Howcast

How to Hold Your Breath like David Blaine

Howcast — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 04:03:39 +0000

Instructions

: Don’t try this at home. Not breathing for long periods of time can cause severe injuries and death.
Step 1: Simulate the high Train your body to absorb as much oxygen as possible. 2 to 4 months before you plan to hold your breath, start sleeping in a hypoxic tent. The tent replicates the lower oxygen levels found at high altitudes to stimulate the production of red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the muscles.w
TIP: If you don’t have a hypoxic tent, train and sleep in a high-altitude location.
Step 2: Use less oxygen Take up aerobic exercises like running, biking, and swimming, and eat a balanced diet — a body in peak condition is best prepared to use oxygen efficiently. Practice mental relaxation exercises to lower your resting heart rate, which decreases oxygen consumption.
Step 3: Practice Practice breathing exercises to purge as much carbon dioxide from your lungs as possible. Exhale and inhale hard and fast for 60 seconds. Then, take a large, deep breath into your diaphragm and hold it as long as you can. Practice daily until you only need 1 minute of breathing for every 5½ minutes of static apnea.
: This practice causes headaches and extreme fatigue. Proceed with caution.
Step 4: Breathe pure oxygen Don’t eat for 18 hours before your attempt — a full stomach will constrict your lungs’ expansion. Then, just before you begin, spend about 10 minutes breathing pure oxygen, alternating purging, holding, and deep breathing, to flood your body with breathable air and clear out any nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
Step 5: Get wet When you’re ready for your attempt, take a deep breath of pure oxygen. Place your body in a pool of water, submerging yourself completely. Go limp: Concentrate on clearing your mind and staying perfectly still to lower your heart rate and conserve oxygen.
TIP: Have a friend with you who can monitor your progress.
Step 6: Fight through Stay relaxed and ignore the intense pain and discomfort that comes from not breathing. Then, when you can’t take it anymore, emerge from the water and inhale deeply — your lungs have earned a little air.
FACT: Among his many stunts, David Blaine once encased himself in a 6-ton block of ice for 62 hours.

You Will Need

Hypoxic tent
Aerobic exercise
Relaxation exercise
Practice
Pure oxygen
Pool of water
Friend
Willpower

How to Do the Self-Tying Shoelace Trick

Howcast — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:00:50 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Turn a baggy pair of pants inside out Turn a long, baggy pair of pants inside out. You’ll need long pants to cover part of your shoe, and room in the pant leg for the clip and wire.
Step 2: Attach the clip to the pocket Attach the clip with the retractable wire to one of the bottom of one of the front pockets in the pants. Then use one or two safety pins to attach the stopper next to the clip.
TIP: The belt clip is often used with cell phones or ID badges and can be found inexpensively online. The drawstring stopper is often found on outdoor clothing.
Step 3: Attach the shoelaces Tie a pair of shoelaces to the end of the retractable wire. The shoelaces must be identical to the ones on the shoes you will wear during the trick.
TIP: The laces on the wire will be sticking out from the bottom of your pant leg, so make sure they look like untied laces.
Step 4: Pull the wire down Pull the wire with the laces attached down to the bottom of the pant leg, so the laces extend further than the pant leg, but not so far that the wire is exposed when the pants are on.
TIP: Part of the untied laces should be hidden inside the pant leg.
Step 5: Fold the wire Make a small fold in the top of the wire, near the clip. Take the folded piece of wire and slide it through the stopper, and then release the stopper button so that the stopper is clamping down on the folded wire. This will keep the wire extended down to the bottom of the pant leg.
Step 6: Put the pants on Put the pants on and set up the bottom of your pant leg so it covers the laces that are already tied on your shoe. Let the untied laces attached to the wire hang down over your shoes.
Step 7: Perform the trick Shake your foot as if you’re trying to tie your shoe with no hands. Squeeze the stopper from the outside of your pants to release the wire and, when the wire retracts, show the already tied laces to your audience.
FACT: Numerical simulations have shown that the trefoil knot has the shortest possible rope length.

You Will Need

Baggy pants
Belt clip with retractable wire
Plastic drawstring stopper
2 safety pins
2 identical pairs of shoelaces
Pair of laceable shoes

How to Do the Mind Control Trick

Howcast — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:31:32 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Develop story to explain mind-reading ability Tell a story to explain why you are able to read minds.
Step 2: Pick a number Tell your volunteer to think of a number between 1 and 10, but not to say the number out loud.
Step 3: Multiply number by 9 Have your volunteer multiply their number by 9.
TIP: As they do the math, remind them not to reveal their answers to you.
Step 4: Add numbers in the product Instruct the volunteer to add the digits in the product together.
TIP: The sum of the digits of any number, 1 through 10, that’s been multiplied by 9 will add up to 9.
Step 5: Subtract 5 Tell your volunteer to subtract 5 from the new number, which you know to be 9. When they subtract 5 from their number, the answer, of course, is 4.
Step 6: Determine a letter Have your volunteer choose a letter of the alphabet. Tell them to use the number in their head, and find its corresponding letter when 1 equals A, 2 equals B, through 26 equaling Z. Since their number is 4, they should now be thinking of the letter D.
Step 7: Think of a country and mammal Have your volunteer think of a country that begins with their letter, and then to think of a mammal whose name begins with the second letter in the country’s name. Most people will pick Denmark, and although there are other mammals that begin with E, most people will pick elephant.
TIP: Have a contingency plan in case they didn’t pick Denmark or elephant. The second letter of Dominican Republic, for example, is O. Ox and otter are good backup guesses. The elk is the only other common mammal starting with E. And there’s always jaguar for the smart aleck who picks Djibouti!
Step 8: Select a color Have your volunteer pick a color that their animal is associated with. Since they’re probably thinking of an elephant, the color will be gray.
Step 9: Reveal your mind-reading powers Look at your volunteer and say, “Are you thinking of a gray elephant in Denmark?” Enjoy their look of surprise and amazement!
FACT: African elephants are the world’s largest living land mammals.

You Will Need

Volunteer
Good memory
Flair for acting

How to Do the Ball to Jumbo Square Trick

Howcast — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:31:55 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Show the audience the ball Show the audience the red sponge ball in your hand and tell them you will make it disappear.
Step 2: Squeeze the ball in your fist Squeeze the ball through a small opening in the top of your closed fist, passing it from one closed fist to the other, palms inward, so that it is always concealed from your audience.
Step 3: Turn the ball inside out Turn the ball inside out while passing it from hand to hand. The red ball is a trick ball that, when inverted, becomes a large square with a hole that conceals a black ball.
TIP: Ask them to guess which hand the red ball is in. Whichever they choose, they’ll be surprised when no red ball is in either hand.
Step 4: Reveal Reveal the large red square that was the red ball and a black ball when you open your hands.
FACT: In math, a magic square contains rows, columns, and diagonals of numbers that all add up to the same number.

You Will Need

Sponge ball and cube magic set
Audience

How to Do the Magic Coloring Book Trick

Howcast — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:31:55 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Present the coloring book Present the coloring book to the audience. While holding your thumb at the bottom of the book, quickly flip the pages to reveal a blank coloring book.
Step 2: Recruit an assistant Ask the audience for an assistant. Pick a child from the audience.
TIP: A magic wand always makes a trick look more authentic. Let your assistant hold it.
Step 3: Explain how the trick works. Position your thumb on the book so that it retains different-sized pages. When your thumb is at the top, it shows black and white pages; at the bottom, blank pages; and in the middle, color pages.
Step 4: Make a picture appear Hold up the book and tell the audience that you will magically add pictures to the blank book. Have your assistant wave the magic wand.
TIP: When it is time to say the magic words, get everyone excited. Ask the audience to say ‘abracadabra’ along with you on the count of three.
Step 5: Reveal black and white pictures Hold your thumb at the top corner of the book and quickly flip the pages to reveal black and white pictures.
Step 6: Add color Add some color to the book by having your assistant wave the wand. Hold your thumb in the middle edge of the book and flip the pages to reveal colored pictures.
FACT: Did you know? Walter Rolfo and Piero Ustignani hold the Guinness Record for pulling 300 rabbits out of a hat in less than 30 minutes.

You Will Need

Magic coloring book
Audience
Magic wand (optional)

How to Do a Simple Envelope Magic Trick

Howcast — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:45:44 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare and seal envelope Write down a four-figure number that totals twice the current year. Put it in the envelope, and seal it prior to your demonstration.
Step 2: Select a volunteer Select a volunteer from the audience to participate in the trick.
Step 3: Ask for year of birth and an important event Ask the volunteer to write their year of birth, and, below that, the year of an important event, such as a graduation or marriage.
Step 4: List age and years passed Instruct your volunteer to add their age to the list followed by the number of years that have passed since the event they listed.
TIP: Tell the volunteer they must be completely honest when writing down their birth year, age, and dates. This is vital for the trick to work.
Step 5: Add up numbers Add the numbers the volunteer wrote down, or have the volunteer add them, and announce the number.
TIP: Make sure all the numbers are whole numbers. They must all be whole numbers for the trick to work.
Step 6: Open your envelope Open your envelope, which should contain the same number, and pass it around. Voila! You’re now a bona fide magician.
FACT: Legendary British magician Cardini, who rose to popularity in the 1920s, had a trademark surprised expression after completing sleight-of-hand tricks.

You Will Need

Pen
Paper
Envelope
Audience
Volunteer

How to Do an Easy Ball Vase Trick

Howcast — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:16:12 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Open the vase Open the vase to reveal a colored ball in the cup of the base.
Step 2: Put the ball in your pocket Put the ball in your pocket and tell your audience you are going to make the ball reappear in the vase.
Step 3: Make the ball reappear Replace the top of the vase and wave your hand over it.
TIP: Uttering a magical incantation while waving your hand will add to the illusion.
Step 4: Lift the trick top Lift the trick top, showing a secret compartment and revealing a second, “gimmick” ball, glued inside.
TIP: Keep the vase as still as possible while the gimmick ball is shown. People will wonder why it doesn’t move like a real ball.
Step 5: Make it disappear Make the ball disappear by replacing the trick top, waving your hand over it, and reopening the vase while holding the false bottom in place.
Step 6: Show the ball in your pocket Make the ball magically “reappear” in your pocket by taking it out of your pocket to reveal the real ball that was there all along.
FACT: A 600-year-old Ming vase sold for $10 million in 2006 – the most expensive Ming porcelain ever sold.

You Will Need

Ball vase kit
Audience

How to Do the Calculator Prediction Trick

Howcast — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:45:48 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Have friend write a number Tell your friend to write any number on a sheet of paper. The number can be as many digits long as they want.
TIP: Have each person in a group contribute one digit to form a final number that you can use in the trick.
Step 2: Write the number nine Tell your friend you will predict the final number they will have at the end of the trick. Write the number nine on another sheet of paper, fold the paper, and set it aside.
Step 3: Scramble the digits Have your friend scramble the digits of their number and write it down. If the original number is 435, they might write down 354.
TIP: Have your friend write the larger of the two numbers above the other number to avoid getting a negative total when you subtract.
Step 4: Subtract Have your friend use the calculator to subtract one number from the other.
Step 5: Add Have your friend add the digits of the number together until only one digit is left.
TIP: Be sure that your friend uses the calculator when doing the math calculations. This trick won’t work if the math is wrong.
Step 6: Show your prediction Show your friend your prediction on the piece of paper. Ask, “Is this your final number?” and prepare to watch their jaws drop in amazement at your magic skills.
FACT: A Greek mathematician in the second century invented the basis of modern algebra when he began using symbols for representation in math problems.

You Will Need

A friend
Paper
A pen
A calculator

How to Hypnotize Someone

Howcast — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:45:54 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Research Do research and read up on hypnosis. Responsible conduct is essential when your subject is placing their trust in you.
Step 2: Communicate your intentions Begin by communicating your intentions to your subject, and learn their anxieties about the process. Answer questions and reassure them that they will emerge from the trance.
Step 3: Make them comfortable Encourage your subject to sit or lie down and be comfortable. Guide them in relaxing parts of their body. Use a soothing voice and be sure they are unconscious and ready to submit to suggestion.
TIP: This may not work if someone is not inclined to respond to suggestion or so tense they are unable to concentrate.
Step 4: Reinforce their safety Reinforce your subject’s safety and comfort repeatedly with positive phrases like, “You’re doing just fine,” and “That’s great. Just relax.”
Step 5: Note changes in breathing Note changes in breathing or fluttering eyelids as signs that the person has gone under. Sometimes the limbs or fingers twitch.
Step 6: Ask questions Ask questions, adhering to the goal of the session.
TIP: Hypnosis can be used to manage pain, relieve anxiety, conquer phobias, prepare for childbirth, and cure insomnia, among other things.
Step 7: Bring them back Return your subject to consciousness by counting to five, becoming more animated with every number, until you direct them to wake, “feeling refreshed.”
FACT: The term “hypnosis” was coined by James Braid in 1843 to describe the state his patients entered when staring at a shiny watch.

You Will Need

Hypnosis classes
Research
A subject
Patience
Goals

How to Do the Torn Bill Trick

Howcast — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:16:39 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Fold Fold the dollar bill in half, crosswise from end to end. Then fold it lengthwise, from top to bottom.
Step 2: Tear Make a small tear, about a quarter inch long, a half inch in from the folded edge of the bill.
Step 3: Pretend to rip Pretend to rip this piece off with your right fingers while actually holding the corner folded down with your left thumb. Pretend to throw this piece away.
TIP: Run your nail along the back of the bill to make the tearing sound effect.
Step 4: Ask audience Ask the audience how many holes will be in the bill when you unfold it. Will there be one, two, or four?
Step 5: Unfold Cover the torn piece with your fingers as you unfold the bill, snapping it open. Ask them to point out the holes. There will be none, just a tiny slit that won’t be visible to the eye.
FACT: No longer produced, the $100,000 U.S. bill bears a portrait of the President Woodrow Wilson.

You Will Need

A dollar bill
An audience

How to Escape from Handcuffs

Howcast — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:31:31 +0000

Instructions

: Attempting to escape from police custody is illegal. Never use these tips to evade arrest.
Step 1: Don’t let them close tightly Push your arms towards the person putting the cuffs on you so that they close around your forearms instead of your wrists. Then slide your hands out of the loose cuffs.
Step 2: Use a key You can also use a key to escape. Most handcuffs use one type of key that can be purchased online or at a gun store. Hide the key on your body or around the performance area, and simply unlock the cuffs when it’s time to escape.
TIP: Some escape artists have an assistant covertly pass them a key during a last-minute good-luck handshake.
Step 3: Shim the lock Try pushing a small, thin piece of metal, called a shim, in between the teeth and the locking mechanism inside the cuff. Leaving the shim in, turn your wrist to push open the handcuffs.
TIP: The shim should be wider than a bobby pin or a paper clip. Try the metal clip from a pen cap.
Step 4: Get a pin or paper clip You can even pick the lock. Straighten a bobby pin or paper clip. Peel off the protective plastic tips if you’re using a bobby pin. Then, bend one tip of the pin or clip so that it looks like a hand crank.
Step 5: Pick the lock Insert the tip of the pin or clip into the straight part at the edge of the keyhole, and gently push down toward the side where the handcuffs will open. Use the leverage to release the ratchet and unlock the cuffs.
Step 6: Pick a double lock If they’re double-lock cuffs, insert the pin in the keyhole on the side opposite of where the handcuffs will open, and push down to release the double lock. Then turn the pin around to release the ratchet and open the cuffs. Now take a bow; you’re officially an escape artist!
FACT: The art of escaping restraints or other traps is called escapology.

You Will Need

A pair of handcuffs
A handcuff key
A small
thin piece of metal
A bobby pin or paper clip
An assistant (optional)

How to Do the Smoking Fingers Trick

Howcast — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:47:05 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Cut striker Cut the striker strip from the matchbox with the scissors, peel the cardboard from the back of the strip, and fold it in half lengthwise.
Step 2: Place on tap Place the folded strip on top of a water tap, and run the cold water.
TIP: Run the tap for a while to make sure the water is very cold.
Step 3: Burn the strip Set fire to either end of the strip with the lighter. Then burn along the length of each side.
Step 4: Remove Throw the strip into the sink. When it’s extinguished, turn the water off. Some striker material will have turned into a thick brownish liquid that has settled onto the tap. Rub some of the goo from the tap onto your thumb.
Step 5: Perform the trick Announce that you will make smoke magically rise from your fingers. Then firmly rub your thumb and finger together, creating wisps of smoke between them.
Step 6: Reload Go back to the tap and get more of the goo on your fingers when the smoke has stopped to repeat the trick.
FACT: About 371 billion cigarettes were consumed in the United States in 2006.

You Will Need

Scissors
A matchbox
Access to a sink
A lighter
One or more spectators

How to Make a Salt Shaker Vanish

Howcast — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 06:00:55 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Take a large coin Place a large coin on the table in front of you and talk about this amazing trick you know — making a coin disappear from a table.
Step 2: Cover the shaker Take a napkin and cover the salt or pepper shaker so that the napkin is standing in an inverted “V.”
Step 3: Lift the shaker Lift the napkin-covered shaker and smack it onto the coin once or twice, as if this will make it vanish.
TIP: Keep up a steady stream of chatter about the coin. It’s vital that your audience is expecting a coin trick and not paying attention to the shaker.
Step 4: Move shaker As you pull the shaker off the coin, move it to the edge of the table nearest you.
Step 5: Let shaker slip While you’re still babbling about making the coin go through the table, loosen your grip on the napkin, allowing the shaker to fall into your lap. Keep holding the napkin as if it is still there.
TIP: The napkin must be thick enough to retain the form of the shaker after you let it fall into your lap.
Step 6: Slam it Quickly slam the supposed “shaker” down hard on the coin with both hands. The napkin will collapse.
Step 7: Feign irritation Pull the napkin off the table and feign amazed irritation that you didn’t make the coin disappear — you mistakenly made the shaker vanish instead!
FACT: In 1983, David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear on live TV.

You Will Need

A salt or pepper shaker that is at least four inches tall
A stiff cloth or paper napkin
A coin
A table

How to Eat & Restore a Dollar Bill

Howcast — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:02:42 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Borrow a bill Ask to borrow a dollar from someone.
Step 2: Fold it Hold it up horizontally, snapping it noisily to show it’s whole. Fold it in half vertically, through the head of the president.
Step 3: Tear it Start tearing (yes, really tear) the bill at the fold. Go down about an inch.
TIP: Try to tear along a line or pattern on the bill.
Step 4: Pinch it When you reach the end of the tear, use your thumb to secretly fold and hold the torn section against the back of the bill, away from the audience. Now pretend to rip off the bit with your right fingers.
TIP: Pinching the bill hard with your fingers while you pull them away will make a false “ripping” sound.
Step 5: Chew Put the imaginary torn piece in you mouth and chew with gusto.
TIP: Forget manners — go ahead and talk as if your mouth is full!
Step 6: Snap After you’ve “swallowed,” hold the bill in front of your face and snap it open horizontally, while blowing from behind.
TIP: Keep the bill taut and the tear will line up — and the bill will seem to be restored!
Step 7: Switch Tell your volunteer the dollar was delicious, and put it in your wallet. When she objects, pull out the duplicate bill.
FACT: Banks are instructed to refuse torn bills.

You Will Need

A dollar bill
A duplicate bill of the same value in your pocket or wallet

How to Levitate

Howcast — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:24:33 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Wear baggy pants Wear baggy and/or flared pants. You don’t want anyone to have to clear a vision of your feet.
Step 2: Keep your distance Make sure you are at least eight feet from your audience.
Step 3: Get into position Get into position with your back to the audience. The position is critical to the trick—you must have your body at an angle that results in your left foot completely blocking the front of your right foot (or vice versa) from the audience’s vision.
TIP: Experiment with different angles until you perfect this.
Step 4: Divert attention Lift both arms, as if you’re trying to balance yourself on an unsteady surface. One of the keys to any good trick is ‘misdirection’—you want the audience looking at your upper body, not your feet.
Step 5: Draw it out Close your eyes in concentration. Flex your fingers. Build suspense!
Step 6: Step up Raise yourself two inches by putting all your weight on the ball of your right foot, and simultaneously lifting your left foot off the ground. Keep your heels together as you go up. Done correctly, you will appear to mysteriously levitate a few inches.
Step 7: Be theatrical Be theatrical! You’re floating in midair, so throw in a wobble or two. Furrow your brow. Grimace.
Step 8: Land hard After several seconds, let your left foot and right heel down, landing hard, as if your body has been plopped back to earth.
Step 9: Practice Practice until you can pull this off flawlessly.
FACT: British and Dutch scientists succeeded in levitating a live frog using a magnetic field.

You Will Need

A good sense of balance
A pair of baggy and/or flared pants