Author: Page Chen, Independent Member of UHHC from Shenzhen
An article published in Forbes with the headline Down The Rabbit Hole: Inside The Lucrative Business of Local Magicians (Berg, 2016) states in the news, “Max Darwin (stage name Amazing Max), Too, Makes a Comfortable Six Figures, With an Annual Salary of About $200,000.” It is interesting to note that this is not just an isolated occasion: most professional magicians, regardless of their prestige, earn a high income. Shawn Farquhar, ex-president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, famously claimed that “Most can make $100,000, no problem, especially if you’re in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago and doing corporate events” (Berg, 2016). Now, you may be wondering: what are the biggest secrets hidden under the willingness of people who pay for these magicians? Why do these magicians earn such ridiculously high incomes? This essay will discuss the humanity and psychology behind the flourishing of stage magicians.
Magicians boast a lineage that dates back thousands of years. The earliest can be traced back to Egyptian times. An Egyptian papyrus dated around 2500 BCE portrays a magician named Dedi performing an animal decapitation trick for the pharaoh (American Museum of Magic, n.d.). Though this idea is not completely validated by experts, stories about magicians making prophecies were widely spread. It wasn’t until around 50 CE, however, that the performance art of magic is reliably documented (American Museum of Magic, n.d.). Ever since then, magicians have been documented at fairs, on stages, and in theaters to entertain people. Why are humans fascinated by magic? In other words, why is it entertaining?
Recall the last time you saw a magic performance and ask yourself a question: what is it specifically that amuses you?
Kaufman organized a study that shows that positive attitudes toward magic were associated with higher critical thinking, belief in luck, and a greater endorsement of the multifacetness of paranormal beliefs such as spiritualism, precognition, and superstition (Kaufman, 2024). Interestingly, younger people tend to like magic more than older people, and more men prefer magic then women.
On the one hand, people who enjoy magic are the ones who exhibit critical thinking; the most important factor that is associated with the enjoyment of magic is reflective skepticism. Reflective skepticism is a disposition of questioning and analyzing the rationale behind beliefs and decisions. People with a high degree of reflective skepticism tend to check the credibility when evaluating a source or rethink the process when deciding. Magic appeals to human intellectual curiosity, prompting us to challenge the boundaries of perceived reality. People enjoy it as “solving an ‘unsolvable’ puzzle,” and they enjoy the process of being deceived by others then having the truth revealed later. This process is related to deep thinking, like the reflection process in reflective skepticism. Or, perhaps, it can be considered as “being skeptical of the magic shows.”
Speaking of “being skeptical of the magic shows,” on the other hand, there are people who are “skeptical of reality”—they believe magicians use real magic. A famous magician, Joshua Jay, conducted a study with Dr. Lisa Grimm and her team, and they found that nearly 40% of people think it might be possible to do real magic (see “What Do Audiences Really Think?”) (Kaufman, 2024). It is easier for us to understand why this group of people enjoys magic performances, since they are superstitious about magic. From their perspective, the magic show is the real magic, and they do not just experience it; they witness it. There is ever-convincing evidence for them, because they believe that seeing is believing.
On the other hand, there are people who loathe magic for the same reason. People who dislike it claims that magic performances are like questions without answers. In the article Why don’t People Like Magic, one claims that “This is one I can definitely understand and it is probably the main reason I got into magic as a child, I wanted to know how it is done” (Scoop Magic, 2018). Then the magician also claims this is “really hard to combat,” since when asked how the trick is done, they cannot reveal, but most would simply say “it’s magic.” Some would find it offensive and even insulting to the audience’s intelligence, and it becomes the second reason people dislike magic—how the trick is presented by the magicians.
People who dislike magic sometimes simply feel so because they dislike the magician performing to them. This can be for a variety of reasons, but it’s usually because they’ve seen another magician, either live or on telly, who was cheesy, annoying, boring, or arrogant (Scoop Magic, 2018). When magicians elaborate their magic tricks to make the show more attractive, they also take storytelling, stage setting etc., into consideration. This not only can create a fantasy where audiences find themselves enjoying the tales, but also can direct the audience’s attention to the stories rather than obsessing over revealing the tricks.
There are various aspects of humanity that can be reflected in magic. Magic can almost be considered implicitly agreed-upon deception, since both the deceiver and the receiver enjoy the process of deception. Despite the nature of deception being corrupting and venomous, magic takes the definition a complete turn—humans are creating another experiential “reality”. From a different angle, magic also reflects intellectual curiosity that is rooted in human nature. We never cease to ask the tricks are done. Even taking superstitious people into account, they are also using their explanations of “science” to interpret and perceive this world, and they never cease to convince others. The difference occurs based on different experiences and limitations of education, but wouldn’t all mankind want for the better?
So when you enjoy a magical performance next time, understand that for humans, they are more than magical.
Regardless of perception, magic challenges us by almost twitching the reality. What we have seen may not be real, what we have experienced may not be true. Magic is creating a fantasy, a fantasy that seem to be real. Hence, I named it “reality.”
Bibliography
American Museum of Magic. (n.d.). History of Magic | American Museum of Magic. American museum of magic.
https://americanmuseumofmagic.com/history-of-magic/.
Berg, M. (2016, August 28). Down The Rabbit Hole: Inside The Lucrative Business of Local Magicians. Forbes.
https://forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2016/10/28/down-the-rabbit-hole-inside-the-lucrative-business-of-local-magicians/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
Kaufman, S. (2024, August 04). Who Enjoys Magic? | Psychology Today. Psychologytoday.
https://psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beautiful-minds/202408/who-enjoys-magic.
Scoop Magic. (2018, February 21). Why Don’t People Like Magic? – Scoop Magic. Scoopmagic.
https://scoopmagic.co.uk/dont-people-like-magic/.
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