When one thinks about an event with a magician for hire, they'll probably imagine a kid's birthday party.
However, the fact that both kids and adults love magic is proven by magicians who have entertained us throughout history. From early magicians like Harry Houdini and James Randi to modern magicians like Chris Angel and David Copperfield, we've always been eager to delight in the impossible things they do.
The love of magic transcends age, which is why all of us are able to be dazzled by it.
Keep reading to learn about the psychology behind why we love magic.
We Are Fascinated by Mystery
Although it's helpful to know things, such as how cars work or how the weather behaves, it can be vastly more interesting to think about mysteries that don't have an answer. When a magician performs a seemingly impossible or complicated trick, we usually have no idea how they did it. We might try to solve the mystery but the best tricks are the ones that can't be solved.
The simple reason is that mystery allows for so many possibilities to potentially be true. If we know the answer then all that potential is brought to one single truth.
Our fascination with mystery starts very early in life. When a parent plays peekaboo with a baby, the baby giggles with joy at the magic trick of a disappearing and reappearing face. The baby has no idea how the parent did the trick and they love it.
As we age, we learn more about the world, such as the fact that a face doesn't disappear from existence if you put your hands in front of it, but there is always more to learn. Because we don't know everything, we can still be as delighted by trick as when we were giggling babies.
Fantasy is More Attractive than Reality
There's nothing exciting about waking up, showering, brushing your teeth, getting dressed, driving to work, then doing it all exactly the same way day after day. We all know that things fall down because of gravity and that the moon isn't made of cheese.
However, when we watch a magic show, we get to let our fantasies take over for a little while and forget about boring reality. How can working in a cubicle be more exciting than pulling a rabbit out of a hat or reading the minds of other people?
Magicians can bend or break the rules of reality and we love to see such unexpected things because they don't occur in our daily lives.
Magic Recreates Childhood Wonder
Have you ever planned a child's birthday party?
If you've searched "magicians near me" in order to find local magicians, then you know that children absolutely love magic. The wonder of children doesn't stop there, though. They are always asking questions and being awed by the answers or possibilities.
Why is the sky blue? How do crickets make their music? What is a snowflake made from? Many adults already know the answers to these questions so the wonder has been lost.
However, by hiring a magician, adults can recreate the wonder they felt as kids. How did the magician pick the right card? Where did the colorful scarf come from? How did the quarter teleport behind the ear? With a magician at your event, the adults can begin to ask as many questions as awestruck children.
Our Brains Are Hardwired to Think Magically
For better or worse, our brains are not hardwired to think in terms of statistics. We mostly act on impulse and intuition, thinking more with our guts than our brains, in a manner of speaking.
Because of this, we are prone to believe in the magical rather than the logical. If a strange coincidence happens, we think that there is a reason behind it rather than calculating the statistics and realizing that coincidences should be a common phenomenon in the grand scheme of time.
It is more comforting to believe that a hand guides us in our journey through life rather than that everything is dictated by chance and pure randomness.
Magicians allow us to believe more fully in the comfort of control and plans. Even though a magician is breaking the rules of reality, they are doing it with intention and the goal of entertainment.
Magic is Everywhere
Magic isn't simply limited to a magician putting on a wonderful show. We are entertained by magic almost every day. When we go to the movie theater, we see movies that are often steeped in digital and practical effects. You can think of these effects as a type of movie magic that allows us to escape reality for a couple of hours.
The astronomer Carl Sagan once said that "a book is proof that humans are capable of working magic." It's true that books can allow us to hear the voices of thinkers who are long dead but books can do even more than that. We often read stories that can describe fantastic events, like those in the mega-popular Harry Potter series. We can believe these stories, at least in the moment of reading them.
It can be healthy to exercise our imagination and to entertain the possibility of other worlds, of different laws of physics, and strange creatures that could only exist within our dreams. At the very least, magic can allows us to briefly forget our day to day problems and hope for something better.
Are You Ready to Entertain People Who Love Magic?
Now that you know about the psychology behind why we love magic, you can hire an awesome magician for your next event.
Whether you're planning a corporate or social event, a country club event, a wedding reception, or any other celebration that requires a large dose of delight and wonder, Blue Sky Atlanta Music & Entertainment can provide you with everything you need. You never have to worry about a dull event when you take advantage of our high-quality services.
We can take care of all the details with swift ease and reliability. If you have any questions about taking your event to the next level, feel free to contact us.