Stage magic and illusion

The art of the conjurer: sleight of hand, the great illusions and the history of the stage.

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Stage magic is the art of the conjurer: sleight of hand, the great illusions, mentalism and the long history of the magic show. It differs from every other form here in one way. The audience knows it is a trick and agrees to be fooled, and the best performers are honest about that. This guide describes famous effects and the history of the art, and does not explain how any trick is done.

A short history

Jugglers and conjurers are recorded in ancient Egypt, Rome and China, and in medieval fairs. Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) is one early English book of conjuring, written partly to argue that witchcraft was a delusion. Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin made the modern stage show in Paris in the 1840s, Harry Houdini made escape an event, and the Las Vegas era turned illusions into spectacle. Skill, rehearsal and honest labour sit behind every effect, and a good performer can spend years on a single move.

Around the world

India has the street magicians and the old rope-and-basket stories of the jadu-wallah. China has a long tradition of acrobatic and conjuring theatre, and William Robinson, an American, took the stage name Chung Ling Soo and played a Chinese conjurer. Japan has tejina, the Edo-period art of sleight, and the Arab world has its own storytellers and street entertainers. Women performers faced fewer chances in the early stage trade and were often cast as assistants.

Honest deception

Magicians follow an informal code: do not expose methods to the public, do not repeat a trick to the same audience, and do not claim supernatural power. The code separates entertainment from fraud. Houdini and later James Randi spent years exposing mediums and faith healers who claimed real powers, believing that doing so protected the public. Ethical debates continue about the use of animals on stage, risky stunts and the borrowing of other cultures' costumes, and some famous acts have ended in accident or death, as with the bullet-catch trick that killed Chung Ling Soo in 1918.

Scholars and the brain

Researchers working with magicians study attention, memory and belief, and have shown how misdirection and cognitive illusions shape what people see. Stage magic has also been borrowed by fraudsters, notably in spiritualist seances of the nineteenth century, which is why performers and sceptics have long worked together. Performance, then, is the one form here where belief is not required of anyone, and that is why it can sit beside the rest of the guide without claiming to prove or disprove any of it.

Illusion on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreBrocken spectreBrockengespenst A giant shadow cast by an observer onto clouds, often surrounded by a rainbow halo.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreGreen Man A carved face made of leaves, used as a decorative motif in architecture and art.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMetamorphosis A stage illusion where a magician and assistant instantly swap places inside a locked container.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇫🇷 France and 5 moreJean Eugène Robert-HoudinJean-Eugène Robert-Houdin A French clockmaker who elevated stage magic into a refined theatrical art.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreCard throwing The performance art of launching playing cards with speed and precision as stage magic.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇦🇺 Australia and 5 moreSword swallowing A dangerous stage skill where a performer guides a blade down the throat into the stomachIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 morePhantasmagoria A horror theatre using magic lanterns to project frightening images in the darkIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSawing a woman in half A stage illusion where an assistant appears to be cut into pieces inside a box or on a tableIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇬🇧 United KingdomEgyptian Hall A London exhibition hall known for magic shows and Egyptian-style architecture, demolished in 1905.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇫🇷 France and 5 moreBuatier De Kolta A French stage magician known for mechanical illusions and the vanishing chair.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇧🇪 BelgiumServais Le Roy A Belgian magician who designed classic illusions and performed in a famous trio act.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomIsaac Fawkes An English conjurer who moved magic from the fairground to fashionable London society.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreEusapia Palladino An Italian medium whose séances were investigated by leading scientists and magicians in the late nineteenth century.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇫🇷 France and 3 moreAlexander Herrmann A 19th-century magician known for sleight of hand and card throwingIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomJohn Nevil Maskelyne A Victorian magician who exposed fraud and invented the pay toiletIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomDavid Devant English magician and early film exhibitor known for witty stage presentationIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomJack in the Green A foliate figure worn in English May Day processions to celebrate summerIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreHobby horse A costumed character made from wood or cloth used in seasonal folk customs and processions.Illusion · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreJoseph Pinetti An eighteenth-century magician who brought illusion to the theatre and pioneered stage advertising.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreShell game A street swindle using covered containers to hide a marker while taking betsIllusion · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreStage magic A performing art of tricks and illusions that entertain audiences using natural meansIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Brocken spectre: Draceane, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Green Man: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Levitation: Godot13, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin: Carcharoth (Commons), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Card throwing: Felbify, CC BY 3.0, source
Sword swallowing: Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Phantasmagoria: Alphonse de Neuville or A. Jahandier, Public domain, source
Sawing a woman in half: Jasper Maskelyne, Public domain, source
Egyptian Hall: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Isaac Fawkes: William Hogarth, Public domain, source
Eusapia Palladino: Baldi., Public domain, source
Alexander Herrmann: Photographer unidentified, Public domain, source
John Nevil Maskelyne: Unknown author, Public domain, source
David Devant: Simon Edwards Esq, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Jack in the Green: SiGarb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Hobby horse: Timkevan at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Shell game: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source