Wonder and entertainment
Illusion, sleight of hand and the pleasure of being fooled.
Wonder and entertainment is the aim of the stage magician: to astonish an audience who knows it is being fooled. Conjuring, illusion, mentalism and street magic belong here, from the cups and balls of ancient Rome to Robert-Houdin, Houdini, Harry Kellar, P. C. Sorcar of India, Siegfried and Roy, and David Copperfield. This page covers the art, its history and its ethics, and does not reveal how any trick is done.
The art of the honest lie
A magician promises a trick and delivers astonishment. The pleasure comes from the gap between what is seen and what is known. Performers speak of misdirection, timing, patter and showmanship. Magicians also keep an informal rule not to expose methods, so that audiences can keep the pleasure and the craft keeps its livelihood. This is the most open part of the subject, in which no one is asked to believe.
Where it is performed
Magic has always had a street and a stage. In India, P. C. Sorcar Sr. (1913 to 1971) toured the world and became a national name. In China and Japan, conjuring was part of variety theatre and a distinct craft. In the Arab world and the Ottoman empire, performers worked in coffee houses and fairs. In the West, the music hall, the television special and the Las Vegas show carried the art into mass entertainment.
Who is welcome
For much of its history, the profession was dominated by men, with women as assistants, though performers such as Adelaide Herrmann broke the pattern. Racial stereotypes shaped acts: Western performers played Chinese or Indian magicians in costume, and Chung Ling Soo's disguise was a famous case. Today, magicians from many countries and women performers are widely visible. Magicians from Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and Nigeria now work on global stages and in festivals, and a few have become well known beyond their borders.
Entertainers against fraud
Houdini and James Randi spent years exposing mediums and faith healers who claimed real powers, arguing that honest conjurers protect the public. Scholars of the mind use magic to study attention, memory and belief. The boundary matters: claiming genuine supernatural power for a trick and charging for it is fraud, not entertainment. As the code puts it, the trick can be admired and enjoyed without the secret being known, and children and adults alike keep that pleasure.
Wonder and entertainment on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreWerewolf
A mythical shapeshifter that turns into a wolf, central to European witch-hunts and Gothic horror.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreLeprechaunlucharachán / leipreachán / luchorpán
A solitary Irish fairy known for mischief and shoe-makingBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBlue men of the Minchna fir ghorma
Mythical blue-skinned spirits of the Scottish strait who challenge sailors to poetry contestsBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomPixie
A mischievous sprite of British folklore from the southwest countiesBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇹 ItalyBadaliscBadalisch
A mythical goat-headed creature from the Italian Alps, captured and mocked during Epiphany celebrations.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 morePhoenix
A legendary bird that dies and is reborn from its own ashesBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomLoch Ness MonsterUilebheist Loch Nis
A legendary lake creature from the Scottish Highlands, famous for disputed photographs and folk tales.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreEaster Bunny
A German folkloric hare that judges children and delivers colored eggs for EasterBeing · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 3 moreHippocampusἱππόκαμπος
A mythological hybrid of a horse and fish from ancient Mediterranean culturesBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreBishop-fish
A legendary sea creature said to gesture like a cleric before vanishingBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇪 IrelandSalmon of KnowledgeAn Bradán Feasa
A mythical fish in Irish folklore that holds all the world's wisdom.Being · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇷🇴 Romania and 5 moreBalaur
A many-headed dragon from Romanian folklore that guards treasures and controls the weather.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary
🇷🇺 RussiaIndrikИндрик-зверь
A legendary Russian beast said to rule all animals from a sacred mountainBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreWater Horse
A mythical shape-shifter from Celtic and Nordic lore, often linked to lake monsters.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomMoragMòrag
A Scottish lake monster said to dwell in Loch MorarBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇪🇸 SpainJentilJentilak
Giants of Basque myth linked to ancient stone builders and pre-Christian timesBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇷🇴 RomaniaZână
A Romanian woodland spirit linked to Diana that guides travelers and blesses children.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇪🇸 SpainAnjanaanˈhana / an.xa.nɜ
Cantabrian fairies who protect forests and bring gifts to children.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomTrow
Nocturnal spirits of the Orkney and Shetland islands, known for mischief and musical abduction.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇫🇷 FranceYan-gant-y-tan
A Breton demon who carries five candles and is said to bring bad luck.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalySquasc
A small, tawny creature from Eastern Lombardy folklore that frightens children and plays jokes on young girlsBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreChuvash dragonВӗрӗҫӗлен
A mythological serpent from Chuvash legends that can fly and breathe fire.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 moreSárkány
A winged reptilian beast from Hungarian folklore, linked to weather and literary heroes.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomPearlin Jean
A Scottish ghost said to haunt the ruins of Allanbank estate in BerwickshireBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayTroll
A Nordic creature of folklore and myth, ranging from mountain dwellers to modern fantasy icons.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreKlabautermann
A North Sea ship kobold that aids sailors and signals a vessel's doom.Being · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreGiants (esotericism)
Spiritual beings linked to lost continents and root races in occult literatureBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBogle
A Northumbrian and Scots household spirit or ghost known for perplexing people.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceCentaurideΚενταυρίδε (Kentauride)
A female centaur from Greek mythology, depicted in art and literature as a hybrid of woman and horse.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreStalloStállu
A large, clumsy creature from Sámi folklore that eats people and is often outwitted by humans.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 5 moreMythic humanoids
Creatures that blend human and animal traits across global folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇸🇪 SwedenVardøger
A spirit double that precedes a person in time and spaceBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇫🇮 FinlandFirefoxtulikettu
A mythical Finnish fox whose tail sparks the northern lightsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreWeiße Frauen
Elven spirits of sunlight and water in Germanic folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceHarpyἅρπυια (hárpyia)
Half-human, half-bird creatures from Greek and Roman myth, often seen as storm winds or snatchers of food.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Xana: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Werewolf: Mont Sudbury, Public domain, source
- Badalisc: Luca Giarelli, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Leprechaun: Unknown author, FAL, source
- Centauride: John La Farge, Public domain, source
- Salmon of Knowledge: Man vyi, Public domain, source
- Loch Ness Monster: StaraBlazkova at Czech Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Easter Bunny: Dr. Bernd Gross, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bishop-fish: photo by Sean Linehan, NOS, NGS National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin, Public domain, source
- Jentil: Ketari ( http://ketari.nirudia.com/ ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yan-gant-y-tan: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Sárkány: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, source
- Troll: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Klabautermann: Anton von Werner, Public domain, source
- Harpy: Unknown, near the Tyrrhenian Group?, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Water Horse: Theodor Kittelsen, Public domain, source
- Giants (esotericism): Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
- Phoenix: Bertuch-fabelwesen.JPG : Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch (1747–1822) d, Public domain, source
- Blue men of the Minch: Lord P in the Commons 17:16, 17 June 2007 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pixie: John D. Batten, Public domain, source
- Weiße Frauen: Wojciech Gerson, Public domain, source
- Hippocampus: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source