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.
馃嚠馃嚫 Iceland and 1 moreUr (rune)
A runic character representing the aurochs or cold rain in Germanic alphabetsText 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceCentauride螝蔚谓蟿伪蠀蟻委未蔚 (Kentauride)
A female centaur from Greek mythology, depicted in art and literature as a hybrid of woman and horse.Being 路 Wonder and entertainment Legendary
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 2 moreBesom胁械薪懈泻
A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm 路 Protection 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 4 moreWei脽e Frauen
Elven spirits of sunlight and water in Germanic folkloreBeing 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 GermanyLichtenberg's Avertissement
A satirical poster exposing stage magic as deceptionText 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical
馃嚡馃嚨 Japan and 5 moreMythic humanoids
Creatures that blend human and animal traits across global folkloreBeing 路 Wonder and entertainment Legendary
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyTredesin de Mars
A Milanese spring celebration marked by a flower fair and a legendary stoneTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 2 moreChink-a-chink
A close-up coin trick where objects appear to jump between locations until gathered togetherIllusion 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚞馃嚪 GreecePasipha毛螤伪蟽喂蠁维畏
A Cretan queen and solar goddess cursed with lust for a bull, mother of the MinotaurFigure 路 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.
- Centauride: John La Farge, Public domain, source
- Chink-a-chink: Niklaus Gerber, CC BY 3.0, source
- Lichtenberg's Avertissement: Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Public domain, source
- Ur (rune): RexCrudelissimus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wei脽e Frauen: Wojciech Gerson, Public domain, source
- Besom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cox_(artist), Public domain, source
- Pasipha毛: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tredesin de Mars: A ntv, Public domain, source