The story of magic is as old as recorded history. The Westcar Papyrus, written nearly 4000 years ago, holds a story of a magician performing centuries earlier in the Pharaoh's court. Magicians performed in the streets and marketplaces of ancient Greece and Rome. Almost every society has some form of magic. Some say that magic is the most universal of the performing arts, because it translates so easily from one culture to another.

Before the year 1750, most magic was performed outdoors in marketplaces, in fairs, and on street corners. Magicians had no stages of their own. Their shows were limited to what they could carry with them—or what their audiences were likely to have handy.

ANCIENT EGYPT Beheadings in the court
Nearly 5000 years ago, magic entertained the court of the Egyptian king Cheops. A magician named Dedi cut off and restored the heads of a goose, a pelican and an ox.

ANCIENT GREECE Magic on the street
Magicians drew crowds on the streets of ancient Greece. One watcher wrote of seeing a man put three small cups on a table. The magician then moved pebbles "one by one under the cups, and then—I don't know how—made them appear under one cup, and showed them in his mouth."

INDIA The illusion that never was
The tale of the famed "Indian rope trick" goes back more than 600 years. The story goes roughly as follows: a magician suspends a rope in an outdoor clearing. Then a boy climbs the rope and disappears, calling down insults. The magician grabs a sword, follows and disappears too. The audience hears screams as body parts fall to the ground. Then the magician reappears, climbs down, throws the bloody parts into a basket and shakes it. The boy steps out of the basket unhurt.

Only one problem: as described here, it's impossible. While magicians have reproduced some parts of the Indian rope trick, the whole tale is most likely just a story passed along by people who said they knew others who had seen it. Many magicians have said that repeating it all outdoors just can't be done.

This famous painting by Hieronymus Bosch shows the popular cups-and-balls.

EUROPE Magic for kings and commoners—and suspicion
While some European magicians performed in royal courts, most worked in marketplaces, at fairs and on street corners.

Though the illusions were quite popular, people sometimes accused the magicians of witchcraft. To make it easier to find "real" witches, Reginald Scot wrote "The Discoverie of Witchcraft" in 1584. In it, he revealed how magicians did some common illusions to show that they used natural methods, not witchy powers.