R.A. Priddle, a magician and expert on Francis Barrett, discusses Barrett's life as a magician and teacher of magic. They explore Barrett's fraudulent balloon experiments, his studies with Ebenezer Sibly, and his influence on Eliphas Levi and Edward Bulwer-Lytton. They also reveal that a talisman from Barrett's book was carried by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter-Day Saints.