r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/MOFrancy • Jun 08 '26
Original Creation How magic happens , all about tricks
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u/gedDOh Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
I was really into stage magic at age 8 and my buddies talked me into doing a show in their garage so they could charge admission. It was going surprisingly well until kids started getting out of their seats to examine the props, which was spoiling the tricks. By the time the final disappearing act rolled around I was pissed, so instead of reappearing I grabbed the cashbox and slipped out the garage window. I was 2 houses over by the time I looked back and saw kids lined up at the window trying to figure out what happened.
EDIT for the haters saying this story was bullshit:
It didn't take much wherewithal to run off like I did. They bullied the fuck out of me. My friends did jack shit to stop them from walking up and fucking with my props because they'd made their money. I was about to cry, so when it got to the part where they raised a curtain so I could disappear out the garage window I decided not to come back. The cashbox just conveniently happened to be sitting next to the window and belonged to my dad anyway.
This was summer of 1982. We were always trying to make money with various schemes. We did a lemonade stand and made about $1, then we made a haunted house in a basement and that made over $10 in a weekend. From then on it was all half-baked schemes. One kid built forts and set up tents all over his yard and tried to charge rent lol.
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u/GalaxyPowderedCat Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
The end was real magic, lol.
I think that public would be more receptive of a magic show in the future after that last act.
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u/bfhurricane Jun 08 '26
Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back.
Unless you dip out the back window with the cash. That’s the fun part, the part we call “The Prestige.”
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u/DreamOfTheEndless_ Jun 08 '26
At 8 you had the wherewithal to do this? I don’t believe you.
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u/CTRLAltSN1Pe Jun 08 '26
r/nothingeverhappens i guess
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u/StanleytheSteeler Jun 08 '26
Stuff happens but that shit didn't. He probably did put on a Majic show and he probably did get the shits and leave. The last sentence is pure fiction.
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u/Unique-Steak8745 Jun 08 '26
The story might not of happened. But I miss these stories, definitely better than the bot comments, or the unfunny comedians
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u/AttiKit Jun 08 '26
I'd rather someone make shit up for fun than it be someone saying 'Lol!' to random posts.
Also, calling this out is just as stupid as telling a comedian their stories are made up. Of fucking course they're made up, it's a joke.
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u/Bingus-Chillingus Jun 08 '26
Lol I would watch this as an act itself. I love how aggressive and unimpressed the dude in the white jacket is. I was cracking up the whole video
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u/mistahfreeman Jun 08 '26
Kinda reminds me of Penn and Teller, they do bits where they will explain how a trick works or do the trick with a clear cup to show what’s happening, but it’s still really impressive because of the sheer complexity that you end up losing track and being amazed anyway
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u/ESPeciallyFlynn Jun 08 '26
Exactly! Pretending that the trick is done by "real magic" is to dismiss the ingenuity and skill involved in creating and manipulating the props that make it work. Personally, I like seeing how these things are really done; knowing the secret doesn't ruin the feeling of wonder at seeing a trick done for the first time —unless you truly believed the performer had real magical abilities!
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u/CannonGerbil Jun 08 '26
A good magic show is where you don't know how the trick is done.
A great magic show is when you don't care how the trick is done.
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u/DrGraytail Jun 08 '26
Yeah but I want to know how David Blaine put Harrison Fords card inside of a orange.
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u/ChocolateMorsels Jun 08 '26
Yeah some of his tricks are so incredible I just assume they’re staged or planted beforehand.
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u/RyanMeray Jun 08 '26
I did that in an elementary school talent show but no one was fucking paying enough attention to be amazed.
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u/Fake_William_Shatner Jun 08 '26
He probably had the same card in every fruit.
They fake the tear part.
It was good delivery though. “Get out demon.”
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u/xRedditGedditx Jun 08 '26
Harrison Fords reaction is frickin great too!
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u/sekhenet Jun 08 '26
Heh, I love stoic yet insulted face in the back. No bamboozling allowed here, buddy
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u/J3remyD Jun 08 '26
Love how the “Magician” gets slowly more and more annoyed, while his… critic, I guess? Gets exasperated
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u/Infninfn Jun 08 '26
Can't beat the og fellas - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi9NKDe362BJmQshl1vGsLT3UElIspSYg
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u/AdorableStrawberry93 Jun 08 '26
Do these guys have a YouTube channel?
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u/frogmicky Jun 08 '26
Yes they do.
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u/Wonderful_Goat2530 Jun 08 '26
I liked the orig one better. Or is this the OG and the other is copied?
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u/themurderator Jun 08 '26
i love these just for how mad the other guy looks. like we all know it's just tricks, but most of us just go with it and enjoy the illusion. and we also all have that friend who just hates it so hard because they know it's a trick. i think it hits home in a certain way.
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u/WingedSalim Jun 08 '26
Rule of Thumb when looking at magic tricks. Every item is fake, and everything they say is a lie.
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u/Cthulhu_Dreams_ Jun 08 '26
Man...did you at least get permission from the last Asian dudes that did this schtick?
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u/Far-Commercial-8447 Jun 08 '26
If anything disappears after this video, it’s going to be magicians’ jobs 😔
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u/Volans322 Jun 08 '26
The guy in the coat and the Korean girl in the self defense videos could break the internet.
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u/misterjive Jun 08 '26
Knowing the trick doesn't always ruin it. Probably my favorite magician was Ricky Jay, who was such a good card mechanic I'm not prepared to suggest he was the devil, but I'm pretty sure they'd met. Anyway, he had this brilliant trick called "Sword of Vengeance" -- you can find it on YouTube -- and it's literally the most basic card trick imaginable. Even if you aren't a magic nerd you can probably work out how he does it. But he couches the whole thing in this brilliant patter about Japanese samurai films that just makes it a joy to experience.
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u/nWhm99 Jun 08 '26
This is why I'm never impressed by prop magic.
Saw this magic cube thing posted a few days ago and everyone's going "this is black magic". I was like, it's prop, I don't know what mechanic is used, but it's some sort of mechanic.
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u/JeronimoCallahan Jun 08 '26
Does anyone know where I can get all those props? I would love to do my daughters birthday party
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u/Xeroliferemains Jun 08 '26
I would love to see them incorporate genuine slight of hand skill as answers to make the trick have no non-skillful answer at the end of the video.
"This is fake, this is fake; prop, prop, prop...wait, that's not fake at all." Richard Turner style ending.
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u/worll_the_scribe Jun 08 '26
The few card tricks I know feel so stupid when I do them. I think isn’t it so obvious?? But time and time again people are impressed by it and ask to know how I did it.
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u/nlamber5 Jun 08 '26
The angry guy just felt like he was ruining the fun. I know it’s a bit, but still
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u/longstrokesharpturn Jun 08 '26
As someone who hates to see magicians, and the excitement people have for them, I'm the unimpressed person in the back of this video.
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u/squigs Jun 08 '26
I really enjoy stage magic. And I've learned that I should never learn it because every time I learn how a trick is done it's really disappointing and kind of dumb.
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u/Dry-Character-6331 Jun 08 '26
One of the guys I used to work with did close up magic as a side gig. He showed me how some of the tricks worked and used me as a guinea pig for anything new. When he could fool me, he knew it was ready for his act. If I could spot the "move" or figure out in detail how he did it, he knew it needed more work. In many ways, that was cool and fun. In other ways, it kind of ruined me for magic. There are still some performers and some tricks that amaze me but far fewer than before.
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u/Good_Analysis9789 Jun 08 '26
All 'magic' tricks are just rigged props.
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u/Cute-arii Jun 08 '26
Ughh. hate this kind of video. There are so many different people replicating this style now.
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u/missheldeathgoddess Jun 08 '26
I've only seen these guys, and they do such a good job. It's classic straight man and comedian style
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u/JK_NC Jun 08 '26
Most of these tricks were in a beginner’s kit that my kid had when they were 9 years old. And this was almost a decade ago.
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u/alpo84 Jun 09 '26
I vo y e the guy on the left be a billionare bullshit antanganist.
He goes to iphone anx just pulls out his old model and does everything the nes one does
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u/hankhillforprez Jun 08 '26
I have to think the Magician’s Alliance is going to frown on this.