Dale Harney's Magic Palace

By Art of Magic - 20-May-2016

A Canadian television series, The Magic Palace was an inspiration for a generation of magicians. Filmed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the late 70s and early 80s, the show featured an enormous roster of performers from Canada, the United States, and Europe, including many whose names are still well known today. The show was conceived and hosted by Canadian stage illusionist, Dale Harney.

Thanks to the efforts of many magicians who were able to provide [Magicana](http://www.magicana.com "Magicana") with VHS copies of various episodes, they have been able to recover over 220 performance clips. To introduce you to Dale and his inventiveness, here is a clip of him performing one of his signature illusions, a variation of Houdini’s Water Torture Cell.

Reader comments

James Kagan

13-Jan-2024

I started in magic as a kid when we lived in the middle of nowhere Alaska with no TV available. I don't think I saw my first televised magic show until I was mid-teens and we lived on San Juan Island in the Pacific Northwest and we could get one Canadian station -- I'd get up early every Saturday morning to watch Dale Harney's Magic Palace. Looking back, at the time I had no idea of the famous magicians I saw performing on that show, but I saw a lot of the greats. And because of that show, 45 years later, I still want to perform wearing black gloves! ;)

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