Tribeca ’26: Stealing Magic

Ironically, in a few years, this documentary will probably be pirated on bit-torrent sites, just like any other movie. Yet, it vividly illustrates the damage piracy does to creative everyday people, who work for a living. In this case, it is illusion designers and magic book authors whose livelihoods were jeopardized by a large predatory magic piracy site. With help from the international magic community, creator and performer Andi Gladwin hoped to pull off the biggest trick of his career: making the piracy site disappear. Matthew Testa follows his investigation in the documentary Stealing Magic, which screens again this afternoon as part of the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival.

Like film, books, and music, magic design has largely shifted to digital downloads. Of course, that made Gladwin’s business much more vulnerable to piracy. He and his partner, Joshua Jay invent and market new illusions, which magicians buy and adapt for their acts. For obvious reasons, their products carry high prices, while turning much lower volume as compared to standard trade publishing releases, so piracy really cuts into their revenue and profitability.

One pirate site in particular always seemed to have every designer’s latest releases. In a particularly heart-breaking example, this site crushed the market for the late Leo Behnke’s Taylor-Made Magic: The Life of Merv Taylor, a labor-of-love study of the pioneering celebrity magician, which deserved its $100 price-point.

As more and more colleagues quit in frustration, Gladwin decided to track down his prime suspect, based on suspicious emails he had received. Initially, the trail led to Serbia, but the man in question was most likely just a supplier. Eventually, they use GPS trackers, following a shipment they believe the pirate site ordered through proxies, all across Europe and eventually to Egypt.

This really is an incredible story that will challenge many viewers’ preconceptions. It directly contradicts the notion that piracy is a “victimless” crime. Instead, it shows the financial and emotional pain piracy caused within the magic community. These are creative people, but they or neither wealthy or privileged. Remember this film if extremist provocateur Hasan Piker endorses a candidate in your state. In addition to spewing antisemitism, Piker also declared: “I’m pro-piracy all the way.”

In a way, this film is an anti-caper, in which Gladwin and his colleagues go to extraordinary lengths to stop theft. Their investigation entails considerable risks, including online harassment and perhaps even physical intimidation. However, they had support from fellow magicians, like Ondrej Psenicka from Czechia, who successfully “fooled” Penn & Teller (who also appear as commentators). In fact, Psenicka rather ruefully explains piracy is rampant in his country, because their years under Communism taught people not to value intellectual property.

Testa and Gladwin truly take viewers on a wild ride. Frankly, it is rather unexpectedly empowering, by providing a case study of how piracy victims can fight back. Honestly, Stealing Magic deserves to be go-to doc on the subject of piracy. Plus, the audience learns a good deal about the art and traditions of magic performance. Very highly recommended, Stealing Magic screens again this afternoon (6/14), during this year’s Tribeca.