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.
🇫🇷 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
🇬🇧 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 KingdomJohn Nevil Maskelyne
A Victorian magician who exposed fraud and invented the pay toiletIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇦🇺 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
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreCard throwing
The performance art of launching playing cards with speed and precision as stage magic.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇧🇪 BelgiumServais Le Roy
A Belgian magician who designed classic illusions and performed in a famous trio act.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreTarottarocchi
A set of cards for games and divination, with roots in fifteenth-century ItalyText · Wonder and entertainment · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 morePhantasmagoria
A horror theatre using magic lanterns to project frightening images in the darkIllusion · 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
🇸🇪 Sweden and 5 moreMidsummerJāņi; Joninės; Jaanipäev; Enyovden; Litha; Juhannus
A summer solstice festival marked by bonfires, maypole dancing, and feasting across Europe.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity 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
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreAlexander Herrmann
A 19th-century magician known for sleight of hand and card throwingIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 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 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 KingdomDavid Devant
English magician and early film exhibitor known for witty stage presentationIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇨🇿 Czech RepublicCzech folklore
The folk traditions of the Czech people, from seasonal rites to music and craft.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreTrick-or-treating
A Halloween custom where costumed visitors ask for treats from homesTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreHobby horse
A costumed character made from wood or cloth used in seasonal folk customs and processions.Illusion · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomBeltane Fire Festival
A modern Edinburgh performance celebrating the start of summer with fire and danceRite · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreJoseph Pinetti
An eighteenth-century magician who brought illusion to the theatre and pioneered stage advertising.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreMay Day
A European spring festival marking the start of summer with flowers, poles and fire.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreShell game
A street swindle using covered containers to hide a marker while taking betsIllusion · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomEgyptian Hall
A London exhibition hall known for magic shows and Egyptian-style architecture, demolished in 1905.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreGreen Man
A carved face made of leaves, used as a decorative motif in architecture and art.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreStage magic
A performing art of tricks and illusions that entertain audiences using natural meansIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMentalism
A stage art that mimics psychic powers using psychology and sleight of handIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 morePepper's ghost
A stage illusion using angled glass to project hidden actors as visible ghostsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreBullet catch
A stage illusion where a magician appears to catch a fired bullet in their mouth or handIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 4 moreEurythmy
An expressive movement art that translates music and speech into gestureTradition · Wonder and entertainment · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇹 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
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreGuillotine (magic trick)
A stage illusion where a blade passes through a neck or finger without harmIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 3 moreZwarte Piet
A companion of Saint Nicholas in Low Countries folklore, now the subject of major cultural debate.Figure · Luck and prosperity Living
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreChapeaugraphy
A novelty act using a single ring of felt to form different hatsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreStreet performance
Public entertainment offered for voluntary tips in open spacesIllusion · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Living
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 5 moreLiving statue
A street performer who poses motionless as a painted statue or mannequin.Illusion · 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
🇮🇹 ItalyIn bocca al lupo
An Italian idiom wishing good luck by invoking danger, with a response asking for the wolf's death.Belief · Luck and prosperity 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
🇦🇹 AustriaMagic Club of ViennaMagischer Klub Wien
Austrian association for stage magicians founded in 1908Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇹 ItalyBologna bottle
A glass vessel that withstands hammer blows but shatters from an internal scratchCharm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Eurythmy: Awslibrary, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Guillotine (magic trick): Reginald Scott, Public domain, source
- Levitation: Godot13, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pepper's ghost: The original uploader was Wapcaplet at English Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, 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
- Tarot: World Web Playing Card Museum, Public domain, source
- Phantasmagoria: Alphonse de Neuville or A. Jahandier, Public domain, source
- Isaac Fawkes: William Hogarth, Public domain, source
- Midsummer: Kora27, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Walpurgis Night: Luis Ricardo Falero, Public domain, source
- Alexander Herrmann: Photographer unidentified, Public domain, source
- Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Sawing a woman in half: Jasper Maskelyne, Public domain, source
- Tarocco Bolognese: Countakeshi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Czech folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Trick-or-treating: Toyah Anette B, Public domain, source
- Hobby horse: Timkevan at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Beltane Fire Festival: Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- May Day: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shell game: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bullet catch: Dave Fayram, CC BY 2.0, source
- Green Man: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Egyptian Hall: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Chink-a-chink: Niklaus Gerber, CC BY 3.0, source
- Zwarte Piet: The illustrator is Daan Hoeksma, who died in 1935. The author is liste, Public domain, source
- David Devant: Simon Edwards Esq, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chapeaugraphy: Penny Pictorial Magazine, Public domain, source
- Card throwing: Felbify, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sword swallowing: Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- John Nevil Maskelyne: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin: Carcharoth (Commons), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mentalism: The U.S. Printing Co., Russell-Morgan Print, Cincinnati & New York., Public domain, source