How has the disjunction between the anxious denigration of magic and its actual experiential enjoy- ment come to prevail? Why is it that we seem so intrigued by magic per- formance? These are not minor questions. Rather, they are provocative and substantial ones about a hidden intertwining between art, magic, and life. I also observe that, until recently, these lived relations almost wholly eluded the divisions, categories, and methods of traditional academic analysis. These questions can only be asked (much less answered) in a genuinely interdis- ciplinary space where, for example, performing arts, phenomenology, and psychology can come together. Thus, in this essay, I will attempt a first foray into this intertwining by elucidating why humans seem so enmeshed with magic despite some of their conceptual and intellectual commitments.