MAGIC Live 2026: Four Incredible Days of Magic at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas
From August 2–5, 1600 magicians from around the world gathered at The Orleans Hotel & Casino for one of the biggest events on the magic calendar. And while MAGIC Live is technically a convention, calling it simply a “magic convention” doesn’t really do it justice.
It was an entertainment experience from beginning to end.
The Magic Started the Moment We Arrived
Magic Live kicked off on the evening of Sunday August 2nd at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada in style with the opening night party. The Magic Live team always goes above and beyond to set these up!! This year’s theme was “The Zombie Ball” 
All the Costumes were amazing!! Near the end of the night there was a prize giveaway and costume awards.
Imagine walking through a Las Vegas hotel surrounded by hundreds of magicians—some of the biggest names in the business
Also, the 17,000 square foot Magic Dealers room opened this evening as well with over 60 different magic dealers and independent creators.
The dealer room was packed with new magic, demonstrations, books, playing cards, props and ideas.
And, of course, there was the inevitable question:
“Do I really need another magic trick?”
The answer, apparently, was always YES!!
Day two: The Day kicked off with an awesome general session in the morning with Rory Johnston, Benjamin Barnes, Jason Latimer, Jack Hart, Johnny Clavo with an amazing magic routine using nothing more than Play-Doh
Joshua Jay talked about his awesome project called “Magic as I See it”
Jamie Allan chatted about the bumpy road he faced on his journey to produce the hit wonder off Broadway show called “AMAZE”
The session ended with an “In Memoriam” video which displayed all the great magicians that we lost over the last year. It was sad to see all the great magicians that were now gone. My friend Lon Mandrake who just passed away a few months back was on the video as well. I miss him!!
And then in the afternoons was the focus sessions where you had three to choose from and could only do 2 of them. This is always hard as they are all good!!
The evening is always fun as there are shows to see:
Comedy Live Brought the Laughs
OMG…This show was the Highlight of Magic Live with Harrison Greenbaum as host and MC.
Harrison is a very funny, edgy Comedy Magician. He had the crowd laughing the entire show when he was on stage.
The first act of the show was Artem Shchukin, and he did a very funny travelling thru an airport routine where everything went wrong.
Next up was Matt Edwards, I remember seeing him on America’s got talent and Simon Cowell gave him the golden buzzer. A very funny Comedy Magic act doing a salt pour done to the song “Tequila” then he did a version of Pavel‘s walking knot with a cord for his microphone. Very funny stuff. Really enjoyed his act.
Alana was up next and she did her very slick act where things like jewellery appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye, including an extra hand!!
They also had Professional Juggler Michael Rayner on the show, and he juggled several odd objects such as tennis rackets, and donuts.
The Comedy Live performances provided plenty of laughs and reminded everyone that great magic isn’t only about fooling people. It’s about entertaining them.
Comedy and magic have always gone together beautifully when they’re done well, and MAGIC Live understands that the audience doesn’t just want to see something impossible—they want to have fun while watching it.
As a comedy magician myself, that’s something I particularly appreciate.
A technically perfect trick can be forgotten, but A moment that makes someone laugh, gasp and wonder “How the heck did they do that?” can stay with them forever.
The Close-Up Experience
For me, one of the most impressive parts of MAGIC Live is always the close-up entertainment.
The convention always creates dedicated close-up theatres with proper lighting, sound and raised seating, allowing audiences to experience intimate magic almost as if they were sitting around the magician’s table.
Remembering Dean Dill
MAGIC Live paid tribute to magic history through a close-up experience centered around Dean Dill’s famous barber shop.
When we entered the close-up theater, we were literally stunned to see it tricked out as a replica of the late Dean Dill’s barbershop, which during its years of operation was in Glendale, California. The set, created by master illusion builder Bill Smith, was perfect in its details, right down to Dean’s actual barber chair and the original sign that hung in the shop (both courtesy of David Copperfield).
Mike Caveny, R. Paul Wilson, and David Regal brought this barber shop back to life with Griffin Barry, Dean’s youngest student (who was nine years old when he first stepped into Dean’s Shoppe), who essentially grew up around Dean Dill’s barber shop and helped provide additional insight into the history and atmosphere surrounding that legendary location. All of them performed some of Dean’s original creations, with Luis Olmedo doing his FISM gold-medal-winning interpretation of Al Schneider’s Matrix included for good measure.
This is one of the things I really enjoy about MAGIC Live.
The convention wasn’t just about the newest trick. It also celebrated the people, places and ideas that helped shape modern magic.
Dani DaOrtiz Takes Over the Room
Another major entertainment highlight was Dani DaOrtiz, who was featured in “In Concert” during the convention.
Dani is one of those performers who makes you question the laws of physics.
His style of magic is incredibly playful, spontaneous and impossible to predict.
Watching a performer at that level is not just about trying to figure out the method.
Sometimes it’s better to simply sit back and enjoy being fooled.
And MAGIC Live gave attendees plenty of opportunities to do exactly that.
Lance Burton and the History of Magic
One of the most memorable moments came during a General Session on the second full day, featuring a conversation between Alex Boyce and Lance Burton.
Twenty years earlier, Lance Burton had interviewed Channing Pollock onstage.
This time, the roles were reversed in a wonderful piece of magic history, with the younger performer Alex Boyce interviewing Lance.
It was a great reminder that magic isn’t just about tricks. It’s about the people who dedicate their lives to the art—and the stories, experiences and knowledge they pass on to the next generation.
A Trip Back to the Johnny Carson Era
The general sessions on the second day had Lance Burton in a conversation between him and Alex Boyce. They looked back at the incredible history of magicians appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
They did a tribute to Johnny Carson and the Tonight Show several magicians such as Paul Gertner, Joseph Gabriel, Pat Hazel, and Michael Ammar chatted about their appearance on the Carson Tonight Show years ago.
For magicians, this was more than nostalgia.
Johnny Carson played an enormous role in bringing magic into living rooms across North America and seeing that history revisited was a great reminder of just how powerful television could be for the art of magic.
All Good things must come to an END!!!
The morning session of the Last day of the convention was hosted by Derek Hughes, and it showcased Thommy Ten’s Innovation to create a magic show on (yes, ON!) a diners table. It was a cool Magic show creation that took place right on the spectators table as they were served food. It was very interactive and kept the diners involved. He took it from design process to it now being in Thirty Locations. The final segment of the session brought us
John Gaughan and the story of Automaton’s and being a builder of Magic.
There were plenty of awes, some jaw dropping moments and the kind of Magic that makes even magicians sit back and simply enjoy being fooled. Sitting in a room with 800 other magicians and seeing that happen is amazing.
The final day of MAGIC Live is always sad to see these come to an end but, they must!!
The last show of the evening, which was the gala show:
The Final Gala at MAGIC Live 2026 was the perfect way to wrap up an incredible four days of magic in Las Vegas.
After days filled with lectures, close-up magic, workshops and late-night magic sessions, the Gala brought everything together with a fantastic evening of world-class entertainment, comedy, incredible production and truly impossible magic.
What stood out most was the variety. Every performer brought something completely different to the stage, keeping the audience entertained and guessing right to the end. There were plenty of laughs, applause, and the kind of magic that makes even magicians sit back and simply enjoy being fooled.
The energy in the room was fantastic. You could feel the excitement from an audience made up largely of people who spend their lives studying and performing magic—which makes it even more impressive when a performer can leave a room full of magicians speechless.
A spectacular finish to an amazing convention—and a great reminder of why MAGIC Live remains such a special experience for magicians, and especially for ME!!!
Five stars from me. What a way to finish MAGIC Live 2026!
Then, later in the evening was the farewell party, which is always a fun time. It is the last night you may see some of your friends from other countries until next year. They always have some form of food; this year it was build your own tacos. We also got all the Canadians that we could find and took a Canadian magician’s photo out in the hallway as we do every year. (Not as large a crowd as we have had in Past Years)
The People Make MAGIC Live
Perhaps the best part of MAGIC Live wasn’t any particular trick or show.
It was the people.
You could walk down a hallway and suddenly find yourself talking with a magician you’ve admired for years.
You could sit down for breakfast and end up discussing magic with somebody from another country.
You could visit the dealer room looking for one item and leave with three things you never knew existed.
That’s the magic of MAGIC LIVE.
The official convention describes the event as a gathering of more than 1,600 magicians, and the atmosphere really does feel like a giant family reunion for people who happen to be obsessed with magic.
More Than Just Tricks
What I took away from MAGIC Live 2026 is that the best magic isn’t necessarily about having the newest gimmick or the most complicated method.
It’s about entertainment.
It’s about storytelling.
It’s about connecting with an audience.
That’s especially important to me as a comedy magician.
When I perform, I want people to remember how they felt, not just what trick they saw.
MAGIC Live was a great reminder of that.
Leaving Las Vegas Inspired
Four days of magic went by incredibly quickly.
There were stage shows, close-up performances, interviews, lectures, workshops, dealers, late-night conversations and enough new ideas to keep a magician busy for years.
And then there was Las Vegas itself.
Where else can you spend the day talking about sleight of hand and the evening surrounded by some of the greatest entertainment in the world?
MAGIC Live 2026 wasn’t simply a convention.
It was a celebration of the art of magic.
It was a chance to learn, laugh, reconnect with old friends, meet new ones and, most importantly, remember why we love magic in the first place.
I came home with new ideas, new inspiration and probably a few more magic tricks than I actually needed. LOL But that’s Vegas.
What happens at MAGIC Live may stay in Vegas… but the inspiration definitely comes home with you.
— Chris Yuill
Comedy Magician
