Random Secrets Behind Historic Magic Tricks (12 items)

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  (#7) Mentalism Levitation

  The Trick:

  This is a self-levitating magic trick, often performed as street magic and made popular by the newer style of mentalist magicians like Criss Angel and David Blaine.

  A magician on the street steps away from a small audience of people. With their audience positioned at their back, and often with a box in front of them, the magician waves their arms and levitates several inches to a foot off of the ground.

  How It's Done:

  The placement of the audience is of the upmost importance as this trick may only be viewed at a certain 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 be placed in the shoes so they stick together. The magician, out of the audience's view, removes their leg through the slit in the front of their pants, places their foot on the box in front of them, and raises themselves up, appearing to levitate.

  A less impressive version of this trick can be performed without the assistance of a prop box, by simply raising up on one toe and showing the audience the levitating foot. TV specials showing performers levitating several feet into the air are usually done with wires, special effects, and an audience that is in on the trick.
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  (#11) Levitating Street Performer

  The Trick:

  The levitating street performer is an illusion in which a person appears to be floating above the street. Often, they will be clad in an elaborate costume evoking an unnamed mysticism. They will have flowing long sleeves, be sitting cross-legged above a rug or material of some sort, and one hand will be clutching a stick or pole.

  This type of levitation trick is done in major cities all over the world by street performers and must account for a full view from all sides by the audience.

  How It's Done:

  The material on the ground hides a heavy base to which the pole is attached. A rod from the pole runs down the performer's sleeve and down their back to another base on which they sit.
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  (#10) Pulling A Rabbit Out Of A Hat

  The Trick:

  Pulling something out of 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, is thought to have originated around 1814 with Louis Comte.

  The most common way the trick is performed involves the magician showing the empty hat to the audience, placing the hat on a table, then pulling a live rabbit out from within the hat.

  How It's Done:

  The rabbit is hidden in a bag behind the table. When the magician shows the audience the empty hat and flips the hat over, through sleight of hand, they insert the bag with the rabbit into the hat. The trick may also be done with a hidden compartment in the hat.
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  (#9) Cup And Balls

  The Trick: 

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

  The performer tells the audience they have three cups and three small balls. The three cups are set down in a line with three balls visible. One of the balls is put on top of the center cup and the other two cups are nested on top. The three cups are lifted, revealing the ball has "penetrated" the cup.

  Variations of this are repeated, with the ball magically moving among the cups. Sometimes at the end, a ball will turn into a piece of fruit or something larger.

  How It's Done:

  There are four balls. The performer says there are three cups and three balls, but one of the cups already has the fourth ball hidden inside it. That cup is flipped over so when the cups are stacked and the ball is placed on top of the cup, the hidden fourth ball is revealed and appears to have penetrated the cup. Now a new hidden ball is on top to use for the next part of the trick.

  Other variants, especially those with clear cups, rely more heavily on sleight of hand and hiding balls in pockets, sleeves, and hands.
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  (#6) Handcuff Escape

  The Trick:

  Handcuff acts were a popular genre for magicians and escape artists during vaudeville theater. This was where Harry Houdini first rose to prominence as the "Handcuff King," an escape artist who could not be held by any pair of cuffs.

  The magician would be handcuffed and then escape from their bonds in front of the audience. Often this act would be part of a touring show, and the local police or a locksmith who was particularly proud of their design would provide the handcuffs.

  How It's Done:

  Just as there are many types of locks, there are many ways to escape them. The most common way is that the magician has a key. 

  Houdini had a "remarkable knowledge of locks and locking devices." He collected and studied locks all of his life and remembered how each type worked and could be opened. Houdini studied the handcuffs of police and locksmiths of the towns he was about to visit. Any particularly unique keys he would ask to see first and pocket, replacing them with a similar-looking key until after the trick.

  During the trick, Houdini would conceal the keys in secret pockets or a bag strapped to his leg. Later, he built a belt that contained keys and tools for the cuffs, which ran on tiny ball bearings that revolved by pressure from his arm. 
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  (#12) Sawing A Person In Half

  The Trick:

  The first magician to saw a person in half was P.T. Selbit, on January 17, 1921, in London. The trick was tweaked to a more recognizable version with the head and feet sticking out of the box by Horace Goldin later that same year. The trick is credited with starting the modern paradigm of putting a female assistant in danger.

  With a trick that has been in use for over a century, variations abound, but it usually involves a person lying down in a box that is shorter than they are, so their head and feet are visible to the audience. The magician then cuts through the box with a saw, metal sheet, or other object and separates the two halves.

  The halves are then brought back together and the person in the box reemerges safely in one piece.

  How It's Done:

  As numerous versions of this trick exist, there are numerous ways to accomplish the illusion. The most basic way is the person in the box pulls their feet up fully into the half that will be separated.

  The box is usually built to have more room on the inside than appears on the outside, by being wider or deeper than the audience can see. Often the feet sticking out will be mechanical feet that can move slightly. In some versions, another person has their feet sticking out in that half of the box.

  In other versions, the table the box is sitting on is hollow, allowing the person in the box to sink low and avoid danger.

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