Magic Is Dead

Ian Frisch set out to explore the world of stage magic and ended up inside it. Working as a journalist, he gained access to a closed circle of young performers calling themselves the52, a group intent on reinventing an old art form under the slogan Magic Is Dead. The book follows Frisch as he becomes an active member of that scene rather than just an observer.

The core cast includes the group's founders, Laura London, Daniel Madison and Chris Ramsay, whose private struggles, career ambitions and reasons for choosing magic Frisch examines closely. He attends invitation-only gatherings of leading working magicians and travels with them to conventions in Las Vegas and England, picking up some of the craft's methods along the way. Other figures who appear include David Blaine, Penn Jillette, Dynamo, the best-known magician in the U.K., and the crew of a Netflix magic series.

Alongside the present-day story, the book traces magic's long history and shows how the internet and social media have pushed younger performers away from traditional methods. Frisch also looks back at his own past. He describes learning the principles of deception from his poker-playing mother, the card rooms and casinos they visited after his father's sudden death, and a meeting with his childhood idol, Shaquille O'Neal, made during his reporting career.

Frisch writes about his own growth as a performer, including fooling the late Anthony Bourdain in a brief encounter, and about the friendships he forms with the group. The memoir also considers his relationship with his father, fifteen years after the loss. Readers interested in magic, the business of entertainment, or personal memoir written with an eye for detail will find it engaging.