Pledge, turn, prestige
The three-part structure of a classic illusion: show the ordinary, make it change, bring it back.
Also: the three acts, structure of a trick, The Prestige
In a widely quoted description, a magic trick has three acts. The pledge shows something ordinary and invites the audience to inspect it. The turn makes it do something extraordinary, such as vanish or change. The prestige is the return, the final step that brings the object back, which is the part audiences remember most. The terms were made well known by Christopher Priest's 1995 novel The Prestige, about two rival Victorian magicians, and by Christopher Nolan's 2006 film of it. The structure is a useful way of thinking about the shape of a performance, found in many stage routines and in stories more broadly. Magicians know that an effect without a satisfying end is only half done.