Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed

Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed is a series of television shows and specials in which the methods behind magic tricks and illusions are explained by a narrator and are performed in a warehouse in the United States with no audience, by an unknown "world class" magician known as the "masked magician" who does not speak and wears a mask on the show to protect their identity and career. This "masked magician" is also assisted for many tricks performed on the show by a group of attractive female assistants and normal stagehands, who also do not speak but do not have their face masked, as they are not the masked magician's regular assistants and stagehands.

In its original incarnation there were four shows in 1997–1998 and a special in 2002 broadcast on the Fox network in the United States, and on Sky and ITV in the United Kingdom. In 2008–2009, a new series of thirteen shows was broadcast by MyNetworkTV in the United States and ITV4 in the United Kingdom. On May 1, 2012, reruns of the first season began airing on BIO in the United States.

Valentino had been approached by Fox while he was performing in Las Vegas showrooms. After some negotiation, Valentino signed to do the program, promising that he would reveal the secrets behind old illusions only.^[1]

The first four specials and the full series featured incognito magician Val Valentino as the Masked Magician performing large-scale illusions and a few smaller-scale close up magic tricks before revealing the secrets of the tricks.

The series is made by production company Nash Entertainment. The title alluded to the magician's code: the promise by working magicians not to reveal the basis of their tricks, or else risk getting blackballed by fellow magicians. The first special, which aired in November 1997, scored the highest ratings for any Fox special to that point; another three specials were broadcast through 1998.^[2] Fox returned on May 15, 2002, with Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed 5. A new magician was wearing a new mask with artificial hair that did not cover their entire face, and a purple glistening outfit. It was never revealed who portrayed the magician in this episode.

MyNetworkTV bought thirteen new episodes for broadcast in the U.S. starting in the fall of 2008, with the first episode shown on October 2. They were shot at 516 South Anderson Street in Los Angeles, (34°2′25.7604″N 118°13′27.1668″W / 34.040489000°N 118.224213000°W / 34.040489000; -118.224213000) during the summer of 2008. The assistants learned the illusion the same day they shot it and filmed four to six illusions per day. These specials were also shown on TVB Pearl in Hong Kong, with the first episode shown on June 13, 2010.^[3] Valentino was credited as a producer and Mitch Pileggi returned as narrator, although he did not appear on camera like the original specials. The show also aired in the UK on ITV4, and in Australia on 7Two with new narration by Grant Denyer.

There is an Australian version of the show that first aired at 7:30 Monday, June 14, 2010, on Network Seven and has changed to Sundays at 6:30 on 7Two. This is the same show as the US version with some minor changes. This show also began to air on Australian pay television network Fox8 on Wednesday September 21, 2011. This version is a duplicate of the American version. Since the first run of the series, the shows have been rerun many times on Sundays on Channel 7. The show also had a Portuguese adaptation in the public TV Channel SIC, essentially a duplicate of the American version only with a different Portuguese narrator.

Criticism was leveled at Valentino by magicians for adversely affecting their acts. Kevin Spencer, a touring magician based in Lynchburg, Virginia who performs with his wife, Cindy, said the specials forced the duo to scrap two of their tricks. Spencer stated: "We're disappointed that someone who made his living performing the art of magic for over 25 years would be so quick to betray their community."^[4] Since those illusions each cost as much as $50,000 (equivalent to $94,377 in 2024), the Spencers brought a lawsuit against Valentino, one of several that resulted from the program. Another lawsuit was brought by magician Andre Kole, who unsuccessfully tried to prevent Fox from airing a special featuring the secret behind the Table of Death, an illusion Kole says he perfected. According to Kole, he licensed the trick to seven of the top 10 magicians in the world and estimated his financial damages as a result of the special at more than $500,000 (equivalent to $943,767 in 2024). Kole's attorney conceded the inherent difficulty in suing over the loss of a magic trick, since magician's secrets are not protected by copyright law, but stated: "Magicians and designers of magic tricks haven't had to take those steps. A handshake has worked for several centuries."^{[4][needs update]}

Magician Robert Rice sued for copyright infringement, saying he had developed performances of a similar character called "the Mystery Magician" that performed while masked and revealed the methods of famous magic illusions and that Valentino's performances had been based on his work. His lawsuit was unsuccessful, with a judge ruling that the performances were not especially similar and the basic concepts of the performances were not protectable by copyright.^[5][6]

Other magicians criticized Valentino's explanations as being sloppy or inaccurate, arguing that he gives a mistaken impression that the methods he's exposing are regularly used by professional magicians.^{[citation needed]} Magician Mark Wilson, who hosted the 1960s Saturday morning children's TV series The Magic Land of Allakazam, says some of Valentino's revealed methods were dangerous and are not generally used by fellow magicians.^[4]

The Masked Magician was also shown in the UK on the ITV network during the late 1990s and is still occasionally repeated on ITV4. In the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, the show was made available on Netflix.^{[citation needed]}

Val Valentino (born Leonard Montano, June 14, 1956)^[4] is an American magician primarily known for starring in the television show. In the specials, he used the stage name the Masked Magician and concealed his true identity by wearing a mask with a squid like design, being aware of the stigma amongst the magic community with publicly exposing tricks. As the finale to the final special, Valentino revealed his identity as the Masked Magician, garnering some notoriety amongst the magic community.

For a span of two years (1997–1999), Valentino performed, unbilled and disguised, as the "Masked Magician" in four Fox Network specials called Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed which exposed long-guarded secrets.^[7]

Valentino's first foray into magic was at the age of five with a trick called "the ball and vase" that his father gave him. In his teens, Valentino performed with the "International Cultural Awareness Program" for over a million students throughout the Unified School Systems.^[1] The performances also included revealing magic secrets to encourage others to become magicians.

By the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, Valentino had moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and was performing in casino shows including Viva Las Vegas^[8] and Splash, in addition to having appeared on programs such as The Merv Griffin Show and PM Magazine,^[9] as well as in the music video for Herb Alpert's "Magic Man". He also appeared in his own production, "Valentino's Magical Extravaganza".^[10]

In October 2017, Valentino announced that he had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer, and was given one year to live from the time of the diagnosis. Valentino refused conventional treatment.^[11] In June 2020 in an interview with the Brazilian show Domingo Espetacular of RecordTV, he said he was cured and that he is in Brazil preparing a project. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was quarantined in the country, hosted at the Clown Rogério house.^[12]

• Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed's channel on YouTube
• Val Valentino at IMDb