How Does an Illusionist Come Up With New Tricks?
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Ilusion Designers
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First of all, not all performing illusionists design their own tricks. A magician often contributes the elements of showmanship and stage presence to the show while an inventor creates the tricks himself. This is often the case with magicians who perform large-scale tricks. This is the case with Jim Steinmeyer, a designer who has worked for Doug Henning and David Copperfield (creating, among other things, the famous "disappearing Statue of Liberty" trick).
Theatrics
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In addition to working for Copperfield, Steinmeyer, along with colleague John Gaughan, has designed magic effects for theatrical shows such as Disney's Broadway version of Beauty and the Beast. Designing illusions for magic shows is just another form of theatrical special effects, albeit one that generally comes under closer scrutiny.
The skills required for illusion design are multi-faceted. Primarily, a person working in this field must posess ingenuity and creativity. Knowledge of mechanical engineering, advancements in modern technology, and theater special effects traditions are also a plus.
A trick designer is an inventor like any other. Ideas come from necessity (being asked to come up with a specific illusion) and from observation leading to good general knowledge of how things can work.
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Sleight of Hand
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The magician can still have an important role in creating new tricks. Tricks commonly developed by performers themselves will often involve the development of smaller-scale tricks based in skillsets such as sleight of hand and palming techniques. These tricks may have less to do with ingenuity and more to do with the development of seamless abilities to move and hide small objects without being detected. The same basic concepts can underly several different tricks framed with different theatrics - for example, the same basic palming techniques might be used to "produce" a coin, a playing card, or a ball, each of which can play a seemingly different role in a trick, depending on how the magician presents himself.
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