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.
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesHex sign
Pennsylvania Dutch barn symbols that range from folk art to talismansCharm 路 Protection 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚚馃嚘 Canada and 1 moreInternational Brotherhood of Magicians
A global organization for professional and amateur magicians founded in 1922.Illusion 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 2 moreJack-o'-lantern
A hollowed vegetable carved with a face and lit from within, worn as a Halloween symbolCharm 路 Protection 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 morePunxsutawney Phil
A groundhog who serves as the central figure in an annual American weather prediction festival.Belief 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesPenn & Teller
A long-running American magic duo known for comedy acts and skeptical advocacyIllusion 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesSociety of American Magicians
A global professional group for magicians that preserves the art and ethics of stage illusionIllusion 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 2 moreS茅ance
A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 3 moreSandpainting
A ritual art of pouring colored sand to create temporary images for healing or spiritual teachingTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaStreet magic
Public performance of illusions for passersby, from traditional busking to impromptu guerrilla tricksIllusion 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 2 moreCups and balls
A classic stage illusion where objects vanish and reappear under inverted coversIllusion 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 moreBarnstar
A painted or carved star used to decorate barns in parts of the United States and Canada.Charm 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism
A modern spiritual movement adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekers outside their traditional cultures.Tradition 路 Healing 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 5 moreLady in Red
A female ghost in a scarlet dress, often linked to tragic or violent deaths.Being 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 4 moreZombie walk
A public gathering where people dress as zombies to walk through city streets for entertainment or charityIllusion 路 Wonder and entertainment 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 5 moreHaunted doll
A doll claimed to be haunted or possessed, often linked to film and urban legend.Belief 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 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 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesMarmot Day
An Alaskan holiday celebrating local marmots and frontier culture, replacing Groundhog Day.Tradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚚馃嚘 CanadaBalzac Billy
A groundhog-costumed mascot that forecasts the weather on Groundhog Day in Alberta.Illusion 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 5 moreMagic
A performance art using natural means to create the appearance of impossible featsIllusion 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesHail Satan
A Satanic exclamation used as ritual greeting, rebel cry, and pop-culture punchlineBelief 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 3 more11:11
A clock time believed to signal spiritual alignment or synchronicity in numerology and New Age thoughtBelief 路 Wonder and entertainment 路 Power and authority Living
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
- Barnstar: Una Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Neoshamanism: Carptrash, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Society of American Magicians: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- S茅ance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sandpainting: Mnolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hex sign: Smallbones, CC0, source
- Penn & Teller: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CC BY 2.0, source
- Punxsutawney Phil: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
- Zombie walk: tangi bertin, CC BY 2.0, source
- Haunted doll: Cayobo, CC BY 1.0, source
- Marmot Day: Colin Canterbury/USFWS, Public domain, source
- Hail Satan: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0, source