What is Magic?

What is Magic?
Author: Magic Man

Magic (conjuring), art of entertaining with tricks that are in apparent violation of natural law. The principles of deception that magicians use are psychological; the methods are manipulative and mechanical.

The psychological principles are misdirection, suggestion, imitation, and concealment. The spectators do not see everything that happens, and they believe they see things that do not happen. Such faulty perception leads to false assumptions, fallacious logic, and, in the end, to the conclusion that the performer has achieved an impossible result. Sleight of hand (that is, deception by manual dexterity) consists in the performance of certain actions that are not perceived because they are concealed, or are misconstrued because they imitate some innocent, natural action. In the more difficult magical tricks, the performer employs sleight of hand without the use of special apparatus.

Mechanical methods involve the use of camouflaged apparatus that the audience sees but does not comprehend and of apparatus that is not seen. The tricks employing apparatus include stage tricks in which objects appear, disappear, change, float on air, survive mutilation, or penetrate solid barriers. Mentalism is a branch of conjuring in which the magician simulates telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition (see Psychical Research). II. HistoryPrint section The earliest written records indicate that a distinction has probably always been made between magicians who are entertainers and the tribal witch doctors and medicine men who claimed that their incantations and spells could control nature and human destiny.

The first magicians of recorded history were those of ancient Egypt. The Egyptian magician Dedi (fl. about 2700 BC) gave a performance in which he decapitated two birds and an ox and then restored their heads. Other Egyptian magicians were noted for their skill with the trick of the cups and balls. In this trick small balls seem to pass invisibly from one inverted cup or bowl to another. Finally, they are converted into larger spheres or such unexpected things as oranges or live baby chicks. Sleight of hand with coins, dice, and, later, playing cards added variety to the performances of medieval magicians. The tricks of the cut and restored string and of thrusting a dagger through the arm without injury were performed in taverns and in marketplaces.

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