Stage magicians
Conjurers and illusionists who entertain by deception, and say so.
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.
Stage magicians on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇨🇦 CanadaSpoon bending
A magic trick and paranormal claim involving the deformation of metal cutleryBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesBed of nails
A wooden platform studded with nails used in magic acts and physics demonstrationsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreTarocco Bolognese
A 62-card Italian tarot deck from Bologna used for games and cartomancyText · Wonder and entertainment · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇮🇳 IndiaIndrajalaइन्द्रजाल
A Sanskrit term for illusion and conjuring, linking stage magic to Hindu philosophy.Belief · Wonder and entertainment · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 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 StatesHot foil trick
A stage illusion where foil heats and burns in a volunteer's handIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 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
🇮🇳 IndiaSnow Lionགངས་སེང་གེ་
A celestial mountain guardian of Tibet embodying fearlessness, bliss, and the DharmaBeing · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreZombie walk
A public gathering where people dress as zombies to walk through city streets for entertainment or charityIllusion · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Living
🇭🇹 HaitiHaitian CarnivalKanaval
A major Caribbean festival of music, dance, and satire leading to Mardi Gras in HaitiTradition · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity 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
🇺🇸 United StatesPolka-dot paint
A stage magic trick and a real paint product that creates dotted patternsSubstance · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyBologna bottle
A glass vessel that withstands hammer blows but shatters from an internal scratchCharm · 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
🇺🇸 United StatesHail Satan
A Satanic exclamation used as ritual greeting, rebel cry, and pop-culture punchlineBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living
🇩🇪 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
🇳🇱 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
🇯🇵 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
🇦🇺 AustraliaPortal (magic trick)
A stage illusion where the magician and a volunteer vanish to appear in a distant location.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreChapeaugraphy
A novelty act using a single ring of felt to form different hatsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇹🇷 Turkey and 3 moreSufi whirlingSemazen
A spinning meditation practiced by Sufi dervishes to reach spiritual connection with Allah.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Love and attraction 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
- Spoon bending: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Guillotine (magic trick): Reginald Scott, Public domain, 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
- Tarocco Bolognese: Countakeshi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Indrajala: Abishekrl15156, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zombie walk: tangi bertin, CC BY 2.0, source
- Haitian Carnival: User:Doron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chink-a-chink: Niklaus Gerber, CC BY 3.0, source
- Chapeaugraphy: Penny Pictorial Magazine, Public domain, source
- Snow Lion: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hail Satan: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sama: myself, Public domain, source