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.
🇯🇵 JapanKitsunebi狐火
Atmospheric ghost lights in Japanese folklore, often linked to foxes and natural phenomena.Belief · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇰🇮 Kiribati and 4 moreMicronesian mythology
The traditional belief systems and legends of the island peoples in the southwest Pacific.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home
A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇨🇴 ColombiaColombian folklore
Beliefs and legends passed down through generations in ColombiaTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMantraमन्त्रम्
A sacred sound or phrase repeated to focus the mind and invoke spiritual powerText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇱🇻 Latvia and 1 moreLatvian mythology
A collection of myths about gods, spirits, and the afterlife from the Baltic region.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇪🇸 SpainFolklore of Spain
The oral traditions, legends, and folktales of the Iberian PeninsulaTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLuoshu Square洛書
An ancient Chinese three-by-three magic square linked to geomancy and numerologyTradition · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomCornish mythology
The folk tales and legends of Cornwall, shared with Brittany and Wales.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreFairy ring
A natural ring of mushrooms surrounded by folklore about dancing spirits and witches.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇨🇦 CanadaSpoon bending
A magic trick and paranormal claim involving the deformation of metal cutleryBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Historical
🇧🇷 BrazilThe Hairy LegPerna cabeluda
A Brazilian urban legend of a detached leg that attacks people at nightFigure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso and 5 moreCosmic egg
A mythological motif where the universe or a creator emerges from a primordial egg.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 JapanAosaginohi青鷺火
A Japanese will-o'-the-wisp attributed to the glowing flight of herons at nightBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyScrofa semilanuta
A legendary sow seen in a dream that became the ancient emblem of Milan.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreEglė the Queen of SerpentsEglė žalčių karalienė
A Lithuanian folk tale about a woman who marries a serpent king and turns her family into trees.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreOuroborosοὐροβόρος
An ancient image of a serpent eating its own tail, symbolizing cycles and wholenessFigure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 JapanShiranui不知火
Atmospheric ghost lights of the Yatsushiro and Ariake Seas in JapanBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese creation myths
A collection of ancient Chinese stories explaining how the universe and humanity beganBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇸🇪 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
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreFire (classical element)
A classical substance of heat and transformation in Greek, Indian, and Western esoteric traditionsSubstance · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreClassical elements
Ancient theories that explain all matter as combinations of earth, water, fire, air, and aetherBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreVanishing hitchhiker
An urban legend where a motorist picks up a passenger who vanishes, often leaving behind proof of their death.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇩🇿 AlgeriaTassili Mushroom Figure
Neolithic cave art in Algeria interpreted by some as depicting psychedelic mushroom use.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelSeder hishtalshelusסדר השתלשלות
A Kabbalistic cosmology mapping the descent of divine light through spiritual realms to the physical world.Belief · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United StatesMartian Monkey
A 1953 Atlanta hoax involving a tailless monkey dressed as an alienBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreBožićБожић
A Slavic figure linked to the new year and spring, whose name now marks ChristmasFigure · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreHaunted doll
A doll claimed to be haunted or possessed, often linked to film and urban legend.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreAirship of Clonmacnoise
A medieval Irish legend of a ship in the sky and its anchorBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandJack O'The Lantern
An Irish folktale about a deceitful man condemned to wander with a carved lanternFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreThoughtography念写
A claimed psychic ability to imprint mental images directly onto photographic film.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreTelekinesis
A purported psychic ability to move objects with the mind aloneBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Spoon bending: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mantra: Markrosenrosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aosaginohi: Koikawa Harumachi ja:恋川春町 (1744-1789), Public domain, source
- Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Latvian mythology: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Folklore of Spain: Mikipons, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cornish mythology: waterborough, Public domain, source
- Kitsunebi: Abasaa, Public domain, source
- Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
- Colombian folklore: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Fire (classical element): Correogsk, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Scrofa semilanuta: M.casanova, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Classical elements: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Tassili Mushroom Figure: I redrawn the rock art written by ancient people., Public domain, source
- Seder hishtalshelus: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Martian Monkey: Tim Farley, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Haunted doll: Cayobo, CC BY 1.0, source
- Airship of Clonmacnoise: Joseph Mischyshyn, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Jack O'The Lantern: Bodrugan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Telekinesis: Strobridge Lithographing Co., Public domain, source
- Eglė the Queen of Serpents: Huw, CC BY 2.0, source
- Luoshu Square: An unknown Tibetan artist, Public domain, source
- Cosmic egg: James Basire, 1730–1802 (engraver), Public domain, source
- The Hairy Leg: Diógenes Montenegro, Public domain, source
- Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fairy ring: User:Mrs skippy, Public domain, source