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.
🇬🇧 United KingdomJohn Nevil Maskelyne
A Victorian magician who exposed fraud and invented the pay toiletIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHorace Goldin
A stage magician known for his fast style and the sawing illusion.Illusion · 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
🇨🇳 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
🇫🇷 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 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 States and 4 moreHarry Kellar
An American illusionist known for large-scale stage magic and mechanical tricks.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreBuatier De Kolta
A French stage magician known for mechanical illusions and the vanishing chair.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
🇬🇧 United KingdomEgyptian Hall
A London exhibition hall known for magic shows and Egyptian-style architecture, demolished in 1905.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomDavid Devant
English magician and early film exhibitor known for witty stage presentationIllusion · 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
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreJoseph Pinetti
An eighteenth-century magician who brought illusion to the theatre and pioneered stage advertising.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇨🇦 CanadaSpoon bending
A magic trick and paranormal claim involving the deformation of metal cutleryBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaIndrajalaइन्द्रजाल
A Sanskrit term for illusion and conjuring, linking stage magic to Hindu philosophy.Belief · Wonder and entertainment · Cursing and harm 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
🇺🇸 United StatesHot foil trick
A stage illusion where foil heats and burns in a volunteer's handIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇦🇺 AustraliaPortal (magic trick)
A stage illusion where the magician and a volunteer vanish to appear in a distant location.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇩🇪 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
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Spoon bending: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin: Carcharoth (Commons), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Phantasmagoria: Alphonse de Neuville or A. Jahandier, Public domain, source
- Isaac Fawkes: William Hogarth, Public domain, source
- Alexander Herrmann: Photographer unidentified, Public domain, source
- Indrajala: Abishekrl15156, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Howard Thurston: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Chung Ling Soo: AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Harry Kellar: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Davenport brothers: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Egyptian Hall: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- David Devant: Simon Edwards Esq, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- John Nevil Maskelyne: Unknown author, Public domain, source