When I was a teenager, I enjoyed giving magic shows at birthday parties. Most of my tricks were purely store-bought, but my favorite was one I put together on my own.
I began by showing a picture frame with nothing in it. I put it on a table, facing away from the audience. Next, a volunteer picked a card from a full deck. I ripped it up in full view of the audience, gave one corner to the volunteer, and put the rest in my closed hand. After some incantations, I opened my hand and the card was gone! Turning the picture frame around, we saw that the selected card was in it, with one corner ripped out. I took the card out of the frame and gave it to the volunteer, who verified that the corner she had retained perfectly fit the missing piece in the card.
What made that trick so effective was that there were several obfuscations along the way. Someone might be able to figure out how I made the ripped-up pieces vanish, but that would not explain the whole trick.
So it is with the stunning illusion I offer for your pleasure today. It’s the famous David Copperfield making a jet disappear. Even with a little background in magic, I couldn’t figure this one out…until I searched the Internet and found other videos that revealed the secrets. So that you can enjoy being puzzled for as long as you like, I won’t point you to those videos. You’ll have to find them yourself.
And now here’s Mr. Copperfield.
We all know that a 7-ton jet did not vanish. That’s impossible, right? So the real mystery is: Where we were so gullible? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Path of the Beagle 