How did David Blaine push a needle through his arm?

The magic shop is getting requests from people all over the world asking ‘How did David Blaine push a needle through his arm?’

David Blaine’s new TV special Real or Magic seems to have done its job very well! He perfectly blurs the lines between illusion and reality and the magic trick that blurs this line the most is his personal version of needle through arm that closes the show.

So, how did David Blaine push a needle through his arm? The truth is that nobody other than David and his most trusted associates really know. The general consensus of the public is that he must have actually pushed the needle (or skewer to be precise) through his arm. It should go without saying though that no one should attempt to copy this illusion as there are many things that could go wrong including paralysis and even death.

When looking at this amazing piece of astonishment though there are a few things to take into account.

Firstly, David Blaine has been preparing this TV special for nearly a decade. He puts immense amounts of care and thought into his presentations, he also prepares himself for each stunt or magic trick over long periods of time. He is a perfectionist and takes his performances very seriously.

David also has access to the best medical advice and the best magic consultants the world has to offer so whether it was an illusion or real he has advice from the world’s best and most sought after authorities on the subject. So whether it was real or magic he has had the best advice and the best tuition on how to perform this bizarre feat.

David Blaine performed this to an actor in the show. It was a controlled, staged and directed performance, with a spectator that was not an unsuspecting member of the public. Ricky Gervais was part of the show himself.

David Blaine is as committed to the art form of magic as anyone could be. He has the time and money to delve deeply into any theory of any subject he wishes. There is no telling if he spent months learning these techniques from the tribesmen of New Guinea or Mayan’s (who regularly pierce their faces and bodies as part of a ritual they perform), or whether he and his team have in fact, come up with a diabolical method for showing this effect!

Once again David Blaine has fooled us all. He has an amazing ability to keep us all guessing, whether you are a magician or a layperson.

I would like to mention that we at the Merchant of Magic do not advise anyone try any such stunt at home, David Blaine is a professional and has some of the world’s best assistants help him train to perform these illusions and stunts. Maybe it was really a magic trick, in which case really trying to push a needle through your arm would be very silly!

However, if you wish to perform a magic trick that shows an illusion like David Blaine’s needle through arm I highly recommend you check these out:

Pocket Bizarre by Peter Eggink – Tips, Problems and Answers

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

With any magic trick release as hot as Pocket Bizarre by Peter Eggink, there is always a list of questions that follow.

There seem to be a few questions that are definitely the most frequently asked by magicians; so we thought we would list them all here with the answers and add a couple of great tips for you too!

What it does

Pocket Bizarre takes the playing card to pocket plot to new heights and makes the magic happen automatically. A card is selected by the spectator and lost back in the deck of playing cards. You then turn around to show your back pocket; there is nothing to see. You turn to face your spectators and without your hands going anywhere near your back pocket and with no funny moves you turn back around to show that there is now a card sticking out of your back pocket. The spectator removes it, and it is their chosen card!

Questions and Answers about Pocket Bizarre

Can this be done with a signed playing card?

Yes, it can be done with a signed card! The DVD covers this handling as well as many other ideas.

Can the spectator remove the playing card?

It is perfectly fine for the spectator to remove the card from your pocket with most of all the handlings. However, there are a couple of versions taught where this is not possible.

Is it difficult to transfer the gimmick from one pair of trousers to another?

Yes! It is so simple to transfer the gimmick from one pair of trousers to another it is almost criminal!

Is it noisy?

No! The Pocket Bizarre gimmick is absolutely silent!

Can I get the spectator’s signed card to appear without awkward palming?

There are a couple of handlings taught for the signed card version. There is a version where the signed card is able to be removed by the spectator that requires no awkward palming, just great routining.

If a spectator were to remove the card themselves would they feel the gimmick in your pocket?

No! The gimmick is specially manufactured to clip perfectly inside a standard billfold wallet so all a spectator would feel is a wallet in your back pocket that is if you let them feel around that much! Please note though, it is not necessary for you to use the wallet.

Here are a few great tips that can help you get the most out of your Pocket Bizarre as it is so much more than just a card to pocket trick!

This is a great tip that has been suggested by many people:

Why not use Pocket Bizarre as a perfect method to cover a deck switch or to help out with routines like Envylope or The Extractor. Pocket Bizarre is the perfect routine to help aid other tricks like these as the misdirection is automatically built in and makes performing other routines like Envylope a breeze!

Jeff Prace has a great idea:

Give the spectators a small stack of four or five bills. Have them hold the bills tightly between their hands, and explain how you can “pickpocket” one of the bills. Show your back pocket empty, and with your hands clearly empty and visible the whole time, turn back around to reveal a bill. They open their hands and now have one less bill.

Janet Harris, (the Astonishment Goddess herself) says:

‘For a really nice un-gimmicked bill vanish from the spectator’s hands then check out the Revised Las Vegas Leaper in True Astonishments.’

How to Know When a Magic Trick will be Back in Stock at The Magic Shop

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

Chris writes:

I just wanted to say I love your magic store. But, (and it is a little but) I have no idea when out of stock items will be back in stock. Now novatech.com have a little nifty thing under the out of stock sign/label that says when its in stock again might be worth considering getting something similar. I only say it because I have wanted Sleight of hand for beginners for my daughter for a long, but every time I look it's out of stock. Please tell me when items will be in stock again?

Dear Chris,

That's a great idea and I'd love to add that feature to the magic shop. I think the main issue for us is that we often have no idea when an item will become available again.

Unlike large PC component companies, most magic items are made by small independent creators as a hobby. They don't tend to have a manufacturing schedule. Often magicians just making another batch if and when they feel like it. When will they make more product and ship it to us? Your guess is often as good as ours!

Unlike almost every other magic shop, our inventory is live and updated dynamically. It feeds in data from manufacturers if they make stock level data available to us. Because it automatically restocks items as we run low, if an item shows as completely out of stock, it's generally because the manufacturer has run out of stock too, not just our warehouse. As soon as they let us know that more is shipping to the warehouse, we update our inventory that same day.

Originally we simply removed items from the site as they sold out, but feedback from customers suggested that they didn't like that, as they would search for an item and assume we didn't supply it. Manufacturers also became worried that we had dropped their item and would contact us to ask why we didn't feature it on the site. Customers searching google online still wanted to read about the product and check out the suggestions for other items we include on the product pages. They also like that we prompt them to contact us to be reminded when more become available. So now, we show a notice suggesting that the customer contacts us and we can set up a reminder to contact them when more product becomes available. We can usually email them as and when we get restock information.

Ideally we would be able to get restock dates from manufacturers for each item and we could display that. I'll look for a way to include that information for larger suppliers that can offer that data.

I really like your idea about suggesting similar alternative items. I'll add that to the development work list!

Best wishes

Dominic Reyes