Amongst modern conjurors, one of the most notable searchers after actual magic of the occult sort was the man known only as "Magnus", whose search for the supernatural ended in tragedy with a climbing accident in the Himalayas in 1994.

Magnus began his career as a young conjuring wunderkind, playing nightclubs and casinos before he was old enough to be a customer. His youthful energy and unique approach to performance magic quickly earned him a reputation as the "Rock Magician", and by the age of 21, he was touring internationally with famous rock bands like Santana and Cheap Trick.

In his mid-twenties, Magnus fell prey to the perennial scourges of early success in show business: alcohol, drugs, and life in the fast lane. His behavior became erratic and excessive, his career began to falter, and many friends feared for his health and mental stability.

Then, in 1983, Magnus abruptly disappeared from the magic scene. To this day, no one knows for certain where this intense young magician spent the next three years, though the most reliable sources suggest he was in Japan, studying Kabuki and martial arts under the tutelage of the famous Japanese master, Tadashii' Shikkari.

Wherever Magnus may have spent those years, they marked a dramatic change in his life. At the end of that time, a new Magnus made a triumphant reappearance, taking the entertainment world by storm with his bold new act. Still dramatically innovative and daringly different, in this new incarnation, the wild energy of the young "Rock Magician" was replaced with the more controlled power of a sophisticated and polished performer.

Magnus' new act centered around a piece alternately called "Hall of Mirrors" or "The UnMasking". In it, the audience was presented with a drama of a man trapped in a series of masks of his own creation, struggling to be free, and forced ultimately to confront his own true nature in the process.

So powerful was his new performance that public and critics alike hailed it as breaking the bounds of what constituted a "magic show", and Magnus came to be considered less a magician than a performance artist. His one man Broadway show, "Mask, Myth and Magic" played to standing room only houses for many weeks.

During this time, Magnus also became known for his publicly expressed opinions on what he referred to as "Real Magic". He discussed this subject in an interview with Dick Cavins: