Jim Steinmeyer

Jim Steinmeyer (born November 1, 1958) is an American author, inventor, and designer of magical illusions and theatrical special effects. He holds four US patents in the field of illusion apparatus, including a modern version of the Pepper's Ghost illusion. Steinmeyer has consulted for many famous magicians, including David Copperfield, Doug Henning, Siegfried and Roy, and Lance Burton.
Steinmeyer is also known for his work on Broadway, and received two Drama Desk nominations for his effects in "Merlin" and "Into the Woods". He has also designed illusions for Disney's stage productions of "Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Mary Poppins". 
Steinmeyer has written multiple books on the history of magic, including the "Los Angeles Times" bestseller "Hiding the Elephant".
Early life.
Steinmeyer was born in Oak Park, Illinois. He grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois and attended Loyola University Chicago.
Magic career.
Illusion design.
For a number of years, Steinmeyer was the magic designer to Doug Henning, and invented illusions for Henning's television specials and two Broadway shows. He has served as a magic consultant to Siegfried and Roy, David Copperfield and Lance Burton, as well as creating magic effects for Orson Welles, Harry Blackstone, The Pendragons, Simon Drake, Ricky Jay, Jason Bishop, and many others.
For Copperfield, Steinmeyer created the illusion of the Vanishing Statue of Liberty, which was featured on a live television special in 1983. Musician Alice Cooper used a Steinmeyer-designed effect in his 2009 tour, where at one point he is confined inside a polished metal torture device, then impaled with a rack of sharp spikes.
Other notable stage illusions designed by Steinmeyer include:
Theatre.
As a researcher of magic history and a designer of special effects for the theatre, Steinmeyer's work has been featured in theatrical shows such as "Beauty and the Beast", "Into the Woods", "Mary Poppins" and "Aladdin". He also created several enhanced effects for the Las Vegas production of "Phantom of the Opera", including a special version of Christine's dressing room mirror in Act I and Raoul's torture cage in Act II.
Television and other media.
Steinmeyer has worked as a producer and magic consultant for many magic television shows, and as a consultant and concept designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, where he developed theme park attractions for The Walt Disney Company.
He was the writer and producer of the A&E Network's "The Story of Magic", a documentary on the history of magicians.
In 1986 Steinmeyer served as technical advisor for the NBC crime drama series "Blacke's Magic", starring Hal Linden as magician Alexander Blacke.
In 2014 Steinmeyer served as a magic trick consultant/ghostwriter on Neil Patrick Harris's book "Choose Your Own Autobiography".
Lectures.
Steinmeyer lectures on magic and creating other theatrical effects at a variety of places including The Magic Castle, The Magic Circle in London, FISM, and TED (1998) Conference in Monterey, California.
Awards.
In 1991 the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle) awarded Steinmeyer The Creative Fellowship, recognizing his continuing inventions. The Fellowship awards were created in 1968, and are the magic industry's equivalent of the "Oscars". At that time Steinmeyer was 32 and was the youngest person to ever win a fellowship.
In 1996 Steinmeyer received the Milbourne Christopher award in recognition of contribution to magic design and in 2002, he received his second Fellowship award from the Academy of Magical Arts, this time collecting the Literary Fellowship Award.
Books.
He has written many books on magic's history and technical books on techniques of illusions. Recent works include: