Yeah I have to agree. I'd say Dai Vernon.

Harry Blackstone Senior is where I'm from originally (Kalamazoo, MI - just north east of Colon, Michigan) The birthplace of most stage magic before WWII and Graves of most of the greats. Blackstone's Home and Grave and home of Abbott's Magic. I'll bet all at Penguin know what I'm talking about, they went to U of M. Colon is known as the Magic Capitol of the World and still the biggest gathering of Magicians.

I have to agree, I have seen a few Sankey demos, and I knew how to do his " tricks" immediately. Maybe he has a nice persona, and I am sure he used to be a lot better...but looking at his most recent stuff... sorry, I don't get sankey.

Copperfield blows Sankey out of the water. Oz is ok...but even he knows he's not as good as Copperfield.

Someone mentioned Devant etc..i think the poll is about Living magicians, since it did not say.." of all time" just " the best magician." the implication is... only of those alive.

Last thing i will say is, the question cannot really be answered. There is not just one type of magician.

If you ask who is the best stage magician, that is one question, and there are awesome stage magicians out there... Siegfried and Roy, David Copperfield, Lance Burton, Luna Shimada, Autumn Dawnstar, etc.

Or do you mean Best Close up performer? You will get another list... Where do Escape artists fit in? What if all they know is escapes? Can you include them as well?

Then you get the old Specialist vs Generalist argument. What if you have someone that Only does ONE thing but does that ONE thing really well? Tabary with his rope? How does that comapre with someone that does Cards, Coins, Thread, etc really well? But not as good as the specialist? Michael Ammar for example? Does he get extra props because he can umm...use more props?

When comparing a Daryl, a Copperfield, or a Michael Ammar, to a Lance Burton you are comparing apples to cakes. This question cannot really be answered.

PS just a question... why is it that of every list of this sort I see... the options never include female magicians? or is the idea that "The best" are only male? I mean Sankey is on this list, and Luna Shimada, Juliana Chen and Autumn Dawnstar blow Sankey away on his best day.


I mean put Luna Shimada against David Blaine if yoiu dare, and Shimada wins... But you never see any females on these lists... what's up guys?

Copperfield uses Sankey illusions! Plus it is like comparing apples to oranges.

I know how the expression goes. I did not use it because I feel the differences are greater than apples to oranges that is why I said ...apples to cakes... do not try to tell me what i am trying to say..I know what i am trying to say better than you

Just because Sankey has designed illusions for David Copperfield , does not mean he is a better performer than David Copperfield.

Sankey's Illusions in Sankey's hands are easy to see through. In Copperfrield's hands they are not. It seems to me if the material is the same, if One's performance of said material..( Copperfield's) is more deceptive than another's ( Sankey's)... when the material is the same...then the difference has to be the performer. It's as if two different Chef's cook a pudding... one is the creator, the other with little touches of his own takes the original creation and makes it greater, one has to credit the second chef with having greater skill.

That Sankey created illusions that Coppefield then presented to huge public acclamation while Sankey himself performing same is not, says a lot more about Copperfield than Sankey.

What you have to realize though is that Sankey is way more geared towards magicians in when he does demo videos and stuff. I don't think he cares if people see how it is done in the demo video. People still buy it because his stuff is always quality.

You can't say who is the better performer because they are performing different types of magic.

I'm in a split between Copperfield and Blaine as they both sort of, rejuvinated magic at different times. However, I'm leaning more toward Copperfield cause Blaine, in a way, created Angel Plus, copperfield didn't use camera tricks.

I'm in a split between Copperfield and Blaine as they both sort of, rejuvinated magic at different times. However, I'm leaning more toward Copperfield cause Blaine, in a way, created Angel Plus, copperfield didn't use camera tricks.

Just goes to show how actions have unintended results. I hope that deep down somewhere Blaine is remorseful for unleashing Criss Angel on us.

I hope he realizes what he has done to us. And now that the damage is done...he leaves us for endurance tests... he should take Criss with him... I'd love to see Criss underwater....for a few days....

Agreed. When I want to see Criss get "hurt" I just turn to this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ9Ovdb8cn4

Out of those names I go with Blaine. His first two street magic specials were ground breaking. I have come to like Copperfield and Burton (not mentioned) for the more classic stage magic but as far as who's skills wowed me the most it would be Blaine even if only for those two great specials.

Houdini was a mediocre magician at best. ANd HE knew it. He realized he was much better and the audience respoded better to his escapes. Houdini was NOt an excellent magician, by any means

I've only ever seen one clip of David Copperfield.. But personally I like Jay Noblezada, hes just all chilled back. I like his style I guess.

Where can we find his close-up magic?