Hot Magic & Parlor Tricks How-Tos


How To: Connect six boxes without intersecting lines bar trick
This video will show you how to do a great bar trick puzzle. Connect the boxes to win some bets and free drinks. Once you know how to do it, it's very easy to accomplish. This involves some drawing, but you'll impress friends with this intersecting lines trick.

How To: Eat Fire (And Look Damn Good Doin' It)
Eating fire is a guaranteed method of not only impressing an entire room, but also instantly settling any questions as to whether or not you're a complete and total stone cold BAD ASS. When you can casually whip this trick out in a bar, you're not only going to get your drinks bought for you for the rest of the night, but at least three phone numbers scrawled on the backs of napkins.

How To: Mind read with three questions
This trick is a form of "mentalism". This is done by asking three questions, and writing your answers on three separate pieces of paper. A mentalist first asks you a personal question, but instead of writing the 'answer' to that question, he writes the answer to the final 'easy' question...thereby getting a hidden jump on the answers making you think he is reading your mind. But in fact it is a trick.

How To: Always win a card game using a bit of math
Use this rigged game to cheat your friends twice in a row! The game functions just like 31, only this time you'll always win if you follow the instructions in this video.

How To: Light a Cigarette with an Empty Lighter
Need a smoke, but no one has any matches and your lighter is fresh out of fuel? This how-to video has got a cool trick you can perform to light your cigarette if you ever run out of lighter fluid. Despite the lighter being out of gas, you can still make a fire to light your cig. All you need is the lighter and a sheet of toilet paper.

How To: Guess how many candies are in a jar
Want to win the prize? Knowing a little math is the key to winning this popular contest. In this video, learn how to estimate correctly.

How To: Perform the "rope through the neck" trick
This video starts off with a magician performing a trick that he will teach. You are going to need a length of rope or a scarf to do this trick. The rope or scarf should be about five feet long. Put the rope behind your head so the sides are hanging normally down your chest. You’ll want the rope that is on the left side hanging a little lower then the right. Reach with the right hand and grab the rope high on your chest. With the left hand grab the rope on the right side making sure your left...

How To: Perform the classic Pick a Card trick
Adrenaline0Studios from YouTube shows how to do the “Pick a Card” trick. 1. Shuffle the deck of cards.

How To: Do the "Jack the bounty hunter" card trick
This card trick is called Jack the Bounty Hunter. After a series of cuts, placements, and sorting, Jack the Bounty Hunter ends up adjacent to a card the spectator picked earlier in the trick. Brief synopsis of the procedure (you need to see the video for the full explanation): First, you set a Jack aside. Then you make two piles of 15 cards and set them aside. The spectator gets a pile, and you get a pile. Cards are cut. The spectator picks a card from the remainder of the deck. The spectator...

How To: Do the Infinity pen spinning trick
Learn how to do the Infinity with this pen spinning tutorial.

How To: Spin a book on your finger
If you want a challenge, try this at home or anywhere. Learn to spin a book on your finger. This will make you enjoy more of your vacant time. It also helps your balancing skill developed. 1. Get a book. 2. Get your finger to the center of the gravity of the book. 3. Spin the book on your finger. 4. As the book spins, your finger gets outside of the center. 5. Try to get your finger back to the center and you can do that by moving your hand in a linear circular manner. 6. Keep practicing by s...

How To: Make your fingers appear on fire without burning them
Want to make your fingers look like they have flames shooting out of them? Learn how to protect your fingers while they are ablaze and make your friends think you are impervious to pain. Use easy to find material to protect your fingers while you light each one on fire.

How To: Perform the "oil and water" card trick easily
You're about to learn some incredible close-up magic tricks from Close Up Card Tricks that you can perform right away. You don't have to be a professional magician to do these card tricks, and you don't even have to practice them that much!

How To: Perform the All Sorted card trick
Want to learn a great card trick that will really fool your friends? All you need is a deck of cards to perform this cool trick! You will need one deck of cards. Sometimes we use materials that require adult supervision... like scissors so make sure you have friends and family around whenever you do magic tricks. 1. Take a deck of cards and remove all of the face cards (Jacks, Queens, and Kings) and Aces. Separate the cards by suit (hearts, clubs, spades, diamonds) so you have four piles. Eac...

How To: Perform a magic trick by counting on your fingers
Want to learn a trick that you can perform anywhere at any time? All you need are some props you already have…your hands! Sometimes we use materials that require adult supervision... like scissors, so make sure you have friends and family around whenever you do magic tricks.

How To: Perform the tear and repair magic trick
This is a video tutorial on how to perform the torn and restored trick. The effect is that a napkin is torn into several pieces and magically restored to the state it was before. To perform the trick, you need not one, but two napkins and a pen or a straw. Keep the pen in your back pocket. Keep one napkin hidden in your hand in the shape of a ball. While tearing up the other napkin, be careful not to flash the napkin ball in your hand. After you tear up the napkin, roll it into a ball and put...

How To: Do the in-jog false shuffle
Learn how to do an In Jog false shuffle, used to retain a stack of cards on the top of the deck. The video quality is a bit off, but the tutorial is clear and straightforward.

How To: Do the Sonic Normal pen spinning trick
Learn how to do the Sonic Normal with this pen spinning tutorial.

How To: Make a balloon float two different ways without using helium
Out of helium? Forgot to pick up the tank? Don't worry, this video shows you two different ways that you can make your balloons float without using helium! And better yet, these methods use things you likely have around the house, so no added cost!

How To: Perform the Last 3 card trick
For this tutorial we are picking three Aces because they are the easiest to remember. Make 4 piles of cards. First pile is ten cards. Second pile is 15 cards. Third pile is 15 cards. The last pile will be 9. Take the Ace of Spades (the example card),put it on one pile and put any number of cards on top. Take the Ace of Hearts (another example card), put it on the second pile and put any number of cards on top. Take the last Ace put it on top and put the last pile on top of that one. Stack the...

How To: Escape from handcuffs
It's a trick that never fails to amaze. You're placed in handcuffs, but with a flick of the wrist, you're free! Kick off your career as a daring escape artist with these simple tips.

How To: Use a stripper deck for basic tricks
Following the Dalton incident, the stripper deck rapidly fell out of favor with poker cheats, but remains popular to this day with magicians. The deck looks perfectly normal but has tapered edges on all the cards. The goal of the magician in using a stripped deck is to have a person choose a card, then replace it in the deck facing the opposite direction, so that the tapered or stripped edge of the card stands out from the smooth edge of all the other cards.

How To: Magically levitate in the air with a box and mirror
Wish you could fly like Superman? Now you can, with a little magic (or more appropriately, illusion). This magic trick lets you float horizontally in midair, and it's simple to perform. This video reveals the secret, which is as simple as a box and mirror.

How To: Make three stars in one with a single rubber band
Most people can probably make one star with a rubber band.. at the most they can twist two. But in this video, you will learn how to make THREE stars all at once using a single elastic band.

How To: Perform the "color changing popsicle stick" trick
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to perform the color changing Popsicle stick trick. Users will need to color one side of the stick with six colors and the other side with one color. The color should be the third color on the Popsicle stick. When asking the person to pick a number, it will force them to choose your color. When flipping the Popsicle stick, keep it at the same side and create the illusion of flipping. Make it seem like your flipping over the stick. This video will bene...

How To: Make a hot air balloon shape using a rubberband
In this video tutorial Slipperypiggy5 shows an easy way to make a hot air balloon with a rubber band. Take a rubber band put one end on the thumb and the other on the little finger of left hand. With the right hand's finger (index finger) make a twist in the middle and put it on the middle finger of left. Take one part of the loop from the little finger and put it on the thumb and do vice versa. Hold the middle part with right hands index finger and release all loops of thumb and little finge...

How To: Perform the quick flip card trick
There are good magic tricks, and there are bad magic tricks. The host of this video tutorial might not be the most skilled magician around, but he's a pretty good judge of card tricks. Check out how to perform the quick flip card trick. With just a little sleight of hand and a little magic, your spectators will be astonished. See the reveal and explanation.

How To: Perform the "slap" magic card trick
Learn how to do a card trick! Yes, learn some magic you can do with all of those playing card decks lying around your house. This young girl will show you in this video tutorial, how to perform the "slap" magic card trick. It isn't just an illusion, it's deception, it's sleight of hand, it's confidence. Grab your best deck of cards and learn how to do the slap card trick... see the reveal.

How To: Do the Extended Thumbaround pen spinning trick
Learn how to do the Extended Thumbaround with this pen spinning tutorial.

How To: breathe (cornstarch) fire and not die
This video works. Watch this ordinary guy shovel mounds of bone-dry corn starch into his mouth. A combination of six step tutorial and gratuitous chestpounding, this video is a simple example of the cornstarch (or flour) bomb.

How To: Perform the prediction card trick
In order to perform a prediction card trick, you will need the following: a deck of cards, the box the cards came in, a pen or a pencil, and paper.

How To: Perform the German magic trick "Salt Game"
Check out this tutorial and learn how to perform the classic German salt game trick. In this clip, you will learn how to make salt travel from one place to another and jump around in front of a bewildered audience. In the tutorial, Losander the magician teaches you all of his tricks. Enjoy!

How To: Perform the "Erdnase" color change card trick
Aspiring card shark? Sink your pearly whites into this easy, impressive card illusion. In this free video magic lesson from YouTube user experthowto, you'll learn how to perform the "Erdnase" color change card trick using simple sleight of hand. For more information, including a step-by-step breakdown of the trick, watch this prestidigitator's guide.

How To: Read Minds with a Simple Mentalism Effect
What if I told you that you could read minds? You'd most likely think I was crazy, and you'd be right. But what I really meant is that you could make people think that you could read minds, something that's not the least bit crazy.

How To: Perform the rising ring rubber band trick
See how to perform the rising ring rubber band trick. This illusion is just that, an illusion. You just need a rubber band and a ring off your finger. You will amaze your friends and guests by making the ring look like it is crawling up the rubber band at a slope, but really it's just a little trickery with the rubber band. Check out this video to learn the reveal of the rising ring rubber band trick.

How To: Perform the "levitating dollar" magic trick
Magic Trick: The Levitating Dollar Have you ever heard of the Masked Magician? With the television series Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed, the so-called Masked Magician (Val Valentino) revealed secret after secret of the magicians repertoire. Valentino creates “the magic” then proceeds to reveal the reality of the illusions before a captivated television audience.

How To: Perform the backaround pen spinning trick
Pen spinning is a fun pastime for the school or office environment. Hell, they even have multinational tournaments these days! Improve your pen spinning (pen mawashi) skills with this video tutorial. Learn how to perform the backaround pen spinning trick. The back around trick can be hard to do if you're new to pen spinning, but all it takes is practice.

How To: Do basic fundamental pen spinning tricks
Watch this pen spinning video tutorial to learn how to do basic fundamental pen spinning tricks, like the Thumb Around, Thumb Around Reverse, Charge, Pass, Reverse Pass, Fingerpass, Finger Pass Reverse, Sonic, and Sonic Reverse.

How To: Do the levitate a ring on a rubber band magic trick
Learn how to do a magic trick! Yes, learn some magic you can do with all that useless junk lying around your house. This young girl will show you in this video tutorial, how to perform the rubber band ring levitation magic trick. It isn't just an illusion, it's deception, it's sleight of hand, it's confidence. Grab your props and learn how to levitate a ring on a rubber band... see the reveal.

How To: Do the Middle Backaround pen spinning trick
Learn how to do the Middle Backaround with this pen spinning tutorial.