Is it possible to get through to the Magic wagon Impossible Glass Penetration trick secret by viewing just one video clip?
I do not own this glass penetration trick apparatus, nor do I know exactly how the trick works.
After a few viewings of the Impossible Glass Penetration by Magic Wagon video clip, I think this is how the trick is done.
At the end of the post, I will show you the tiny corner edge of the glass piece to prove my guess could 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 it, or you need to shift the glass piece or the mirror in some cases.
Hidden Hole Magic Tricks:
For instance this popular plastic Penetration Frame magic trick, where you apparently can push a pencil through the clear solid plastic piece.
The secret is there is hole on the clear plastic piece hidden away under the center frame, as exposed in this video.
Here is the Penetration Frame patent filed by Ludwig Krug back in 1938.
Glass Penetration By Sir Felix Korim
There is a glass penetration stage illusion design by Sir Felix Korim, called the “4th Dimensional Glass“ with the same method.
The secret is by shifting the glass which has a hole hidden behind the metal clip.
You can find out more about Sir Felix Korim‘s glass penetration stage illusion idea in the book “The Conjurers Book Of Stage Illusions” (page 86) below.
The parlor trick known as the Silk Scarf Through Mirror is a favorite among many stage magicians.
Similarly, there is a secret hole hidden away, which you need to discreetly shift it out from behind the mirror as revealed in this video clip.
Shifting The Mirror:
The Flexible Mirror Magic Trick Revealed
The secret of the Flexible Mirror is by shifting part of the mirror out of the wooden frame.
This is how the Magic Mirror of Mikame Craft of Japan works.
Ali Bongo Die Through The Mirror Secret
This all-time favorite close-up Die Through The Mirror trick was created by the late British magician Ali Bongo.
The secret is you lower the mirror to let the die drops through the hole and slides down, as exposed in this video from 3:56 onward.
NOTE: You can download and keep these two free magic books by Ali Bongo listed below.
Tenyo T-263 The Great Escape
There is an updated version of this “Die Through The Mirror trick” known as “The Great Escape” by magician So Sato of Tenyo Magic Company from Japan.
This Tenyo T-263 The Great Escape prop replaced the mirror with a metal sheet.
You can find the secret of Tenyo T-263 “The Great Escape” in this original free instruction sheet in English from here or here.
NOTE: You can find the free book of 35 card tricks by So Sato below.
The Impossible Glass Penetration Explained
Now, let’s look at the effect of The Impossible Glass Penetration by Magic Wagon:
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.
This is the Impossible Glass Penetration video:
So, how can the four swords pass through the solid glass?
I am just taking a stab at guessing how this penetration trick is done.
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.
It is not like the four holes in the Peter Warlock Glass Penetration or Atomic Glass Penetration prop above.
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.
The 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, having the the tall doors, especially in the center does make sense.
The 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.
You will know the reason why the size of this glass does matter.
The Sword Size
Another puzzling thing that rouse my attention is the use such a slim swords or rods for such a comparatively big prop.
For this penetration trick to work, similarly the size of the swords does really matter.
Give A Helping Hand
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 piece of glass sheet in place.
This is the gist of the secret working of the Impossible Glass Penetration trick.
I will explain in more detail soon.
It’s In the Move
One thing that caught my attention is the order 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.
Slot In Here
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.
I will highlight it later.
There is strange act of pouring the brass swords out from the drinking glass at 0:54-0:57.
As a matter of fact, this sudden antic definitely raise unnecessary suspicion from the viewers.
In fact, one YouTube commenter did remarked that the spilling of the swords is to cover the sound of the glass falling behind.
I am not too sure whether the sound from the secret move of the glass panel behind the doors is audible to the close-up audience.
But it is probably detectable by the video camera.
Lastly, there is a quick discreet move by his right hand just before he finishes up the act.
That brief act which caught my eyes, further confirms my assumption how the penetration trick is done could be correct.
Well, you could say the secret of Impossible Glass Penetration by Magic wagon is revealed in its own advertisement.
It says:
Completely self-contained and it does not use the usual sliding method!
The special wooden frame allows this all to happen!
In other words, there is STILL the sliding of the glass piece, but not the usual way of doing it.
The usual way of sliding glass from side to side as in Peter Warlock Glass Penetration, or English Glass Penetration by Harry Stanley.
It clearly stated it is the wooden frame which makes this trick possible.
With this info, we know precisely, there is movement of the glass piece and the frame that holds the glass is most probably the accomplice in helping the penetration effect possible.
Impossible Glass Penetration Trick Secret
Now, let’s go through my view of the Impossible Glass Penetration trick.
The whole secret is this:
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 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 edge 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.
This Spikes Through Glass trick apparatus a frame has two lift-up doors with two holes on each side.
It is mounted on a rather tall black stand or platform.
To perform the penetration trick, a framed glass sheet is placed onto the prop.
The doors are closed, and four spikes pushed through the holes, apparently penetrating through the glass.
Then the spikes are removed and the doors are opened to show the glass remains completely unharmed.
Watch the demo video below:
I believe the secret behind this spikes through glass trick is the same as the Dove Through Glass.
The frame glass sheet has to pushed down into the tall black stand, to make way for the four spikes to go through the doors, as illustrated below.
You can see the performer’s left hand pushing down the frame glass, then only he lifts up the back door at 0:20.
Just before he opens the front door, at 1:27, after opening the back door, his left hand pulls up the glass frame.
Glass Penetration By George Pfisterer
Check out this rod penetrating solid glass magic trick from the past, which is somewhat similar to the above “Impossible Glass Penetration“.
The glass is mounted on a frame with two doors and four holes.
The secret working is at the pivoted doors which secretly shift the glass piece.
You can find this trick and many other past stage illusion ideas from this past issue of Conjurers’ Magazine below.
The Conjurers Magazine Issue Vol.3 No.3 May 1947
Click on any of these: Link 1, Link 2
NOTE: Link 2 is from Scribd.
Get the free Scribd content with Scribd Downloader.
By the way, you can also find this “Glass Penetration” trick by George Pfisterer in this free book by Micky Hades Publication.
The Conjurers Book Of Stage Illusions
Click on any of these: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3
This is another one of Magic Wagon magic penetration tricks called Penetration 360.
Leon’s Glass Penetration Glass Revealed
The Penetration 360 magic trick is adapted from The Great Leon’s Glass Penetration manufactured by Merv Taylor.
All the auction websites do not show any picture of the glass sheet of Merv Taylor’s “The Great Leon’s Glass Penetration“.
Furthermore there is no demo video clip.
Notice the position of these two top spikes (indicated) which are set near to the edge of the box.
I assume it is to provide enough space for the glass sheet. to avoid the eleven spikes.
Based on the available pictures and its dimensions of this prop, I think this is the position of the glass sheet inside the Leon’s Glass Penetration box.
It is positioned slightly slanting, to avoid the center spike from the top cover.
I think the secret of Penetration 360 is the brass sheet together with its surrounding frame slides down onto the bottom of the cabinet. when the front spikes are inserted.
The frame is hinged to a spring mechanism.
Notice the rather odd positions of the four holes at the top and the bottom of the cabinet.
They are situated right up to the edge of the cabinet (indicated by arrows).
This is similar to the Leon’s Penetration Glass prop as highlighted above.
I reckon this is to allow space for the reclining brass sheet (side view) at the bottom of the cabinet.
The Secrets Of So Sato By So Sato & Richard Kaufman
Click on this: Link
But if you want to download and save them for your own reference, check out this: “How To Save Internet Archive Borrow Books“.
Ali Bongo’s Book Of Magic
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Be A Magician By Ali Bongo
Click on this: Link
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