Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic – free exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, London -

This free exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in central London offers fascinating insights into the shadowy world of Victorian spirit mediums, modern magic and psychology.

Bringing together the worlds of psychology and entertainment “in a search for the truth about deception,” the show asks what magic and conjuring can tell us about the human mind:

Explore how our biases affect our perception and whether our senses can be hacked. Discover spirit photography, magic props and psychology experiments to see how magic works on – and in – the mind of the spectator.

Artefacts on display from the world of magic include the head of the gorilla costume worn by Derren Brown, Harry Houdini’s ‘Bell Box’, Tommy Cooper’s fez, and Paul Daniels’s sawing-in-half box.