Magic Research Resources: Studying theatrical magic

Magic is a secretive art form, or so it seems. Anyone interested in magic research has access to a large number of physical and online resources, which I used to write Perspectives on Magic.

Many magicians are avid collectors of magic tricks, DVDs, books and anything else related to their passion. Some are quite fanatical and amass thousands of volumes on the art of deception, like the Conjuring Arts Research Centre in New York. Some have bequeathed their collections to academic institutions, who make these accessible to researchers.

Parallel to the literature about magic, written by magicians, a sub-genre of scientific writings from many fields of endeavour exists. These books and journal articles are mainly written for the colleagues of the professionals and scientists that created this work. Historians, social scientists, psychologists, occupational therapists, neuroscientists, film researchers and so on have deliberated on the role, workings and practical purpose of conjuring. Most of this work is, however, locked behind pay walls and publishers charge exorbitant prices for a single ten-page journal article. Over the past years, I have extensively researched this literature and created an online annotated bibliography on the science of conjuring to help unlock this vast resource.