Jim Steinmeyer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

Jim Steinmeyer

Working on British TV series The Secret Cabaret (with, right, Jay

Marshall)

Born November 1, 1958 (age 62)

Oak Park, Illinois

Alma mater Loyola University Chicago

Occupation Illusion designer

Jim Steinmeyer (born November 1, 1958) is an American author, inventor, and

designer of magical illusions and theatrical special effects. He holds four US patents in
the field of illusion apparatus, including a modern version of the Pepper's Ghost illusion.
Steinmeyer has consulted for many famous magicians, including David
Copperfield, Doug Henning, Siegfried and Roy, and Lance Burton.
Steinmeyer is also known for his work on Broadway, and received two Drama Desk
nominations for his effects in Merlin and Into the Woods. He has also designed illusions
for Disney's stage productions of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Mary Poppins.
Steinmeyer has written multiple books on the history of magic, including the Los
Angeles Times bestseller Hiding the Elephant.

Contents

 1Early life
 2Magic career
o 2.1Illusion design
 o 2.2Theatre
o 2.3Television and other media
o 2.4Lectures
o 2.5Awards
 3Books
 4Patents
 5References
 6Further reading
 7External links

Early life[edit]
Steinmeyer was born in Oak Park, Illinois. He grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois and
attended Loyola University Chicago.

Magic career[edit]
Illusion design[edit]
For a number of years, Steinmeyer was the magic designer to Doug Henning, and
invented illusions for Henning's television specials and two Broadway shows. He has
served as a magic consultant to Siegfried and Roy, David Copperfield and Lance
Burton, as well as creating magic effects for Orson Welles, Harry Blackstone, The
Pendragons, Simon Drake, Ricky Jay, Jason Bishop, and many others.
For Copperfield, Steinmeyer created the illusion of the Vanishing Statue of Liberty,
which was featured on a live television special in 1983. Musician Alice Cooper used a
Steinmeyer-designed effect in his 2009 tour, where at one point he is confined inside a
polished metal torture device, then impaled with a rack of sharp spikes.
Other notable stage illusions designed by Steinmeyer include:

 Origami[1] – an effect performed by both Henning and Copperfield and which has
since been widely imitated.[2] It was performed by an America's Got Talent contestant
in 2010. An oriental-themed box is seen on a thin table, backed by a mirror. The
magician's assistant steps into the box, which folds down into a small cube, 12
inches square. The cube is penetrated by three swords before being unfolded,
allowing the assistant to emerge unharmed.
 Interlude[3] – originally titled Permeability, this illusion was performed by The
Pendragons for many years as Interlude and is now commonly known as such.[2] The
magician is held in a metal frame and the magician's assistant passes through from
back to front, appearing to pass through the magician's torso.
 Modern Art[4] – in which the magician's assistant enters a cabinet, the top half of
which then slides across a blade, appearing to cut the performer in two through the
waist.
 Osmosis – in which a performer seems to disappear inside the magician.
 Op-Art – the magician's assistant seems to gradually disappear behind a number
of square panels, leaving only the head visible.
 The Lady in the Puzzle[5] – comprises a number of large puzzle pieces which are
inserted into an empty frame and rearranged several times to display different
images. Finally they are removed to reveal the magician's assistant.
Theatre[edit]
As a researcher of magic history and a designer of special effects for the theatre,
Steinmeyer's work has been featured in theatrical shows such as Beauty and the
Beast, Into the Woods, Mary Poppins and Aladdin.[6] He also created several enhanced
effects for the Las Vegas production of Phantom of the Opera, including a special
version of Christine's dressing room mirror in Act I and Raoul's torture cage in Act II.
Television and other media[edit]
Steinmeyer has worked as a producer and magic consultant for many magic television
shows, and as a consultant and concept designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, where
he developed theme park attractions for The Walt Disney Company.
He was the writer and producer of the A&E Network's The Story of Magic, a
documentary on the history of magicians.
In 1986 Steinmeyer served as technical advisor for the NBC crime drama
series Blacke's Magic, starring Hal Linden as magician Alexander Blacke.
In 2014 Steinmeyer served as a magic trick consultant/ghostwriter on Neil Patrick
Harris's book Choose Your Own Autobiography.[7]
Lectures[edit]
Steinmeyer lectures on magic and creating other theatrical effects at a variety of places
including The Magic Castle, The Magic Circle in London, FISM, and TED (1998)
Conference in Monterey, California.[8]
Awards[edit]
In 1991 the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle) awarded Steinmeyer The
Creative Fellowship, recognizing his continuing inventions. The Fellowship awards were
created in 1968, and are the magic industry's equivalent of the "Oscars". At that time
Steinmeyer was 32 and was the youngest person to ever win a fellowship.
In 1996 Steinmeyer received the Milbourne Christopher award in recognition of
contribution to magic design and in 2002, he received his second Fellowship award
from the Academy of Magical Arts, this time collecting the Literary Fellowship Award.

Books[edit]
He has written many books on magic's history and technical books on techniques of
illusions. Recent works include:

 The Complete Jarrett, Hahne (2001) ASIN: B0014JAOXO

 Jim Steinmeyer's Impuzzibilities Strangely Self-Working Conjuring, Hahne (2002)
ASIN: B000HAUEH2
 Hiding the Elephant – How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to
Disappear, Carroll & Graf (2004) ISBN 0-7867-1401-8
 The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson, Aka Chung Ling
Soo, the "Marvelous Chinese Conjurer" Carroll & Graf Publishers (2005), ISBN 0-
7867-1512-X
 The Magic of Alan Wakeling: The Works of a Master Magician, Carroll & Graf
(Nov 2006), ISBN 0-7867-1807-2
 Art and Artifice: And Other Essays of Illusion,Carroll & Graf (Nov 2006), ISBN 0-
7867-1806-4
 Charles Fort: The Man Who Invented the Supernatural, Heinemann (May
2008), ISBN 0-434-01629-2
 Technique and Understanding. Hahne. 2009.
 The Last Greatest Magician in the World: Howard Thurston Versus Houdini & the
Battles of the American Wizards. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, a member
of Penguin Group. 2011. ISBN 978-1-58542-845-8. OCLC 646111788.

Patents[edit]
 Hologram Illusion, Issued March 1, 1994, US Patent No. 5,291,297.
 Origami Illusion, Issued March 29, 1994, US Patent No. D345,595.

References[edit]
1. ^ "Origami Illusion". WellingtonEnt.com.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b "How to Perform, Design & Present Stage Illusions". Illusion Books.
3. ^ "Interlude".  IllusionRepository.com. Archived from  the original on August 13, 2014.
Retrieved July 26, 2013.
4. ^ "Modern Art(Steinmeyer)". Illusion Arts Magic.
5. ^ "The Lady in the Puzzle". WellingtonEnt.com.
6. ^ "Facts You May Not Know About Aladdin Part 2!". Retrieved  January 11,  2016.
7. ^ "Neil Patrick Harris". Twitter.
8. ^ "Jim Steinmeyer, Theatrical Illusion Design". JimSteinmeyer.com.

Further reading[edit]
 T. A. Walters, "Jim Steinmeyer: Deviser of Illusions", MAGIC Magazine,
September 1996