Top 10 Magic Tricks Demystified

We’ve all experienced the feeling of being awestruck and speechless at a magician’s trick. Although we know it’s not really magic, we couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation for what had just transpired. But no need to wonder any longer, for here are some trade secrets exposed!

1) Walking on water

Magic is simply an act or performance that needs to be pulled off seamlessly to fool viewers, no matter how large in scale or public it is. This particular trick recreates the miracle of Jesus walking on water.

The magician makes it seem like he has the ability to walk on water but of course, we know that’s a physical impossibility. What’s really happening is that the magician is walking on perspex boxes or plexiglass platforms placed under the surface of the water. These boxes or platforms become virtually undetectable when submerged in a body of water, making it seem like there’s nothing placed there. This is how the magician gets away with this gravity-defying trick!

2) Pulling a rabbit out of a hat

This trick is a classic and a favorite among kids. It’s the one where the magician pulls a rabbit out of thin air with just a wave of his wand! But if you look closely, a pattern starts to emerge. This traditional trick is always performed on a table with a long tablecloth covering it, which is indeed quite suspicious.

The tablecloth is predictably hiding the rabbit, which is then inconspicuously transferred into the hat through a concealed hole in the table. That’s the simple secret behind this seemingly amazing trick. Guess the cat’s out of the bag, or rather, the rabbit out of the top hat!

3) Biting a coin in half

Some magicians seem to have the teeth of a shark to be able to bite a coin clean in half. But of course, as everything involving magic, it’s all a grand illusion. Never mind teeth, it’s not easy to cut a coin even with a knife. Skeptical? Take a coin and try it for yourself. Seems impossible, right? So how does a magician make it seem so effortless?

Usually, the magician asks a volunteer to give him a coin of a particular value and then proceeds to show off his seemingly inhuman strength by biting it in half. In actuality, he sneakily switches the real coin for a fake one that breaks easily under pressure. And that’s how the illusion is created. Most times the magician will be nice enough to put your coin back together. If they don’t, consider yourself a penny poorer.

4) The levitating woman

In this famous trick, a woman (who is usually the magician’s assistant) is seen ‘floating’ along with the metal board she is lying on. The trick starts off with her lying down on a board supported by two chairs, which are eventually removed one by one. But to the viewer’s amazement, instead of crashing to the floor as the chairs are removed, the woman hangs perfectly still in mid-air.

This effect is achieved with the help of a metal stand attached to the board which is hidden by being perfectly positioned in front of the magician’s body. To prove the ‘legitimacy’ of the trick, magicians often go as far as to pull a hoop around the woman’s body. But the truth is that the hoop never actually circles through her entire body, the magician actually stops near the stand in the middle and just creates the illusion of it passing through completely.

5) Cutting someone in half

Sawing someone in half and then reattaching their body without killing them could be considered the most awe-inspiring yet terrifying tricks. Logically thinking, this trick should be impossible to pull off. But what really happens behind the scenes is that there are two highly skilled contortionists involved, who conceal themselves in separate boxes by bending and give the illusion of being one body.

The timing is really important as in some cases this trick is taken to the extremes using a sharp-edged saw or an automatic buzzsaw. There is always an element of danger present, especially in such tricks, so safety is of utmost importance.

6) The Zigzag

This is similar to the previous trick but requires only one person to perform it. It involves an assistant stepping into a box only for her torso to be separated from the rest of her body, but of course, she shows no sign of pain and steps out looking safe and whole.

What actually happens inside the box is just a lot of bending! This trick requires a master of contortion and flexibility. While the assistant may look like she’s been disfigured, she really is just adjusting her body to look that way.

7) Producing smoke from fingers

All magic is essentially just smoke and mirrors — it obscures the truth of the situation by embellishing it with props and glamour. And yet we can’t help but be amazed when we see a magician produce smoke from his fingertips.

This trick is really just the after-effect of some chemical reactions. All that’s needed is phosphorous, a chemical that will spontaneously ignite if exposed to air. You can perform this simple trick at home by scraping the phosphorous off the side of matchboxes. But proceed with the utmost caution, as phosphorous is extremely flammable and dangerous.

8) Turning water into ice

We all know water can’t turn into ice in mere moments. But that’s exactly what magicians claim to do. A glass of water will be made ready for the magician to perform this nature-defying trick. But how does that water suddenly appear in another form?

The cup of water actually conceals a piece of sponge. When water is poured into it, the sponge absorbs all of it. The magician then shows ice cubes to the stunned audience — cubes that have actually been in the cup the whole time! After all, as everyone is too focused on the water and other distractions, no one thinks to check the cup.

9) Impaling your body on a spike

This trick is one that looks like it’s been taken straight out of a horror movie. And it would indeed be gruesome if not for the magician smiling all the time. The track starts off with the magician balancing on a narrow spike, but something appears to go wrong as the spike plunges straight through his chest.

The secret lies under the magician’s clothes. There is a brace on his back that firstly helps him in balancing on top of the spike, and another device strapped to his front that makes it seem like there is a spike protruding from his chest. It’s all about the timing and execution to make this look more believable.

10) Walking through walls

This trick mimics the Intangibility superpower — the magician appears to pass through a solid brick wall and come out completely normally on the other side. But of course, it plays out a little differently behind closed curtains.

Without the cover of the screen, you’d be able to see the magician crawling over to the other side of the fake set through an underground tunnel. As always the case with magic, don’t believe it even if you see it!

You can check out The Masked Magician to find out the secret behind more famous tricks!