Top Hat and Tails: The Classic Conjuror’s Uniform

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Why Magicians Wear Tuxes

Why does a man wear a tuxedo? Some probable answers might include:

  • He’s going to the prom
  • He is getting married now.
  • He’s a waiter who just started his shift
  • He’s trying hard to impress

Hold the phone!

The guy is going to perform magic. Surely anyone doing magic wears a tux. Someone dressed in apparel not worn by the public in sixty years must be a highly-trained and entertaining artist. I encounter responses like: “People will not know we are magicians if we don’t wear our magician uniform,” bemoan penguin-like illusionists. “magicians must wear tuxedos,” yells the part-time practitioner in his ill-fitting vintage apparel. The question of what magicians should wear has existed for more than a century, and the right answer has existed as long. Unfortunately, many virtual magicians do not get it. The common uniform for a “genuine magician” was to dress up like a magician complete using a conical hat and a long robe with stars and crescent moon symbols on it. Robert-Houdin (Harry Houdini took his stage name from Robert Houdin) chose to see magic as an artwork. He invented many wonderful effects. He would head out on a bare stage to present his magic in a formal evening gown, which was suitable and commonly worn for evening theatrical productions. Instead of dressing differently from his crowd, Robert-Houdin dressed like his crowd—in a tuxedo. In Robert-Houdin’s advice to magicians, Robert said a magician should wear a tuxedo to appear as a gentleman and fit in with society. In those days, men wore tuxedos. Most modern magicians who wear a tuxedo don’t understand the spirit of Houdin’s advice. David Blaine, in his first TV show, walked around dressed as an American man—in a tee shirt and jeans. This is following the spirit of Houdin’s wisdom. If you want magic to be regarded as a fine art, take your performance and dress critically. Let the level of your magical performance speak to the degree of your magic artistry.

Dressed to Deceive, Suited for Sorcery

What about Lance Burton? That’s a good question; thanks for asking. Lance Burton’s performance character makes wearing a tuxedo suitable for his performance. He consciously links back to magic’s historical roots. Figuratively speaking, he traces the mantel of magic passed down through the ages. He portrays the great magician out of yesteryear. Lance performs classical magic effects while donning the classical magical attire. This is different in strategy from most of the other magicians wearing tuxes. Most part-time professional magicians put on a tux with no respect for their acting personalities. The secret to what to wear is your performing persona. Start with the premise that a tux isn’t an alternative. Inspect the important elements of your performing character you wish to convey to your audience. Tailor your dress to consciously communicate those components when you’re a professional magician. One more factor is whether you want to stand out or blend with your audience. Let’s say you would like to blend with your own audience. This is a common approach for your own corporate or restaurant magician. What’s your audience be sporting? Try to dress a bit above your audience. That doesn’t mean wearing a tuxedo to a block party or pool party. Let’s say you wish not to blend in with the audience but use your uniform to stand out. Figure out strategies to contrast with your audience and even the venue that communicate positively to your performing personality. By way of example, suppose your acting personality is that strange middle-aged uncle that all the kids love but makes parents roll their eyes. You know the type, each family without a magician has one. His style sense will be decades out of fashion, but he is going to be clueless; he is not the most handsome man around. If that’s your chosen performing character, then the performer’s style will match the magician’s outfit. Again, the purpose is that the outfit selected by the magician must relate to the performing personality. Let’s return to the initial query. Why do magicians wear tuxes? There are many types of magicians, and few today wear tuxes. The tux won’t suit every magician. Nobody understands, such as the magicians. Know your performing personality. You won’t become a great pianist and showman by copying Liberace’s glittery wardrobe. Select your apparel to match your venue and performing character. Treat your magic functionality like the artistic performance you would like it to be.