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EveryJaadu

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.

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

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

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

🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreInternational Brotherhood of Magicians A global organization for professional and amateur magicians founded in 1922.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

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

🇺🇸 United StatesHoward Thurston A stage magician who built the largest traveling magic show in historyIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesPenn & Teller A long-running American magic duo known for comedy acts and skeptical advocacyIllusion · 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 States and 1 moreChung Ling Soo程連蘇 An American stage magician who performed as a Chinese man and died during a bullet catch illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreHarry Kellar An American illusionist known for large-scale stage magic and mechanical tricks.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreStage magic A performing art of tricks and illusions that entertain audiences using natural meansIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇫🇷 France and 5 moreBuatier De Kolta A French stage magician known for mechanical illusions and the vanishing chair.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreDavenport brothers A pair of American stage magicians who performed spirit cabinet illusions in the late nineteenth century.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomEgyptian Hall A London exhibition hall known for magic shows and Egyptian-style architecture, demolished in 1905.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSnake charming A street performance using a gourd flute to make snakes swayIllusion · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Fading

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

🇮🇳 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

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

🇫🇷 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

🇬🇧 United KingdomIsaac Fawkes An English conjurer who moved magic from the fairground to fashionable London society.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHorace Goldin A stage magician known for his fast style and the sawing illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇬🇧 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

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreFire eating A performance art of extinguishing flames in the mouthIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed

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

🇺🇸 United StatesSociety of American Magicians A global professional group for magicians that preserves the art and ethics of stage illusionIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChing Ling Foo金陵福 (Jīn Língfú) A Chinese stage magician who toured the United States and Europe in the late nineteenth centuryIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMentalism A stage art that mimics psychic powers using psychology and sleight of handIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 morePepper's ghost A stage illusion using angled glass to project hidden actors as visible ghostsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇮🇳 IndiaStreet magic Public performance of illusions for passersby, from traditional busking to impromptu guerrilla tricksIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreCups and balls A classic stage illusion where objects vanish and reappear under inverted coversIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreBullet catch A stage illusion where a magician appears to catch a fired bullet in their mouth or handIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇺🇸 United StatesSawing a lady in half (sample) A famous stage effect, described without its method.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed

🇺🇸 United StatesBed of nails A wooden platform studded with nails used in magic acts and physics demonstrationsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreGuillotine (magic trick) A stage illusion where a blade passes through a neck or finger without harmIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇺🇸 United StatesDavid Copperfield's laser illusion A stage trick where a magician appears to be sliced by a beam of light and reassembled.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesHot foil trick A stage illusion where foil heats and burns in a volunteer's handIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇦🇺 AustraliaPortal (magic trick) A stage illusion where the magician and a volunteer vanish to appear in a distant location.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreMagic A performance art using natural means to create the appearance of impossible featsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreStreet performance Public entertainment offered for voluntary tips in open spacesIllusion · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Living

🇳🇱 Netherlands and 5 moreLiving statue A street performer who poses motionless as a painted statue or mannequin.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇨🇦 CanadaBalzac Billy A groundhog-costumed mascot that forecasts the weather on Groundhog Day in Alberta.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreChapeaugraphy A novelty act using a single ring of felt to form different hatsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreChink-a-chink A close-up coin trick where objects appear to jump between locations until gathered togetherIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇦🇹 AustriaMagic Club of ViennaMagischer Klub Wien Austrian association for stage magicians founded in 1908Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇩🇪 GermanyMagic Circle of the German Democratic RepublicMagischer Zirkel der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik A national association for stage magicians in East Germany from 1956 to 1990.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreOrigami (magic trick) A stage illusion where a person vanishes into and reappears from a folding paper boxIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed

Photo credits on this page

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

Street magic: Hieronymus Bosch and workshop / Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch / After H, Public domain, source
Guillotine (magic trick): Reginald Scott, Public domain, source
Levitation: Godot13, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pepper's ghost: The original uploader was Wapcaplet at English Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Living statue: Another one of my pictures: This photograph was taken by Medium69 (Wil, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Street performance: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0, source
Bed of nails: Herbert Ponting, Public domain, source
Fire eating: Arvind Jain, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Phantasmagoria: Alphonse de Neuville or A. Jahandier, Public domain, source
Society of American Magicians: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
Alexander Herrmann: Photographer unidentified, Public domain, source
Sawing a woman in half: Jasper Maskelyne, Public domain, source
Hobby horse: Timkevan at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Howard Thurston: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
Penn & Teller: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CC BY 2.0, source
Bullet catch: Dave Fayram, CC BY 2.0, source
Green Man: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Chung Ling Soo: AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Harry Kellar: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Davenport brothers: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Egyptian Hall: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Chink-a-chink: Niklaus Gerber, CC BY 3.0, source
Snake charming: Paris75000, Public domain, source
David Devant: Simon Edwards Esq, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Chapeaugraphy: Penny Pictorial Magazine, Public domain, source
Card throwing: Felbify, CC BY 3.0, source
Sword swallowing: Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
John Nevil Maskelyne: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin: Carcharoth (Commons), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mentalism: The U.S. Printing Co., Russell-Morgan Print, Cincinnati & New York., Public domain, source
Isaac Fawkes: William Hogarth, Public domain, source

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.