Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed

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Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed
Title card from the first episode. Subsequent episodes had a number after "REVEALED."
Format	Reality Documentary
Starring	Mitch Pileggi (narrator) Val Valentino (Masked Magician) Mark Thompson (announcer)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	4 specials
Production
Running time	1 hour (with adverts)
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox Network
Original run	November 24, 1997 – October 29, 1998

Breaking the Magicians' Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed is a series of television shows in which the methods behind magic tricks and illusions are explained. In its original incarnation there were four shows broadcasted in 1997-98 on the Fox Network in the U.S., and on Sky and ITV in the UK. In 2008-09, a new series of thirteen shows was broadcast by MyNetworkTV in the U.S. and ITV 4 in the UK.

[edit] The Original Specials

The series is made by production company Nash Entertainment. The first four specials featured incognito magician Val Valentino as the Masked Magician, who performed large-scale illusions and a few smaller-scale close up magic tricks before revealing the secrets of the tricks. The Masked Magician was promoted as a well-known magician who wore a mask to avoid recrimination from fellow magicians.

The title alluded to the magician's code: the promise by working magicians not to reveal the basis of their tricks, or else risk getting blackballed by fellow magicians.

List of Grand Illusions Revealed
Show One November 24, 1997	Lady to Tiger Levitation Chinese Lantern Zig Zag Girl Exploding Packing Crate Sawing a Woman in Half (Selbit's Sawing) Sword Basket Metamorphosis Vanishing Elephant
Show Two March 3, 1998	Crusher Teleportation Lady of Steel Walking Through a Solid Brick Wall Suit of Armor Shooting an Arrow Through a Woman Switching Places Box of Pain Water Torture Escape
Show Three May 5, 1998	Table of Death Stretcher Knife Throwing Haunted House Bullet Catch Mismade Girl Vanishing Tank
Show Four October 29, 1998	Car Crusher Escape Cremation Spike Torture Guillotine Buried Alive Death Trap
This list covers only large-scale illusions. Other smaller tricks were exposed in between those listed above.

[edit] 2002 special

Fox returned on May 15, 2002, with Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed 5. A new magician was wearing a new mask and a new outfit.

List of Grand Illusions Revealed
Show Five May 15, 2002	Sawing Through a Woman with a Buzz Saw Making an Assistant Disappear Broom Suspension Going Through the Portal Disappearing Dumptruck (With Spectators) Spike Torture Escape Making A Table Float Wtihout Strings Or Magnets Frozen Alive
This list covers only large-scale illusions. Other smaller tricks were exposed in between those listed above.

[edit] 2008 series revival

Breaking the Magicians' Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed
Format	Reality Documentary
Starring	Mitch Pileggi (narrator) Val Valentino (Masked Magician) Mark Thompson (announcer)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	13 episodes
Production
Running time	1 hour (with adverts)
Broadcast
Original channel	MyNetworkTV
Original run	October 2, 2008 – February 21, 2009

MyNetworkTV bought thirteen new specials for broadcast in the U.S. starting in the fall of 2008, with the first episode shown on October 2. Val Valentino was credited as a producer and Mitch Pileggi returned as narrator, although he did not appear on camera. The show also aired in the UK on ITV4. WWE Divas Maria Kanellis and Eve Torres appeared in the first episode.

List of Grand Illusions Revealed
Show One October 2, 2008 (US)	Death Saw De Kolta Chair Turning a Bentley into a Lamborghini Making a String Quartet Disappear Passing Through a Steel Wall
Show Two October 6, 2008 (US)	Making a Girl Vanish from a Table Levitating a Girl on a Floating Table Dismemberment Making a Girl Appear from a Set of Clothing Making an Elephant Appear in an Empty Parking Lot
Show Three October 13, 2008 (US)	Head Being Cut off by a Guillotine Making a Girl Appear/Disappear from a Cabinet Houdini Milk Can Escape Making Dancers Disappear from a Stage Chain Through Neck Levitating from Building to Building
Show Four October 20, 2008 (US)	Making a Bomb Squad Car Disappear Assistant's Revenge Sawing a Girl in Half in a Torture Device Sticking a Rose Through a Girl Passing Through a Turbofan
Show Five November 3, 2008 (US)	Making a Woman Disappear From a Cabinet and Reappear Somewhere Else Passing Through a Steel Plate The Twister Impaling a Woman With a Sword Surviving Being Cut Up in a Wood Chipper
Show Six November 10, 2008 (US)	Teleporting From One Oil Drum to Another Topsy-Turvy (Flipping a Box But Not the Girl Inside It) Magically Writing On a Slate Board Cutting a Girl In Three Teleportation
Show Seven November 17, 2008 (US)	Levitating a Girl on a Table Making Girls Appear in a Crystal Cylinder "Twilight Zone" Door Disembodied Princess (Removing the Magician's Torso) Impaling a Girl on a Spike
Show Eight November 24, 2008 (US)	Houdini's Magic Trunk Making a Girl's Middle Disappear Evil Spirit Pyramid - Conjuring Spirits Catching a Selected Card in the Air with a Sword Escaping the Blades of Death
Show Nine February 7, 2009 (UK) April 20, 2009 (US)	Magic Barrel (Through the Eye of a Needle) Houdini's Fish Bowl Playing Card Through Street Window Asrah levitation Making Girls Appear In Mid Air Holding Breath Under Water For 18 Minutes
Show Ten February 9, 2009 (UK) April 27, 2009 (US)	Making a 1200cc Motorbike Disappear in Mid Air Spinning a Girl Upside Down Spirit Room with Disappearing Medium Levitating a Foot off the Floor Making a 5 Ton Military Vehicle Appear From Nowhere (In an Empty Parking Lot)
Show Eleven February 14, 2009 (UK) May 4, 2009 (US)	Woman Vanishes From Steel Plate In Mid Air Crushing A Woman With A Steel Plunger Transformation Of Skeleton To Dummy To A Girl Floating Through A Solid Steel Frame (No Wires) Penetrating A Plate Glass Window Without Shattering It
Show Twelve February 16, 2009 (UK) May 11, 2009 (US)	Producing Girls From Within Triangle Screen Making Live Birds Appear And Vanish From Boxes Crushing A Woman And Putting Tube Through Her Body 16 Ton Trolley Car Levitates And Disappears
Show Thirteen February 21, 2009 (UK) May 18, 2009 (US)	Making A Girl Vanish In A Giant Game Of Three Card Monte Creating A Woman From A Cloud Of Smoke Hand Being Cut Off In Guillotine Dividing A Woman In Three And Head Over Heels Walking On Water (Surrounded By Spectators)

This list covers only large-scale illusions. Other smaller tricks were exposed in between those listed above.