Last month magicians from around the globe packed their bags to attend the largest and most prestigious magic convention in the world.
The FISM 2025 World Championships of Magic took place at the Lingotto Congress centre in Turin, Italy from 14-19 July. It was a jam packed week of magic that included shows, lectures, workshops, panel discussions, jamming sessions, parties, tours, and the highlight: the championships themselves.
160 competitors took to the world stage to show their unbelievable skills, prestidigitation, imagination and creativity. The competition started with the stage contest on the Monday at 2pm and continued each day until the Friday, with an average of 20 acts per session, lasting on average a whopping 5 hours.
On the way back home, I calculated how many individual magic tricks and moments I may have witnessed over the 6 days from the championships, shows, workshops and lectures…it totalled over 600!
The close-up competition began on Tuesday morning with competitors split into 3 categories: card magic, micro magic and parlour. The stage categories consisted of general magic, manipulation, mentalism, comedy and illusions, with each act being marked out of 100 in their respective category.
1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes are generally awarded in each category however as the judging is very strict, not all prizes are awarded, for example the 1st prize in card magic was not given this year.
For the first time in 20 years the UK had a great contingent of competing acts over a few categories. One outstanding act – James and Mariana of Mind2Mind, came home with the 1st prize in mentalism, and were crowned the world champions of Mental Magic – they were absolutely incredible. A very exciting time for the Magic Circle who sponsored them and all the UK acts that competed in Turin.
Another stand out British act was Taylor Morgan. Over the past 6 years Taylor has perfected a beautiful routine with a floating balloon that ends in a truly emotional finale. His performance this year was exceptional and he was rewarded with a standing ovation. An incredible achievement on the world stage at the most prestigious championships in magic.
Magicians make a pilgrimage every 3 years to witness performances such as these to help inspire and reignite our passion for the art. Throughout the week’s contest we all witnessed world class performances, potential future world champions and appreciated the effort and sacrifice these performers make for their art form. They made us believe in magic by transforming objects such as cards, watches and even books into smoke while being suspended in mid-air, making incredibly fast costume changes and even causing buttons to travel and sew themselves onto cloth. These masters of magic have dedicated years of their lives to honing their skills and achieving impossibilities, thus raising the standard of magic ever higher. In turn they continue to inspire and invigorate those of us in the audience to keep creating and pushing our own magic – we’re only ever limited by our imagination after all.
Here’s to creating the impossible!
