can bail someone else out, it's luxury condos and Bergdorf Goodman for us.

Which Makes You a Better Athlete, Magic or Anorexia?

Hamilton Nolan · 02/04/10 05:32PM

Is magic the answer to our obesity problem? And if so, should we use that powerful magic to lose weight until we just shrivel up into a dessicated husk? And can we still play football? These and other questions, answered!

The Ole Pencil Through the Nuts Illusion

Mike Byhoff · 01/05/10 03:20PM

A pencil is pushed between two independently moving nuts. Or is it? Is that even a pencil? Are those nuts independently moving? Are they even nuts? Is this even happening? DID I JUST BLOW YOUR MIND!?!?

Google Security Chief by Day, TV Magician 'Eran Raven' by Night

Ryan Tate · 01/04/10 01:54PM

Maybe it should come as no surprise that Google's Director of Security is also a "mentalist" magician; few can better sell the illusion of ironclad internet security, after all, than a master of deception who fooled thousands of NBC viewers.