He was a prestidigitator who entertained the children by pulling rabbits out of hats, swallowing fire, and other similar tricks.

根据这一定义，读者就不难猜测出prestidigitator的词义。能从帽子里拉出兔子、吞火和玩其他类似的把戏的人不就是变戏法的人吗？