I've but scanned the list here but the bare bones facts are quite simple; the laity might know exactly what the mechanics are in any given effect but that's not the same as knowing how the trick is done.
Confused?
One of my favorite grand illusions is the Sawing in Half. I've performed it using numerous devices over the years but my favorite (for conventional family shows) has always been the Thin Model unit (pictured here
http://www.owenmagic.com/Illusions/Sawing/sawing.html) in that it's loaded with opportunities for fun and comedy.
Anywho... 90% of the world knows that the young lady is somehow folded up inside that very dinky upper portion of the cabinet though the construction of the thing seems to defy said possibility. Nonetheless you will still hear gasps at the instant you separate the halves, you will still hear people whispering amongst themselves saying that it simply can't work they way they always believed it worked and (I love this one)
"that Masked Magician guy isn't showing us the real way this stuff works..."
When it comes to traditional magic, the public really does know, at least in theory, how a large part of what we do works... at the mechanical level, and that's the thing to remember in that knowing the mechanics is never the same thing as knowing how something actually "works" or is initiated. What creates this side of "the magic" is our striving, as performing artists, to perfect the presentation of whatever effect/routine it is we are seeking to produce.
How many times have you seen the local club member attempt to do a classic dove & manipulation act and yet, you see nearly everyone of his steals along side the awkwardness of his palms, lack of misdirection during a ditch or coat load grab (such as with cards or billiard balls), and so forth... even with the same music, tux and setting, they simply aren't Lance Burton. They are however, a very common sight and demonstration of the enthusiast that collects secrets, runs through them a few times and believes that's all there is to it.
Here's two final examples; the Sub Trunk and the Asrah Levitation.
For nearly 20 years the smoothest and fastest Sub Trunk routine on earth was the Penndragons and before them the Majestics. Criss Angel came along with the first well rehearsed version that challenged the standing held by Jonathon and Char for so many years. But compare anyone of these three acts to what you typically see presented by the average performer... even certain "pros" out there. Most present a "trick" whereas these other acts create enchantment and the sense of pure impossibility, even in the mind of those that know and have even worked the prop.
When it comes to the Asrah there is one particular moment that I've only seen two performers out of dozens, do properly -- when the girl is covered. Nine times out of ten you see that the girl has mysterious moved about 15 inches up-stage while laying on the table/couch. Too, it seems to take forever to actually cover the girl and move into the routine. The exceptions to this rule being the late Richiardi and present day Branson headliner Kirby Vanbirch (who also has one of the most deceptive couches I've ever seen used thanks to his prop manager's new trim job)
I don't know if I'm being clear or not via these examples; what I'm trying to convey is how much more amazing WE can make an effect that the public has some idea about, when it comes to the mechanics, look like anything but what their theories explain away.
One of my fondest memories when it comes to being a spectator watching a magician, was seeing Norm Neilson's act. From the technical point of view I knew most everything the man was doing and yet, how he worked with those slights completely hid them... concealed them by pushing the limits of said technique in such a manner as to make them go away and not exist in the mind of the beholder. It was the first time in a good number of years that I was truly captivated by a magician who was genuinely creating magic.
This is our goal, our obligation and how we give those know-it-alls in the audience that jaw dropping moment in which their friends, bored of their boasts and constant claims of knowing what's going on and even trying to narrate things, to laugh at them for getting fooled and proven wrong... at least by all appearances.
Truth be known, that's why I preach so much about striving towards such levels of true adeptness.
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