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    Magic Is Dead: My Journey into the World's Most Secretive Society of Magicians
    Magic Is Dead: My Journey into the World's Most Secretive Society of Magicians
    Magic Is Dead: My Journey into the World's Most Secretive Society of Magicians
    Audiobook10 hours

    Magic Is Dead: My Journey into the World's Most Secretive Society of Magicians

    Written by Ian Frisch

    Narrated by Charlie Thurston

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    In the vein of Neil Strauss’ The Game and Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein comes the fascinating story of one man’s colorful, mysterious, and personal journey into the world of magic, and his unlikely invitation into an underground secret society of revolutionary magicians from around the world.

    Magic Is Dead is Ian Frisch’s head-first dive into a hidden world full of extraordinary characters and highly guarded secrets. It is a story of imagination, deception, and art that spotlights today’s most brilliant young magicians—a mysterious club known as the52, who are revolutionizing an ancient artform under the mantra Magic Is Dead.

    Ian brings us with him as he not only gets to know this fascinating world, but also becomes an integral part of it. We meet the52’s founding members—Laura London, Daniel Madison, and Chris Ramsay—and explore their personal demons, professional aspirations, and what drew them to their craft. We join them at private gatherings of the most extraordinary magicians working today, follow them to magic conventions in Las Vegas and England, and discover some of the best tricks of the trade. We also encounter David Blaine; hang out with Penn Jillette; meet Dynamo, the U.K.’s most famous magician; and go behind the scenes of a Netflix magic show. Magic Is Dead is also a chronicle of magic’s rich history and how it has changed in the internet age, as the young guns embrace social media and move away from the old-school take on the craft.

    As he tells the story of the52, and his role as its most unlikely member, Ian reveals his own connection with trickery and deceit and how he first learned the elements that make magic work from his poker-playing mother. He recalls their adventures in card rooms and casinos after his father’s sudden death, and shares a touching moment that he had, as a working journalist, with his childhood idol Shaquille O’Neal.

    “Magic—the romanticism of the inexplicable, the awe and admiration of the unexpected—is an underlying force in how we view the world and its myriad possibilities,” Ian writes. As his journey continues, Ian not only becomes a performer and creator of magic—even fooling the late Anthony Bourdain during a chance encounter—he also cements a new brotherhood, and begins to understand his relationship with his father, fifteen years after his death. Written with psychological acuity and a keen eye for detail, Magic Is Dead is an engrossing tale full of wonder and surprise.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateFeb 26, 2019
    ISBN9780062896643
    Author

    Ian Frisch

    Ian Frisch has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, Playboy, Wired, and Vice. He has appeared on Bloomberg Television and speaks regularly at universities both about writing and entrepreneurship, and was a finalist for the 2016 Associated Press Sports Editors Explanatory Award. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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    Reviews for Magic Is Dead

    4.5/5

    27 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Excellent story of the state of card magic today and it's rising stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
    • 5/5
      Very good book. Not that I had expectations going in but it was better than I would’ve guessed the author is a great story teller, a bit overdramatic with some simple things but enjoyable overall.
    • 5/5
      Whether you are a magician, a fan of magic or not this book is for you. I have been a long time fan and student of the enigmatic figure who is the main subject of this book Daniel Madison. This book helped me realize this tortured genius in a new way and appreciate his contributions to magic, philosophy, and art. Great job Ian! I am seriously still wiping away the tears. This was truly moving.
    • 5/5
      If Martin Scorsese wants to do a movie about magicians, Magic is Dead is the perfect screenplay.
    • 3/5
      If you are sensitive to narrators having inaccurate accents and are interested in this book, read it instead of listening. It’s a very interesting story and it was nearly ruined for me by the time I got to the particularly egregious rendition of a New York accent. How a professional narrator could get that so wrong is beyond me.