Another amazing ability that magicians have is seeing through a sealed envelope to reveal what is written inside. Or is it? This trick is really great for parties and will leave your friends scratching their heads in wonder. The way it goes is that the magician of the group takes out a sealed envelope and says that they have a prediction.
They place it next to a hat and ask everyone to shout out names of famous people. The magician then proceeds to write out the suggestions, crumples them up and places them into the hat. A volunteer then picks a name from the hat and reads it aloud. Finally, the envelope is opened and lo and behold it is the exact same name.
The Double Bullet Catch
The bullet catch is a well-known magic trick that has had audiences at the edge of their seats for decades. Penn and Teller took this trick to the next level in 1996.
They made sure the bullets weren’t tampered with by making audience members sign them and they also performed a spectacular simultaneous catch. They set up a pane of glass to show the bullets being fired and used laser sights to find their targets. All that was left was the simple matter of catching a bullet with their teeth.
The Secret Behind the Double Bullet Catch
It goes without saying that this is a trick only for experienced magicians. The first step is to swap the signed bullets with wax bullets and load those into the guns. The performers then talk and generally use misdirection so that the audience doesn’t notice when they place the prepared signed bullets somewhere in their mouths.
When the gun is fired the wax melts from the heat and the hot wax punctures a hole through the glass. At the right moment, the magicians retrieve the bullets and place them between their tooth as if they had caught them from the firing gun.
How Did They Know?
All you need to get this trick ready is an envelope, notepad, pen, hat and something to put papers in. Before the party even starts you will prepare the prediction in a sealed envelope. Simply write the name of a celebrity everybody is sure to know after the words, “You will choose...” and seal it an envelope. Then every time someone calls out a prediction simply write the name you already put in the envelope and crumple it up into the hat.
Make sure no one can see what you are writing. Stop only after someone has said the name you chose, and you have about ten crumpled paper balls. When the volunteer comes up to pick a name, they will have no choice but to pick the one that matches what is written in the envelope.
The Sands of the Nile Trick
This trick was all the rage in the 1970s. The magician has a big bowl of water on the stage and slowly pours in different brightly colored types of sand. First, he does red and then blue and so on and goes on to mix everything up in the bowl. He then proceeds to reverse the process.
First, he takes out the blue sand and it is not only separate from the other colors but also completely dry. He then proceeds to do the same with all the other colors until all that is left is a clean bowl of water. The audience applauds and scratches their heads to figure out what just happened.