Why Magic Still Works In A Rational World

We live in an age where almost every question has an answer. You can pull a supercomputer from your pocket, speak into it, and learn the speed of light or the average lifespan of a star. We rely on facts, not folklore. And yet, magic still holds us.

That moment when your jaw drops, when something impossible unfolds in front of you, and your brain spins trying to make sense of it—that moment is real. And it’s timeless.

The Enduring Power of Magic

Even when we know it’s an illusion, magic captivates us. It invites us to suspend disbelief, not because we’re gullible, but because part of us wants to experience wonder. Magic isn’t about deception. It’s about emotion. About creating a moment that makes us question what we think we know.

In a culture that values logic and skepticism, magic gives us permission to be surprised. It’s not a failure of reason—it’s a victory of imagination.

The Neuroscience of Wonder

At the core of every magic trick is a psychological game. Magicians don’t just fool the eye; they hack the brain. Cognitive scientists have found that magic works by exploiting gaps in attention, working memory, and prediction.

Our brains create mental models to understand the world. When a magician causes a coin to vanish, they are exploiting our brain’s expectations about continuity and object permanence. Sleight of hand directs our focus while the real action happens somewhere else.

Studies using fMRI scans show that when people experience a good magic trick, areas in the brain linked to conflict detection and surprise—like the anterior cingulate cortex and prefrontal cortex—light up. We’re not just amused. We’re neurologically jolted.

And that jolt is pleasurable. It breaks through our cognitive autopilot. It reminds us that the world might still have secrets.

A Magician’s Origin Story

I recently had a chance to chat about magic—both the art and the science of it—with Joshua Messado.

Messado shared that he didn’t grow up with dreams of being a magician. He was 18 when he bought a late-night infomercial kit with his first credit card. He maxed out his $100 limit (and never did pay the bill).

He didn’t start seriously performing until he was 22, after stumbling into a magic show at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. A job that fell through led him to Houdini’s Magic Shop, where he met mentor Ran’D Shine, and fell in love with the craft.

Years later, a spontaneous 10-second clip filmed by his best friend, magician Eric Jones, caught the attention of Ellusionist, one of the world’s top magic companies. That video led to a call from the CEO, a trip to the Magic Live convention in Las Vegas, and a surreal encounter.

After arriving in Las Vegas, Messado was invited to a private party. He almost skipped it. He was tired. It was late. But his assistant pushed him to go. When he arrived in front of the hotel, a limousine was waiting.

The limo drove them to a sprawling mansion, filled with many of the most influential names in magic. As Messado entered, someone asked, “Did Dave see your trick?” Confused, Messado asked, “Dave who?” The reply: “David Copperfield. He’s right outside. Would you mind showing him the routine?”

Moments later, Messado stood in front of Copperfield, surrounded by legendary magicians he had admired for years. With no room for hesitation, he delivered the linking rings routine he’d spent over a decade perfecting.

“I hit every move with clarity and precision,” he recalls. “And at the end, [David Copperfield] said, ‘I’m a fan now.'”

It was the kind of moment most magicians only dream of. For Messado, it was confirmation that he was exactly where he was meant to be. Just two days earlier, he had been on the streets of Philadelphia. Now he was performing for the magician who inspired him to chase this path.

Redefining a Classic

Among magicians, few illusions are as iconic as the linking rings. For over 2,000 years, they’ve been used to demonstrate the impossible: solid metal rings seemingly passing through one another. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book.

And yet, Messado found a way to make it feel brand new.

He told a story of a neighborhood pizza shop that inspired him. The owner of that pizzeria shared his secret, “Just do one thing better than everyone else.”

While working at Houdini’s Magic Shop in Atlantic City, Messado took this sage wisdom and applied it to his magic with a dedicated focus to be the best at performing the linking rings trick.

What sets the Messado Linking Rings apart isn’t just technical mastery. It’s the structure. The surprise. The audience involvement. It happens in their hands. They feel the rings link. They pull them apart. It violates everything they know about solid objects and physics.

“The rings aren’t magic,” Messado says. “They’re just metal. The magic is in you.”

Magic as a Shared Experience

For Messado, magic has never been about ego. It’s about connection. “I’m nothing without an audience,” he says. “I’m just a dude with some metal rings.”

That philosophy drives his outreach work. Through Mr. Messado’s Magic School for the Young and Young at Heart, he teaches kids in underserved Pittsburgh neighborhoods. They learn a few tricks, then perform in a full theater show the next day. The program, supported by the PNC Foundation and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, offers something deeper than sleight of hand.

It offers the experience of being seen. The joy of creating astonishment. The reminder that magic, real or not, makes us feel something true.

The Illusion That Matters

Magic persists because it taps into something ancient and emotional. It works not in spite of our intelligence, but because of how our minds are built.

In an era of deepfakes and algorithmic sleight-of-hand, authentic astonishment is more valuable than ever. The science of magic reveals its mechanics. The art of magic reveals something more: a flash of awe, a shared moment of disbelief, a brief reset of what we think we know.

That’s why magic still works. And why it always will.