Illusion Shows

The cross-over of magic act to sideshow act is well-known, as magicians very often appeared in sideshows, filling out the cast. Magicians' illusions, beginning perhaps with Pepper's Ghost, made their way to the sideshow as either stand-alone shows, or combined with other illusions, into Illusion Shows.

In addition, magic illusions such as Spidora, Head On A Sword, Headless Woman all were used within 10-In-1 shows from the 1900s up through the present day.

Important to this genre was Henry Roltair (1853-1910) who began as a vaudeville magician, and who created illusion shows for Barnum & Bailey Circus, and is credited with inventing the ubiquitous and classic Spidora illusion. Roltair also designed the "Creation" dark ride for the 1904 Saint Louis World's Fair-- later moved to Coney Island-- that moved patrons through tableaus on a boat that illustrated God's works, and culminated with a display under a great dome of the six days in the "Creation of the World."