Jim Steinmeyer

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Jim Steinmeyer was born on November 1, 1958 in Oak Park, Illinois. He grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois and attended Loyola University.

Steinmeyer is an internationally respected creator of many popular magical illusions, including Origami, Interlude, and Walking Through a Mirror. As a researcher of magic history and a designer of special effects for the theatre, Steinmeyer's work has been featured in theatrical shows such as Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods, Mary Poppins and Phantom of the Opera. He has also worked as a producer and magic consultant for many magic television shows, and as a consultant and concept designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, where he developed theme park attractions for The Walt Disney Company. For a number of years, he was the magic designer to Doug Henning, and invented illusions for Henning's television specials and two Broadway shows. For David Copperfield, Steinmeyer created the illusion of the Vanishing Statue of Liberty, which was featured on a television special. His magical creations have also had wide exposure through the performances of The Pendragons, Simon Drake, Lance Burton, Ricky Jay and many others. He was the writer and producer of the A&E Network's "The Story of Magic," a documentary on the history of magicians.

"The Academy of Magical Arts" (The Magic Castle) has awarded him twice with The Creative Fellowship in 1991 and The Literary Fellowship Award in 2002. He has written many books on magic's history and technical books on techniques of illusions. Recent books by him from are: 2003, "Hiding the Elephant - How Magicians Invented the Impossible", and from 2005, "The Glorious Deception," a biography of the magician Chung Ling Soo.

Jim Steinmeyer currently lives with his wife in Los Angeles, California.