Performer Murray Sawchuck, better known as Murray the Magician, has accumulated an impressive 65 million views on YouTube by revealing the secrets behind common illusions — an act considered sacrilegious in the magic community. As a result, his standing in the Academy of Magical Arts now lies in jeopardy.
At the age of 50, Sawchuck’s fame has spanned across notable appearances on television and the internet. He first caught the public’s attention on an episode of “Blind Date” where he charmed his partner with his magic tricks. He then grew in prominence as the resident magic historian on the show “Pawn Stars,” and even made it to the semifinals on “America’s Got Talent” in 2010. His popularity skyrocketed when he turned to YouTube, where he would often engage in pranks or perform charitable magic acts, like transforming a single dollar bill into a hundred for a homeless man.
The turning point in Sawchuck’s career occurred in late January, when he and his showgirl wife, Dani, crafted a new video where he’d perform a series of tricks, most of which were basic illusions that could be bought off of Amazon. Playing the role of an unimpressed wife, Dani would then reveal how they were executed. For instance, a bouquet of flowers mysteriously disappearing was shown to be simply drawn into the base of the table upon which it stood. A seemingly dangerous sword-swallowing act was made much less impressive when Dani flicked the blade, and it recoiled like a measuring tape. After a short ten-minute filming session, the video was uploaded to YouTube.
The video went viral, amassing 65 million views overall. He’s since become one of the most popular content creators on the platform when it comes to magic. The comments on his videos began flooding in, mostly positive. People thanked him for teaching them, because let’s face it- learning magic isn’t really doable unless you have a teacher who can help you understand the fundamentals. Some comments, primarily from a group of outraged magicians from around the world, were scornful. They berated Sawchuck for breaking the biggest rule of magic: never reveal the secret behind a trick.
On March 5, Sawchuck received a letter from the The Academy of Magical Arts, banning him from the historic Magic Castle.
The trial lasted about 90 minutes. No formal decision was made. He fought the case with the following list of rebuttals.
- “Exposing MAGIC shouldn’t be ‘Black and White’ as written in the by-laws many years ago before the internet was invented. If magic is being exposed to enhance a performance making it more enjoyable and NOT vindictive or directed as mean or personal, it really should be considered accepted as a performance piece.”
- “If you are TEACHING MAGIC, you are EXPOSING MAGIC.”
- “Now more than ever there is no secrecy for magic … it also forces magicians to be more entertaining and charismatic. The day the internet was given to us common people to use, we lost the ‘code of secrecy’. We lost a lot of things, not just in magic but in life. Brick and mortar buildings, middle men in distribution. Every business either gained or suffered from the internet.”
- “Penn & Teller Reveal tricks and made a name for their first 20 years and now have helped more magicians get on TV than anyone with Fool Us. Houdini wrote a book on it, Unmasking of Robert-Houdini, along with going to LIVE shows in disguise and debunking mind readers and spiritual healers and he was the President of The Society of American Magicians from 1917–1926. Amazing Jonathan exposed Black Arts nightly in his show. All four artists are honored at the Magic Castle. Houdini even has his own Séance room which the Magic Castle makes a fortune booking out nightly for the experience.”
Sawchuck left the board with a copy of his notes and a thumb drive containing video of popular magicians exposing tricks to show he’s not the only one who’s done this. At the end of the day he says that the videos are for fun and to make people laugh.
It’s one thing to reveal tricks for profit, which I suppose you could say he’s doing on his YouTube channel if it’s monetized. But I believe his desire to reveal tricks comes from wanting to inspire new magicians who may not have a teacher to guide them. Magic should be accessible for people from all walks of life and while I’m sure they say it is, that has not been the case for many people. Take me for example who was really interested in magic as a kid. I got the kit from somewhere and most of it was STILL over my head. These simple breakdown videos that Murray posts are quite helpful and they also teach a bit of science as to why something happens, so it’s not only informative but it’s actually super educational for kids.
For many years, Sawchuck had a permanent position at the Tropicana in Las Vegas (which is set to be demolished this year). Sawchuck plans to continue touring the world with his magic act until he can establish a new residency somewhere on the Strip.
We’ll let you know what we hear about this and other news.
