Disappearing Acts

The 1,500 magicians roaming the halls of the Century Plaza Hotel this week are trying to pull the biggest rabbit of their careers out of the hat.

Members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians are frantically looking for new illusions to replace those lost after a controversial series of television specials “exposed” many of the most popular tricks of their trade to the public.

“I’ve got to revamp my whole show. It just went ‘poof,’ ” moaned New Zealand sleight-of-hand artist Alan Watson--who scrapped two-thirds of his amusement park act after the Fox TV series revealing performers’ secrets was shown in his country.

Watson was hoping Wednesday that his act’s salvation would materialize from among the tables stacked with body-slicing cabinets, boxes that spin heads and other logic-defying magic props being demonstrated by 65 illusion makers and suppliers as part of the four-day convention.

Magician David Sandy of St. Joseph, Mo., is spending $13,500 on new levitation and body-spiking illusions. They will replace the “miss-made lady” and “zig-zag girl” illusions valued at $10,500 that he says were left worthless after being exposed by the TV specials. In those illusions, an assistant’s body parts appear to move around.

The new equipment is being constructed for him by Las Vegas illusion builder Bill Smith. On Wednesday Smith was pondering ways to keep new tricks away from Fox’s prying cameras.

“In the past we’ve tried the good-old-boy honor system. Now we’re thinking about having people sign something” that promises that they will keep the inner workings of illusions a secret, Smith said.

Illusion inventor Peter Pit, also of Las Vegas, said he plans to protect each future trick by “writing it as a playlet” and then registering it, much as authors copyright books.

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Along with lectures on showmanship, demonstrations of new illusions and nightly magic shows, this week’s conference includes business sessions led by another group, the World Alliance of Magicians.

The alliance is mapping strategy aimed at blocking further exposes of magicians’ secrets, said Kevin Spencer, a Lynchburg, Va., magician who is a coordinator of that group.

David Baram, a Santa Monica lawyer working with the alliance, said magicians may have a few new tricks up their sleeves--such things as licensing confidentiality agreements and prop patents. In the meantime, he said, magician and inventor Andre Kole of Arizona has gone to court in a bid to block further television exposes.

As for now, however, Fox officials are planning a fourth magic-revealing special for the fall, following up the shows that aired in November, March and May, a network spokesman said. And that news has left magicians at this week’s convention wondering whose act will be dissected next.

With the television exposes popping up worldwide, Albert Tam, a Hong Kong magician who performs at parties and clubs, came to Century City to figure out how to deal with the fallout. “I’ve come to see how they’re handling this in America,” Tam said.

Denver performer Shawn Popp, who specializes in table magic at restaurants, was looking for a rope routine to replace a linking-rings trick exposed by the TV special. Phil Ackerly, a Santa Clara magician who specializes in corporate parties and banquets, was on the lookout for something to replace his signature straitjacket escape act, the secret to which was also revealed on one of the Fox shows.

Jason Ace, a 16-year-old amateur magician from Miami, was searching for new-generation props that are affordable. “Because of those TV shows, you can’t do the classic illusions anymore. I’ve got to come up with original things. That’s not easy,” Jason said.

New Zealand’s Watson purchased a $54 wallet that mysteriously bursts into flame when it is opened. Magician/vendor Harry Allen of Daytona Beach, Fla., demonstrated it for Watson. “Real fire,” Allen said. And real money inside to spend “at a fire sale.”

Across the room, children’s party performer Duane Laflin of Sterling, Colo., watched as fellow magicians trying to salvage their acts reached for their own wallets.

“If magic was real, we’d easily be able to conjure up another trick to astound the audience,” Laflin said. “But it’s not that easy.”