Stage magicians: who they are and what they do

Stage magicians are conjurers and illusionists who entertain by deception, and say so. They range from street performers and close-up magicians to large-scale illusionists, mentalists and escape artists. This page covers the profession, its history and its ethics. As in every article here, it does not explain how tricks are done, since the secrets belong to the craft and the pleasure of the audience. Their rules are the opposite of secrecy about intent: they say outright that it is a trick.

A profession and a craft

Performers train for years in sleight of hand, patter, timing and stagecraft. Societies and clubs support them: the Society of American Magicians (1902), the Magic Circle in London (1905) and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The Magic Castle in Los Angeles is a famous clubhouse. Most magicians work in restaurants, parties, theatres and corporate events, and few become famous. Training includes stagecraft, voice, timing, mime, costume and carefully rehearsed routines, with different branches such as close-up, parlour, stage and street.

Who performs

Famous names include Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, Harry Houdini, Harry Kellar, Howard Thurston, P. C. Sorcar, Chung Ling Soo, Siegfried and Roy and David Copperfield. Women such as Adelaide Herrmann and Dell O'Dell worked in a field that favoured men. Magic has also been performed in India, China, Japan, the Arab world and Africa for a long time, though Western histories have given those performers less attention. Women performers were rarely billed as stars before the twentieth century, and Black, Indian and Chinese performers often faced racism in Western halls.

The code and its limits

An informal code asks magicians not to expose methods, not to claim supernatural powers and to respect each other's work. Mentalists who say they read minds sit on a line, and those who admit to showmanship are honest while those who claim real powers move toward fraud. Houdini and James Randi campaigned against fake mediums and faith healers on that basis. Beyond the stage, performers consult on films, give lessons and design props, and some work as scientific advisers on perception.

Scholars and the brain

Researchers working with performers have studied inattentional blindness, change blindness and how the mind constructs what it sees. Magicians have also helped investigators test claims of psychic powers, since they know how observers are easily misled. Audiences, not scholars, decide whether the show was worth the ticket. The audience, too, plays a part: a magic show works only if the audience takes part willingly, with attention, laughter and surprise. A show is a shared agreement.

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

Groundhog Day: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, 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

Shell game: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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

Stage magicians