Who was David Devant?

David Devant (1868–1941), born David Wighton in Holloway, London, was one of Britain’s leading stage magicians. He worked with John Nevil Maskelyne at the Egyptian Hall and became his partner in 1905. In 1896 he showed films at the Egyptian Hall, and he was the first president of The Magic Circle. Illness ended his performing career around 1919–1920, and he died in 1941.

Devant’s name is still known to British magicians, partly because The Magic Circle keeps it alive. This post sticks to what at least two of our sources agree on.

Where did David Devant come from?

He was born David Wighton on 22 February 1868 in Holloway, north London. “David Devant” was his stage name.

How did he team up with Maskelyne?

Devant joined the company of Maskelyne and Cooke and performed regularly at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly. He became so central to the show that in 1905 John Nevil Maskelyne took him into partnership. The show moved to St George’s Hall, and the partnership’s theatre became known as Maskelyne and Devant’s.

In 1911 Devant and Nevil Maskelyne published Our Magic, a book on the art, theory and practice of magic. Devant wrote the practical part, with worked examples of his own tricks.

What did Devant have to do with early cinema?

Quite a lot. On 19 March 1896 Devant showed films at the Egyptian Hall using the Theatrograph, a projector made by Robert W. Paul. That was two days before Paul’s own public shows at Olympia.

Devant then toured the country with films as part of his show. He sold a Theatrograph to the French magician and filmmaker Georges Méliès in 1896, and he appeared on film himself, in short films by Paul and in one by Méliès.

What tricks was Devant known for?

The best record of his own magic is the third part of Our Magic, where he explains tricks from his repertoire. The chapter titles give a sense of his style: “the forgotten guest” with a borrowed watch, “homing bells”, “the educated fish” and “the phoenix” with a canary and a target. They mix borrowed objects, live animals and a story.

In 1912 he appeared in the first Royal Command Performance of variety at the Palace Theatre in London, representing magic on the bill.

What was his role in The Magic Circle?

The Magic Circle, the London society of magicians, was founded in 1905, and Devant was its first president. The Circle’s own history page describes him as “regarded by many as the greatest of all magicians”.

How did his career end?

Devant’s health declined during the war years. He developed a progressive palsy, and he stopped performing around 1919–1920 (our sources differ by a year). He kept writing about magic, and his autobiography, My Magic Life, came out in 1931.

He died on 13 October 1941. A blue plaque now marks a flat where he lived.

Why does Devant matter today?

Devant shows how wide a stage magician’s world could be at the turn of the 20th century: theatre star, business partner, author, film showman and leader of a new society of magicians. Our Magic is still read for its thinking on why magic works on an audience.

What helps you take it further?

• Our Magic by Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant (1911) is a free 512-page PDF on the art, theory and practice of magic, with Devant’s own tricks explained.
• The Secrets of Stage Conjuring by Robert-Houdin is a free 263-page PDF on the stage illusions of the generation before Devant.

Browse our stage magic collection, and read about his partner, John Nevil Maskelyne, and his contemporaries Chung Ling Soo and Harry Houdini.

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