Marimbo Chimes and the Wizard's Monster Band: Music in Theatrical Magic Shows

Magic shows were one of many illusory spectacles popular in nineteenth-century Europe and North America, co-existing with melodrama, pantomime, and magic lantern displays. Yet there is little scholarship in any field documenting the function and significance of music in theatrical conjuring. This essay introduces a new field of research by surveying common practices in historical and modern magic shows. Historical evidence, drawn from broadsides, handbills, programmes, memoirs, reviews, and instructional guides to magic, supports three themes: (1) the relationship between conjuring, musical institutions, and related theatrical entertainments; (2) the phenomenon of magicians doubling as musical performers; and (3) the link between music, magic, and imperialist projects. Filmed performances of magic and empirical studies on illusion, cross-modal perception, and entrainment suggest a continuity of practice between nineteenth-century conjurers and modern magicians. A scene from the 2006 film The Illusionist links modern film-scoring techniques to musical conventions in nineteenth-century stage magic.