Prefer to call them illusionists. The series on National Geographic at the moment called "Brain Games" is quite instructive on the mechanisms illusionists use.
“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996
It's the "how did they do that" factor that helps spiritual charlatans to pull off all sorts of "supernatural" looking tricks.
As for the big-name illusions... often the truth of the trick is so obvious or mundane, it's just more fun not knowing. Sometimes I watch Criss Angel on TV and just can't believe people fall for it. If you know what to look for, they're embarrassingly simple.
My favourite stuff is the mental magic that guys like Derren Brown and Banachek do. I know a fair bit about how a lot of their tricks work but they still blow my mind.
Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly
to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.
Trusted
