This review covers two volumes:
- Animal Wizards: A Critical History of Magicians’ Most Trusting Assistants
- Animal Wizards: An Insider’s Guide.
The assistants are iconic: the rabbit in the hat, doves perched on fingertips, an elephant at the Hippodrome. Just like patrons at circuses, zoos, and county fairs, audiences at magic shows have long thrilled at the surprise involvement of animals. But as culture and attitudes change, many spectators are as skeptical about potential harm done to animals as they are impressed by the wonders done with them.
In this groundbreaking study, Jim Hagy explores the use of such assistants in magic, focusing primarily on the 19th and early 20th centuries.