Country of origin United States Original network Fox, MyNetworkTV
AXN | Running time 1 hour | |
Starring Val Valentino (Masked Magician)
Mitch Pileggi (host)
Mark Thompson (announcer)
Sybil Azur
Michelle Berube
Denise Holland
Jennifer Lee Keyes Production company(s) Fox
Nash Entertainment
Don Weiner Productions
Alfred Haber Distribution Original release November 24, 1997 (1997-11-24) - October 29, 1998 (1998-10-29)
May 15, 2002 (2002-05-15)
October 2, 2008 (2008-10-02) – February 21, 2009 (2009-02-21) | ||
Breaking the Magician's 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 in 1997-1998 and a special in 2002 broadcast on the Fox network in the United States, and on Sky and ITV in the United Kingdom. In 2008-2009, a new series of thirteen shows was broadcast by MyNetworkTV in the United States and ITV4 in the United Kingdom. On May 1, 2012, reruns of the first season began airing on BIO in the United States.
Contents
Cast
The first four specials and the full series featured incognito magician Val Valentino as the Masked Magician performing 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. He revealed his identity in the fourth episode. His assistants are also left unidentified and uncredited. They are Michelle Berube, Denise Holland, Jennifer Lee Keyes, and Sybil Azur. The fifth special featured a second unidentified Masked Magician, whose assistants were Kelly Cooper, Kimi Bateman, Kadee Sweeney, and Noelle Naone.
Production
The series is made by production company Nash Entertainment. 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. 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 with artificial hair, and a purple glistening outfit. It was never revealed who portrayed the magician in this episode.
MyNetworkTV bought thirteen new episodes for broadcast in the U.S. starting in the fall of 2008, with the first episode shown on October 2. They were shot at a secret location somewhere in the U.S. during the summer of 2008. The assistants learned the illusion the same day they shot it and filmed four to six illusions per day. These specials were also shown on TVB Pearl in Hong Kong, with the first episode shown on June 13, 2010. 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, and in Australia on 7Two with new narration by Grant Denyer. Then WWE Divas Maria Kanellis and Eve Torres appeared in the first episode.
There is an Australian version of the show that first aired at 7:30 Monday, June 14, 2010 on Network Seven and has changed to Sundays at 6:30 on 7Two. This is the same show as the US version with some minor changes. This show also began to air on Australian pay television network Fox8 on Wednesday September 21, 2011. This version is a duplicate of the American version. Since the first run of the series, the shows have been rerun many times on Sundays on Channel 7. (The latest repeat dated Sunday August 19, 2013).