Secrets Behind Historic Magic Tricks

The Trick:

In 1983, David Copperfield performed the impossible on a live CBS special. He made the Statue of Liberty vanish. The live audience, television crew, and stage watched the Statue of Liberty far away.

Two light-decorated scaffolds framed the statue on the platform. Copperfield raised a curtain between the scaffolds to hide the statue. He then gave a short speech about freedom. The curtain dropped, lights flashed, and the Statue of Liberty disappeared.

How It's Done:

The platform rotated.Loud music pumped through speakers masked the vibrations of the platform's movement while Copperfield spoke over the noise.Loud music pumped through speakers masked the statue's movement. Copperfield spoke over the noise.

The Trick:

The Trick:

Harry Houdini specialized in escape tricks. One memorable trick was the underwater box escape. Houdini was handcuffed, climbed into a wooden crate, and it was nailed, trussed, and chained shut. A crane hoisted the crate into New York's East River, where it sank. Minutes later, Houdini emerged, free of his bonds, at the water's surface.

How It's Done:

The crate had small holes. These holes let Houdini breathe while he waited for the crate to be nailed. The holes also helped the crate sink. The crate looked nailed, but one side of the square cratehad two fake nail heads.That side of the crate opened with a hinge inside. Once Houdini was inside and the crane lifted the crate, he removed the handcuffs (he kept hidden keys). After the crate hit the water and sank enough, he kicked open the crate at thehidden hingeand swam to the surface.

The Trick:

Handcuff acts were popular for magicians and escape artists in vaudeville. Harry Houdini became the "Handcuff King." He was an escape artist who could not be held by any cuffs.

The magician got handcuffed and escaped in front of the audience. This act often happened in a tour. Local police or a locksmith proud of their design supplied the handcuffs.

How It's Done:

Many locks offer many escape routes. The most common way is if the magician has a key.

Houdini had a "deep knowledge of locks and locking devices." He studied locks his whole life. He remembered how each lock worked and how to open it. Houdini studied the handcuffs of police and locksmiths in towns he visited. He asked to see any unique keys first and put them in his pocket.he would ask to see first and pocket, replacing them with a similar-looking key until after the trick.

Houdini hid the keys in secret pockets or a bag strapped to his leg during the trick. Later,He built a belt.that held keys and tools for the cuffs. These ran on tiny ball bearings that spun from pressure from his arm.

The Trick:

David Copperfield might be a top modern magician. He regularly performs "Lucky 13" during his Las Vegas shows.

Large balls bounce into the audience. They pick 13 volunteers at random. The 13 people go onto the stage and sit on a platform. A curtain covers them. Flashlights shine through the curtain to show they are still there. Explosions drop the curtain, and the 13 people vanish.

Copperfield shifts the audience's focus to the theater's back. The 13 volunteers reappear behind them.

How It's Done:

A 58-year-old British touristhurt himself in 2013He participated as a volunteer in the trick and sued Copperfield for damages. To defend himself, the magician showed the trick's secrets in court.

As the sheet pulls off the platform with a flourish, assistants help the 13 volunteersout of the platform's backand into a backstage area. They move through a path around the theater to the back where they "reappear."

The man who sued said the path was dim and had building materials there. Copperfield said thousands have done the trick. Only this one man got hurt.

The Trick:

TheZig-Zag illusionMagician Robert Harbin first performed this in the mid-1960s. In the illusion, an assistant enters a cabinet. Their face, hands, and a foot show through openings in the front. The magician slides metal blades across the cabinet's middle, splitting it into thirds.

The magician then slides the cabinet's middle apart from the top and bottom thirds. This makes it look like the assistant's middle moved away from the rest. A small door on the cabinet's middle opens to show the assistant's body inside.

Finally, the assistant's middle slides back into place. The two blades come out. They step out of the cabinet as one unit.

How It's Done:

This rare trick requires the assistant to do the heavy lifting.

The box looks bigger because the black strips on the sides make it seem narrow. That black space works. The assistantstill fits in the adjusted box, though the fit is tight. The blade goes on the right side. It looks like it takes up more room than it does, with the handle and the box space taking most of the blade.

The trick uses a flexible assistant and items look like different sizes than they really are.

The Trick:

Thisspecific levitation trickpopularizedmagicianby magicianHarry KellarThe 'Floating Woman Trick' happens in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The setup involves an assistant lying across a board supported by two chairs and covered with a sheet. The magician then 'mesmerizes' the assistant, removes the chairs, and the assistant stays floating. The magician passes a hoop over them to show there are no wires.

How It's Done:

The board attaches to a metal rod running behind the magician. The magician's legs and the rod hide this rod from the audience's view.The rod connects to the board in an "S" shape.This setup lets the hoop pass through and get freed. Sometimes, buttons hidden in the platform let the magician move the rod up and down using their feet.

The Trick:

The bullet catch trickPerformers began the bullet catch trick as far back as the 16th century. Street magicians used versions of this trick throughout the 18th century, many claiming they invented it.. The trick stays performed today.Many versions exist. The basic mechanics involve a magician loading a bullet—sometimes marked by an audience member—into a gun. Another magician or assistant aims the gun at the first magician from a distance and fires. Sometimes an object, like a glass pane between them, breaks. The magician then shows they caught the bullet in their teeth.

Many versions exist. The basic mechanics involve a magician loading a bullet, sometimes marked by an audience volunteer, into a gun. An assistant or another magician aims the gun at the magician from a distance and fires. Sometimes an object, like a pane of glass, breaks. The magician shows they caught the bullet in their teeth.

The most common method loads the gun with blanks; an explosion happens, but nothing leaves the barrel. The magician palms the bullet and puts it in their mouth out of sight of the audience. A squib or electric charge breaks any prop, like a glass pane.

So the arm fires, nothing exits the barrel, the glass shatters, and the magician shows the bullet in their mouth. Performers also used 'wax' bullets that shatter glass but melt before hitting the performer.Early muzzle-loaded barrels used a magnetic bullet that could drop down the barrel. Pushing a stick down to load the bullet retrieved it.Another early technique involved palming the marked bullet, then firing a real bullet while aiming to miss.

The arm fires. Nothing leaves the barrel. Glass shatters. The magician reveals the bullet in their mouth. Performers also used "wax" bullets that shatter glass but melt before hitting the performer.

Harry Houdini famously refused to perform the trick because of its danger.

The Trick:This is a self-levitating magic trick. Street magicians popularized it with mentalist magicians like Criss Angel and David Blaine., as no trick using a firearm can be 100% safe. Several performers died trying this trick, including Chung Ling SooThe audience placement is key because this trick needs a specific viewing angle.Harry HoudiniHarry Houdini famously refused to perform the trick because of its danger.

The Trick:

This is a self-levitating magic trick. Mentalist magicians like Criss Angel and David Blaine popularized it in street magic.

A street magician steps away from a small audience. The audience stands behind the magician, often with a box in front. The magician waves their arms and lifts themselves several inches to a foot off the ground.

How It's Done:

Audience placement matters most. This trick might only work from a specific angle.

In the most common variant,a slit is cut in the front of one of the legs of the magician's pants. Strong magnets may stick the shoes together. The magician removes their leg through the slit in the front of their pants, puts their foot on the box, andA slit cuts the front of a magician's pant leg. Strong magnets stick the shoes together. The magician removes their leg through the slit, keeps their foot on the box, and...A less impressive version skips the prop box. The magician just raises one toe, showing the audience the levitating foot. TV specials showing performers float several feet up usually use wires, special effects, and an audience aware of the trick.

The Trick:

The cups and balls trick has been performed by magicians and conjurers since Ancient Greece.

Ancient Greece.Ancient Greece.

Variations repeat this, with the ball moving among the cups. Sometimes, a ball turns into fruit or something bigger at the end.

How It's Done:

There are four balls. The performer claims three cups and three balls, but one cup already holds the fourth ball. That cup flips over so when the cups stack and the ball goes on top, the hidden fourth ball is revealed and appears to have penetrated the cup. A new hidden ball sits on top for the next part.

Other variants, especially those with clear cups, use sleight of hand to hide balls in pockets, sleeves, and hands.The Trick:Pulling something from an empty hat is one of the oldest tricks in the magician's book of secrets. The modern version, pulling a live rabbit from a top hat, started around 1814 with Louis Comte.

The most common way performs the magician showing the empty hat to the audience, placing the hat on a table, then pulling a live rabbit out of it.

How It's Done:

The rabbit is hidden in a bag behind the table. When the magician shows the empty hat and flips it over, they use sleight of hand to insert the bag with the rabbit into the hat. The trick can also use a hidden compartment in the hat.The Trick:The modern version, pulling a live rabbit from a top hat, started near 1814, according to the magician's book of secrets.Louis Comte

The usual trick shows the audience the empty hat. The magician places the hat on a table, then pulls a live rabbit out of it.

How It's Done:

The rabbit ishidden in a bag behind the table. The magician shows the audience the empty hat, flips it over, and uses sleight of hand to reveal the rabbit.the magician inserts the bag with the rabbitinto the hat. The trick also uses a hidden compartment inside the hat.

The Trick:

Thelevitating street performerThis illusion makes a person look like they float above the street. They often wear an elaborate costume suggesting some unknown mysticism. They wear long, flowing sleeves, sit cross-legged on a rug or similar material, and hold a stick or pole with one hand.

Street performers in major cities globally use this levitation trick. They must allow the audience a full view from every direction.

How It's Done:

The material on the ground hidesa heavy basethe pole attaches to this base. A rod from the pole runs down the performer's sleeve and down their back to a second base where they sit.

The Trick:

P.T. Selbit was the first magician to saw a person in half.P.T. SelbitOn January 17, 1921, in London, P.T. Selbit tweaked the trick into a version with the head and feet sticking out of the box by Horace Goldin later that same year.Horace GoldinThis trick started the modern way of putting a female assistant in danger.

This trick has been in use for over a century.for over a century,Variations exist. Usually, a person lies in a box shorter than them, showing their head and feet. The magician then cuts the box with a saw, metal sheet, or another object, separating the two halves.

The halves rejoin, and the person in the box reappears whole.

How It's Done:

Many versions of this trick exist. The simplest method has the person in the box pull their feet fully into the half that will be cut.

The box is usually built wider or deeper than it looks from the outside, giving more space inside. Often, the feet sticking out are mechanical and move a bit. Some versions have another person with their feet sticking out in that half.

In other versions, the box sits on a hollow table, letting the person in the box sink low to avoid harm.