Presenting The Amazing Santa Claus – The World’s Greatest Magician

By William V. Rauscher

Through the years, magicians have used the term "Great" to describe themselves and their ability. They have also described themselves as Foremost, Amazing, Wondrous, Astounding, or even as one magician calls himself, "The Impossibilist." But who do you think is the greatest magician in the world? Do you think of Kellar, Thurston, Houdini, Blackstone, Calvert, Copperfield, -- or even yourself?

There is a more meaningful title than "Great" or Amazing," and it fits the master magician of all time - THE INCREDIBLE SANTA CLAUS!

Santa is truly the best, most incredible of all the magicians in the world. He is a true magician in the grand tradition of all that word means, and has proven it for years. He transcends the accepted understanding of the word "Magic" as defined by The American College Dictionary - "The pretended art of producing effects beyond the natural human power by means of supernatural agencies, or through command of occult forces in nature." In this sense, a magician is one who is skilled in magic arts. Although Santa is mysterious, he is benign or harmless. He never uses his magic for personal gain, or to inflict harm to another person. He is the best of all magicians, because even though his work appears supernatural, it is never negative or crude. If he has some kind of occult power, it is of the highest order, since the total effect he produces is one of happiness. As a result, he is greatly loved after his many years of doing magic.

It has been written that the very spirit we find in the familiar Santa is the essence of what we think of in our idea of a Saint. This is especially true in the Saint called Nicholas of long ago.

Santa has strange powers. He doesn't use magic tables or boxes to saw a girl in half, but he produces the most remarkable of illusions that dazzle and delight. He is mysterious, but not hurtful. He is a conjuror, not a conniver. He is much more than a trickster. He makes things happen that we don't expect to happen. He can perform, and not pretend. Santa Claus is a better magician than all others, including John Calvert, Doug Henning, Le Grand David, David Copperfield, Jay Marshall, and The Gustafsons. He knows them all, and even they admire his skill. All the good and noble magicians of the world look up to him as an expert Christmas Conjuror. He has never had a difficult audience.

Even though there is one special season when he works his wonders in the minds and hearts of people, his preparation goes on for an entire year. He does not have to practice before a mirror, or worry about bookings - his act is different from that. It's as if he already has the skill, and what he is going to do just happens when he wishes it, and that's where the true magic begins. Since all his powers of magic are power positive, there is nothing that can prevent him from accomplishing what is meant to be. He doesn't even use a magic wand. He may employ some secret gesture or word, but apart from this, his secrets are forever.

No magic dealer can duplicate any of his effects. The kind of magic Santa performs cannot be purchased from a catalog. Santa is a magician who can literally go up and down chimneys without even thinking about the size of the chimney. He can manage any kind of entrance, even in places where there is no chimney! What his gimmick is, no one knows, but it seems to be associated with placing his finger aside his nose. He performs levitation without wires. He just floats upward and lands on the roof of a house.

And that's not all! Not only can Santa levitate himself, but his entire sleigh and eight reindeer have the capacity to take off into the night. The mystic computer calculations, whatever they may be, of how this entire entourage of Santa & Company, with tons of baggage and livestock, make it to the next stop is simply beyond understanding. You can be sure his secret will never be printed in any magic book. There will be no exposure of his secret. It has been well taken care of by assistants, who shall forever remain nameless.

We can only surmise the forces of nature are called into play through Santa's magic. This may be one of the reasons that two of his reindeer are named Donner and Blitzen. He picked German names, Thunder (Donner) and Lightning (Blitzen). The idea that Rudolph might have been one of the originals is not true. Earthly magicians who like to think the red nose associated with Rudolph is really a multiplying billiard ball are wrong. The names Dasher and Comet are true, and denote speed. Cupid denotes the loving mission they embark upon. Vixen is tricky, like a female fox. Dancer is like a show in himself. Prancer is a stately reindeer.

When all eight reindeer are prepared and on the move, they present such an elegant sight! No earthly stage scene could duplicate the setting. No black velvet curtains could convey the night sky, and no stage lights can equal the stars. Christmas is truly A MAGIC NIGHT.

The magic of Santa Claus far exceeds the tricks of a mentalist. ESP is part of Santa's incredible magic, but the visual magic is far more impressive. The difference between Santa and Dunninger, Kreskin, Max Maven, and Marc Salem, is that Santa has real ESP. He has the ability to know if you have been bad or good. "…He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake." Name one magician who can do that, and be honest! I can't name a single one. I can't even name one magician who is a real magician, except you know who!

I've seen magicians pull silk scarves, rubber chickens, eggs, and alarm clocks out of hats, but they didn't give them away. To reach into the same bag and find an endless array of unlimited gifts is almost too much to imagine. To produce gifts for all, and have each gift fit each person is beyond belief - yet he does it.

I have tried to figure this out, but I can't. I do believe the bag idea is better than a box, tube or square circle. I'm not talking about an Egg Bag, but a Gift Bag. We are not dealing with an amateur here!

Through the years, Santa has done something very clever. He apparently knows how to create future magicians. He is too humble to say they will never begin to equal him, but he does provide the means by which they can feel some of his joy in doing the real thing. He provides a miniature duplication of magic in trick form. Anyone who receives a magic set may be destined to be one of his secret agents. A man named A. C. Gilbert was associated with Santa for years. He produced the Mysto Magic Set. These people's job is to spread some magical happiness during the year, and prepare everyone for the Wonder Time of Christmas Magic, as presented by Santa himself.

Another magical talent of Santa's is the manufacture of countless toys that are given away from his magic bag. You don't have to qualify for them except by being kind and good. His gifts reach the poor as well as the rich all over the world. As a good magician, Santa is no respecter of persons. Everyone is equal. He gives - and the more he gives, the more he can give. That is magic in itself. To spread eternal happiness in a kind of invisible way is an attribute of being a magician.

It's difficult to understand, but Santa Claus also has bi-location - he can be in more than one place at the same time. It's far more than a transposition trick, where the magician is seen in a cabinet, and the assistant pulls the curtain, and the assistant turns out to be the magician. Santa literally is seen in many places at the same time. This doesn't happen so much on the night of nights. Much of his real work is done alone, while the world sleeps. He has many assistants, but it's up to him to carry his show the entire night. It is also necessary for him to speak many languages. I don't think it's a matter of having studied each language, but rather just knowing them without thinking about it.

Talk about the Flash Appearance Illusion, where the magician is suddenly there, and the show begins! Well, Santa is like that. Suddenly he's just there, and his magic happens. How can we explain something that is this incredible? It all seems too extraordinary to be possible, but that's what real magic is about.

There are also two famous secret agents that deserve mention - Charles Dickens and Clement Clarke Moore.

In a book by Joseph Fort Newton called The Stuff of Life, he has a small article called "The Conjuror." In it he quotes Jane Welsh Carlyle, who wrote a letter describing a party when Dickens performed magic for one hour! She said, "This part of the entertainment concluded with a plum pudding made out of raw flour, raw eggs - all the usual ingredients, raw - boiled in a gentleman's hat and tumbled out reeking, all in one minute, before the astonished eyes of children and old people."

"That trick," she added, "and his other of changing ladies' pocket handkerchiefs into comfits, and a box full of bran into a live guinea pig, would enable him to make a handsome subsistence, let the bookseller trade go as it please. A clever magician, and a very good actor!"

Dickens was also a magician of human nature, and in 1843 he created A Christmas Carol for us. How he was directed to do all of this with a magical mind may well be related to influences that can only be ascribed to Santa's incredible spirit. The influence of that spirit still exists today.

Certainly Clement Clarke Moore was inspired by the magic of Santa Claus, when in 1822 he wrote a poem for his children called "A Visit From St. Nicholas." This poem helped alter our image from Saint to Santa. Moore is also remembered as a scholar who taught Greek, Hebrew, and Oriental languages in the General Theological Seminary in New York City.

Each Christmas Eve, in the stillness of the night, magic forces go to work to create the most wonderful and inspiring time of the year. A power greater than we are controls all this. The lights, decorated trees, carols, gifts, and the spirit of good will that we hope for seem to take over, and show us what this world could be like if we tried.

The Incredible Santa has been a part of all this. We may never be invited backstage to see how all this is done, but the thing that makes it all work is truly a miracle. A miracle is even more than magic. It has a divine source.

Each year, for children everywhere, the magic of Christmas is presided over by The Incredible Santa Claus - the greatest magician of all!