prestidigitators
Sleight-of-hand artists
Prestidigitators are people who perform sleight of hand—magicians whose tricks depend on manual dexterity rather than elaborate apparatus.
The word is deliberately fancy, often used with a wink: The prestidigitator produced a coin from behind my ear.
It suggests old-fashioned stage magic, top hats and card tricks, rather than modern illusion spectacles.
Skillful manual deception
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- dexteritySkillful hand coordination
- misdirectionIntentional focus manipulation
- palmingHiding object in hand
vanishing · appearing · card · coin · cups-and-balls · thimblerig · passes · force
Practitioners of sleight-of-hand
- illusionistsEntertainers creating false perceptions
- conjurersPractitioners of stage magic
- entertainersThose who amuse others
- showmenTheatrical entertainment producers
performers · tricksters · stage · audience · applause · spectacle · theater · cabaret
Famous escape artist
- close-upNear-range photograph
- parlorFormal room for visitors
- streetPublic urban roadway
- buskingPublic performance for donations
cups · wand · cape · gloves · playing-cards · silk · rope · apprentice
Misleading sensory impression
- trickDeliberate deception
- ruseDeliberate act of deception
- guileSly, strategic dishonesty
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
artifice · subterfuge · distraction · feint · concealment · secrecy · mystification · bamboozle
sleight-of-hand
Skillful manual deception
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- dexteritySkillful hand coordination
- misdirectionIntentional focus manipulation
palming · vanishing · appearing · card · coin · cups-and-balls · thimblerig · passes · force · switch
magicians
Practitioners of sleight-of-hand
- illusionistsEntertainers creating false perceptions
- conjurersPractitioners of stage magic
- entertainersThose who amuse others
showmen · performers · tricksters · stage · audience · applause · spectacle · theater · cabaret · vaudeville
Houdini
Famous escape artist
busking · cups · wand · cape · gloves · playing-cards · silk · rope · apprentice · secrets
illusion
Misleading sensory impression
cunning · artifice · subterfuge · distraction · feint · concealment · secrecy · mystification · bamboozle · hoodwink
prestidigitatorspsychics
Claimed mind readers
clairvoyants · mediums · faith healers · prophets · miracle workers
prestidigitatorsdebunkers
Those who discredit falsities
skeptics · exposers · whistleblowers · truth-tellers · Penn and Teller