Great magic act by Lu Chen. Don’t let the language barrier stop you, and definitely hang in there for the final trick. I think I have guesses for most of the coin tricks, but I have no idea how he did that last feat. If you’re curious, it looks like the secret has been revealed, but I haven’t watched it yet. I’m going to enjoy the mystery for awhile longer, at least.

My kids will love some of these. Top 10 quirky science tricks for Christmas parties:

We’ve done the candle one before, use a candle snuffer. You can get a good six-inch jump if there’s no turbulence and you get a nice smooth stream of smoke off the extinguished candle.

James Galea’s signature trick, 673 King Street:

Ricky Jay manages to squeeze a ton into his op-ed on Susan Boyle. He draws comparisons with Mathew Buchinger:

Buchinger demonstrated his skill on more than a half-dozen musical instruments (some of his own invention), danced a hornpipe and performed conjuring tricks with cups and balls, cards and dice. In front of the lord provost he fashioned a pen and with it produced a fine calligraphic document of the coat of arms of the city. The year was 1726. Buchinger was 52 years old, 29 inches tall — and, he had neither legs nor arms.

… in how appearance influences expectations. He also touches on Thomas Quasthoff,
Thomas Britton, Joshua Bell’s subway stint, a Joni Mitchell song, Cardini, and Steve Martin (as The Great Flydini, a routine Jay helped create).

I was reading Magic and the Brain: Teller Reveals the Neuroscience of Illusion in the new issue of Wired, and had to check out the Cups and Balls routine mentioned therein. I found the one with the potato and the one with the golf ball. I wish these were in HD.