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.
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreSea Swine
A mythical sea creature depicted with dragon feet and a navel eye in early mapsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇪 IrelandJack O'The Lantern
An Irish folktale about a deceitful man condemned to wander with a carved lanternFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇰🇷 South KoreaSeolmundae Halmang설문대할망
A giant creator figure from Jeju Island who shaped the land and its volcanoes.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomTom Thumb
A tiny English folk hero who outwits giants and serves King ArthurFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesAlfred Bulltop Stormalong
A giant sailor from New England tall tales and sea shantiesFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇷🇸 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
🇳🇿 New ZealandKumi Lizard
A legendary reptile from New Zealand folklore, said to be a giant monitor lizard.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreKuma LisaКума Лиса
A trickster fox from Slavic folklore who outwits other animalsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇱🇹 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
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 3 moreThe Swan Queen
A Lithuanian fairy tale about a bird maiden who becomes human and returns to the skyFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇰🇷 South KoreaMago Halmi마고할미
A giant creator goddess in Korean mythology associated with hemp weaving and the separation of heaven and earth.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanBanchō Sarayashiki番町皿屋敷
A Japanese ghost story about a servant who dies unjustly and haunts her murderer by counting plates.Figure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇦🇹 AustriaHaymon
A legendary giant of Tyrol who founded a monastery and defeated local spiritsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇩🇿 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
🇫🇯 FijiFlaming Teeth
A giant from Fijian myth whose burning teeth brought fire to humanityFigure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanKuzunoha葛の葉
A kitsune spirit and mother of the famous onmyōji Abe no Seimei in Japanese folkloreFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇪🇬 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
🇮🇹 ItalySatyress
A female mythological creature with a human upper body and goat lower half, invented by later artists.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇪 IrelandChildren of LirOidheadh chloinne Lir
An Irish myth about four siblings transformed into swans by a jealous stepmotherFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreGiant
Mythic humanoids of immense size and strength found in global folklore and ancient textsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇱 Greenland and 2 moreThe Goose Wife
A circumpolar myth of a hunter and a woman who sheds her bird skinFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇷 GreecePasiphaëΠασιφάη
A Cretan queen and solar goddess cursed with lust for a bull, mother of the MinotaurFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇸🇮 SloveniaGiantess of Crngrobajdovska deklica
A Slovene giantess who helped build a church and left a rib as an omenFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇨🇦 CanadaChasse-galerieLa Chasse-galerie
A French-Canadian folktale about lumberjacks who fly a canoe to visit lovers on New Year's EveFigure · Love and attraction · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomPiers Shonks
A legendary knight who slew a dragon and cheated the Devil in HertfordshireFigure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇧🇷 BrazilRomãozinho
A cursed immortal boy from Brazilian folklore who never grows and causes mischief.Figure · 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.
- Giantess of Crngrob: Vid Pogacnik, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Children of Lir: John Duncan, Public domain, source
- Satyress: art_traveller, CC BY-SA 2.0 uk, source
- Sea Swine: Jacob van Maerlant, Public domain, source
- Tassili Mushroom Figure: I redrawn the rock art written by ancient people., Public domain, source
- Banchō Sarayashiki: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Okiku ,, Public domain, source
- Tom Thumb: Leutemann or Offterdinger , photo by Harke, Public domain, source
- Piers Shonks: William Blyth Gerish, Public domain, source
- Jack O'The Lantern: Bodrugan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Eglė the Queen of Serpents: Huw, CC BY 2.0, source
- Haymon: Hafelekar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kuzunoha: Print artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) Print artist: Utagawa Hiroshige, Public domain, source
- Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Giant: Attributed to Francisco Goya, Public domain, source
- Pasiphaë: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chasse-galerie: Henri Julien, Public domain, source