Airdate: October 18th, 2012    9-11pm ET (check local listings)

LOST MAGIC DECODED will both shock and surprise you. If you have been a guest at my weekly show at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in NYC, you have never seen me in anything but a tuxedo.

But here I trade my tailcoat for traveling clothes and venture throughout the states and across Europe to India to hunt down legendary magic tricks. Once I determine whether they are real or fables, I resurrect each one for a modern audience.

Here is a synopsis of the show.

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In LOST MAGIC DECODED, master illusionist Steve Cohen tracks down, decodes, and resurrects some of the most thrilling and terrifying magic effects ever witnessed. Magic has a secret history, and it takes an insider like Cohen to gain access to the ancient incantations, secret sorcery, and mysterious contraptions that have shocked audiences for centuries. Can their secrets somehow be rediscovered? And can they thrill and shock today’s audiences like they once did?

Among the more than 10 Lost Magic effects resurrected in LOST MAGIC DECODED are four of the most legendary illusions of all time:

“The Turk”, a magical wooden man who first appeared in the 1780’s to shock and mystify the greatest minds in the world including Ben Franklin, Napoleon, and Edgar Allan Poe. Only one man has ever fully cracked the code of “The Turk”, and Steve tracks him down in modern day Los Angeles, to bring this terrifying illusion back to life.

“The Light and Heavy Chest,” an illusion made famous by Robert-Houdin, the father of modern magic, when he was summoned by the French government to put down an incipient revolt in the French colony of Algeria, by demonstrating that he could easily achieve total control over the strongest of the rebellious warriors. Steve must find his own method to control a modern-day strongman, stripping his power, and turning him from a crushing bodybuilder to a weakling with the strength of a 3-year old child.

“The Indian Rope Trick,” in which an Indian street magician, or fakir, levitates a rope out of a basket, sends his young son climbing up the rope until he disappears, and then climbs up after the boy to dismember him in the sky. The fakir eventually resurrects the boy before the stunned audience, creating what many call the most legendary magic effect in history. Steve travels the Northern India to track down the one man who is rumored to perform the effect today, to find a way to bring this dazzling piece of Lost Magic back to life.

“The Bullet Catch,” in which over 12 magicians have died since its first recorded performance in the 15^th Century. It seems impossible to even think about: how can a man catch a live bullet? Despite the advice of many magic experts and historians, and even a magician who survived the bullet catch, Steve is determined to join the pantheon of magicians who have caught a bullet and lived to tell the tale. In the shocking conclusion of LOST MAGIC DECODED, Steve Cohen risks his life by attempting to catch a live bullet.

Intertwining the fascinating history of magic with the thrill of the highest caliber magic performance, LOST MAGIC DECODED is a unique roller coaster ride into the deepest crevices of history and back again to the present day, where Steve Cohen proves that even the most mysterious of lost magic can be summoned and performed with as much power as when it was originally staged hundreds of years ago.

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