RALPH exposes the tricks of the magic trade.
Levitation
The pledge: To float momentarily above the ground.
Inventory: Special pants, special shoe, a small platform, skill at “misdirection”.
The turn: Audience is positioned behind magician before he starts. While he makes sure to wear two shoes, the special one is actually attached to a pant leg with a secret slit in the front to allow one leg to come out unobserved. Next, he distracts the punters and removes his foot from the modified shoe and his leg from the pants, stepping up on the platform and leaving his other foot firmly on the ground. Flapping his arms, he lifts himself off the ground with one leg. The trick pant leg and attached shoe leave the ground along with his other leg, creating a floating illusion.
The reveal: The trickster reverses the process, stepping down and creating misdirection, while slipping his leg back inside his pants. If only it were as easy to get into hot chicks' pants.
Water Walk
The pledge: Magic dude promises to impress his mates, and possibly piss off God and Jesus, by walking on water.
Inventory: A swimming pool, hot chick in a bikini, long piece of Perspex.
The turn: First, the magician scopes out a pool frequented by hotties before installing a narrow Perspex or glass bridge that sits just below the water's surface. Now he simply walks across it. To erase any doubt in his audience's mind – or because he’s a bit of a perv – he has a bikini-clad babe repeatedly swim under the transparent bridge to dispel any suspicion there’s actually something hidden under the water’s surface.
The reveal: Magician walks over to the other side and the hottie is toweled off by a lucky assistant, leaving onlookers to theorise that the tricky bastard did it all with mirrors and digital editing. Or something.
Disappearing act
The pledge: Vanish into thin air, a trick we all wish Wes Carr would master.
Inventory: Two square tables, a mirror, a sheet.
The turn: Magician places two tables together, wedging a perfectly sized mirror underneath. The mirror extends from the ground on the underside of the table, making it impossible for punters to see behind and creating a reflection of the foreground. Basically, they reckon they’ve still got a clear view under the table. The bloke then stands on the tables, holding a sheet in front of him that extends from tabletop to waist height. He pulls it up, covering himself completely before quickly dropping down behind the mirror, leaving the sheet behind in a pile on the table.
The reveal: Punters freak out and run for their lives, believing they’ve just encountered the anti-Christ.
From the RALPH archives
Can you guys reveal any other secret magic tricks? Enter your comments below.
Slideshows
Koby and Hayley
World's hottest cheerleaders
More RALPH Big Stories
Rebecca Twigley
Anthony Mundine
