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.
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreFire eating
A performance art of extinguishing flames in the mouthIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreJoseph Pinetti
An eighteenth-century magician who brought illusion to the theatre and pioneered stage advertising.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaIndian rope trick
A legendary stage illusion involving a levitating rope and a disappearing boy assistantIllusion · 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
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 morePhantasmagoria
A horror theatre using magic lanterns to project frightening images in the darkIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomEgyptian Hall
A London exhibition hall known for magic shows and Egyptian-style architecture, demolished in 1905.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
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreBuatier De Kolta
A French stage magician known for mechanical illusions and the vanishing chair.Illusion · 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
🇨🇳 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 KingdomIsaac Fawkes
An English conjurer who moved magic from the fairground to fashionable London society.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 3 moreAlexander Herrmann
A 19th-century magician known for sleight of hand and card throwingIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesHoward Thurston
A stage magician who built the largest traveling magic show in historyIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomJohn Nevil Maskelyne
A Victorian magician who exposed fraud and invented the pay toiletIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 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 KingdomDavid Devant
English magician and early film exhibitor known for witty stage presentationIllusion · 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
🇺🇸 United States and 1 morePunxsutawney Phil
A groundhog who serves as the central figure in an annual American weather prediction festival.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreTattoo
A permanent mark made by placing pigment under the skin to form a design.Tradition · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreGnawa musicڭْناوة or كْناوة
Moroccan ritual music blending West African heritage with Islamic practice for healing and tranceTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 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
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreInternational Brotherhood of Magicians
A global organization for professional and amateur magicians founded in 1922.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 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 StatesSociety of American Magicians
A global professional group for magicians that preserves the art and ethics of stage illusionIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 7 moreWalpurgis NightWalpurgisnacht
A spring vigil marking the eve of Saint Walpurga's feast day with bonfires and student festivalsRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHalloween
A Christian vigil on 31 October for the dead, now marked by costumes and carved vegetablesRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSéance
A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHorace Goldin
A stage magician known for his fast style and the sawing illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesSawing a lady in half (sample)
A famous stage effect, described without its method.Illusion · 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.
- Punxsutawney Phil: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
- Indian rope trick: Anonymous Unknown author, CC0, source
- Tattoo: Muyayo tattoo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin: Carcharoth (Commons), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gnawa music: Lucyin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fire eating: Arvind Jain, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Card throwing: Felbify, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sword swallowing: Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Phantasmagoria: Alphonse de Neuville or A. Jahandier, Public domain, source
- Sawing a woman in half: Jasper Maskelyne, Public domain, source
- Society of American Magicians: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Egyptian Hall: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Davenport brothers: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Isaac Fawkes: William Hogarth, Public domain, source
- Walpurgis Night: Luis Ricardo Falero, Public domain, source
- Harry Kellar: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Alexander Herrmann: Photographer unidentified, Public domain, source
- Howard Thurston: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- John Nevil Maskelyne: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Chung Ling Soo: AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- David Devant: Simon Edwards Esq, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Séance: Unknown author, Public domain, source