Is it possible to get to the Magic Wagon Impossible Glass Penetration trick secret by viewing just one video clip?
But after a few viewings glass penetration trick by Magic Wagon video clip, I think I know how it is done.
It is not by sliding the glass from side to side as in the Liquid Glass illusion by Jim Steinmeyer, or the Atomic Glass Penetration also by Magic Wagon.
It is by just tilting the piece of glass.
This is another blog post from the Info Ruckus Magic Trick Secrets Revealed series.
At the end of the post, I will show you the tiny edge of the glass piece to prove my guess should be correct.
Most of the through-glass/mirror magic tricks, they use these two methods to do the penetration effect.
Either there is a hidden hole in the glass itself, or you need to temporary shift the glass piece or the mirror.
The Effect:
A solid sheet of glass is inserted into the wooden frame of the apparatus.
There two wooden doors are closed to block the view of the glass piece.
Then you pierce four short brass swords through the four tiny holes.
It appears the four brass swords manage to go right through the glass.
Now, the slim swords are removed and the doors are opened to show the glass is still in the frame.
The glass is pulled out of the frame and shown to be completely unharmed.
The weakness of the Impossible Glass Penetration effect is the audience cannot get to see the back view of the apparatus inserted with the swords.
Watch the Impossible Glass Penetration demo video:
Impossible Glass Penetration Trick Secret Revealed
So, how can the four swords pass through the solid glass?
To penetrate into the hidden secret, I studied the prop and observed how the performer does his routine.
These are my findings:
Positions Of Holes
Firstly, I realized the position of the four holes on the doors is rather unusual.
They are situated very near to the edges of the frame of the glass.
From the ads and the video clip, you can clearly see the four holes are very close to the hinges.
The positions of the four holes are almost at the edges of the wooden frame that holds the glass sheet.
In fact, it is this peculiar hole position that cracks the secret of this Impossible Glass Penetration open.
High Doors
When I first studied the apparatus, the height of the doors did raise my suspicion.
Then when I found out the key secret of this closeup trick, then I realized it needs the tall doors to hide the tilted glass piece.
Glass Size
When he pulls the glass piece out and then slots it back in, I notice it is just slightly wider that the square hole.
Sword Size
Another puzzling thing that rouse my attention is, the use of such a slim swords or rods for such a comparatively big prop.
It is because of the limited space for this penetration trick to work.
Hand Holding The Door
I noticed the performer’s left hand keeps gripping firmly onto the wooden apparatus.
It is lending a hand to the trick, so to speak.
I suspected his hidden left thumb is up to something.
In fact, his thumb is adjusting and holding onto the tilted piece of glass sheet in place.
This is the key secret working of the Impossible Glass Penetration trick.
I will explain in more detail soon.
Inserting Swords Sequence
One thing that caught my attention is the sequence of inserting in the four brass swords.
He slips in the first sword at his top right hand hole.
Then he inserts the second sword into the bottom hole of his left.
After putting in the first two swords, then he releases his left hand grasp from the wooden frame.
Glass Piece Not Tightly Slotted
You can see that the performer is going all out to prove that the glass in tightly slotted within the wooden frame.
He even mentioned it in his YouTube site that the solid glass piece cannot move left to right or slide in anyway, except on top.
But when I watched the clip, this is what I saw:
Focus on his left hand index finger.
While his right fingers are jiggling the glass panel, you can see it his left hand index finger holding it down at 0:26-0:29.
After turning the back view of the apparatus to the camera, he does it again at 0:34-0:37 to show the glass piece is indeed tightly trapped within the frame.
He never actually pushes the piece of glass all the way to the sides and to the bottom of the slots.
The truth is there is still space within the slot of this frame for the movement of the glass piece.
There is this strange act of pouring the brass swords out from the drinking glass at 0:54-0:57.
I think it is a misdirection; that is the moment when he tilts the glass piece.
That brief act which caught my eyes, further confirms my assumption how the penetration trick is done could be correct.
Now, let’s see how the Impossible Glass Penetration trick is done.
As I have just mentioned above, there is still space in the slot where the glass piece is.
Tilt The Glass Piece
Just after he tosses the remaining three swords from the drinking glass, I think his left thumb secretly tilts the glass piece slightly.
At 0:57, I noticed there is faint movement inside the top hole near his left hand.
If I am not wrong, it must be the movement of the top part of the glass tilting towards the right side of the frame.
By just shifting the glass panel askew slightly or at an angled, the four tiny holes are now unblocked.
See the rough illustration below:
The four small holes are NOT blocked by the piece of glass piece.
That’s why the glass size cannot be too big or wide.
To present the so-called impossible penetration trick, he starts piercing the rods into the four tiny holes.
As I have stated in my findings above, it is NOT just a random act poking in the four swords.
The first two swords or rods are meant to hold the tilted glass piece in place.
These two swords are positioned diagonally to secure or steady the tilted glass.
Once the slant glass piece is safely held up, you can see the performer’s left hand starts to let go of its grip from 1:05 onward.
Then he completes the act by poking in the remaining two swords.
Slim Swords/Rods
I am sure you should know by now why this Impossible Glass Penetration by Magic Wagon uses such slim swords or rods.
From the illustration above, you can see there is limited space outside the tilted or slant glass piece.
The areas around the four now-unblocked holes are very restricted or limited.
Just before he starts removing the swords, you can see his left hand is back in action again from 1:28-1.50.
While his right hand pulling out the first rod, his left thumb needs to hold onto the slanted glass and then shifts it back in place.
Watch closely at 1:41, when his right hand is drawing out the third sword, you can clearly see his left hand fingers practically squeezing at the left door.
The whole apparatus even moves a little because his left thumb is trying to straighten up the slanted glass.
As I have mentioned in my findings above, there is this sneaky discreet move, just before he opens the doors for the finale.
From the video, at 1:47, you can see his right hand quickly touches the back of the frame behind the right door, just before he opens left side door.
He is secretly making sure the glass piece is properly back in its original position.
Tilted Glass Tip
Finally, to show my reveal is probably correct, here is the picture of the corner of the tilted glass piece at the top part behind the wooden apparatus (as indicated).
You can clearly see the tip of the tilted glass piece on his left hand side of the wooden apparatus, when he turns it slightly side way.
Focus on that spot when you watch this particular sequence from 1:13 to 1:18 in the video clip.
It is definitely the corner tip of the tilted glass piece.
To see it clearer, slow down the playback speed to 0:25.
Well, this is the Impossible Glass Penetration trick secret based on my observations from the only video clip.