Magic Tricks Revealed: The Head That Falls Off Your Shoulders

If doing street magic is appealing to, then you've come to the right place. This is a classic trick that never ceases to amaze people. You only need a little bit of set up and practice, and then you'll be ready to approach complete strangers and within a few seconds create an impression that will last a lifetime.

This is the way it will appear to your audience. You approach somebody, explain that you are practicing some street magic, and you'd like their attention for a few seconds. Most everybody will readily agree to seeing some street magic, so you'll have no problems getting them to say yes. You start to launch into a trick, maybe pulling out a deck of cards, but then you begin to sneeze. You pretend your neck is hurting while you sneeze a few more times. Then your head suddenly drops down to the center of your chest. You say something like "Oh, my," and then pull your head back to your shoulders. You politely excuse yourself, and walk away. Needless to say, your audience will be stunned beyond belief.

Here's the trick. You'll need to get two shirts of identical fabric and color to set this up. One shirt under, and one shirt over. On the shirt that is over, you'll need to cut a "V" shape about halfway down to the chest. You'll also need to wear a dark jacket over both shirts. After that, find a sturdy coat hanger, and put it between your shirts, and under your jacket.

As you start sneezing, and complaining about your painful neck, reach back like you are rubbing your neck. When you sneeze really hard, grab the coat hanger, and pull up, and at the same time lower your head. This will make them think your head has fallen off your shoulders and is somehow resting in the middle of your chest. With your hand on your forehead, gently push your head back up to your shoulders.

The key to this trick is to do this quickly, both lifting the jacket and the cut shirt up, as well as returning everything back to normal. Especially if you set this up by saying you are going to do some kind of mind reading trick, nobody will be paying any attention to your shirt and jacket. Because this happens so fast, they will actually remember it as though your head really fell down to your chest.

People won't be paying much attention to your shirt, so you can easily pull this off. Many studies on social sciences bare this out. All you need to do to perform this trick effectively is to set it up as some kind of mind reading trick, do a good job of acting that your neck is hurt, and quickly apologize, and excuse yourself once you've "returned" your head. They will be taken completely off guard, and you'll generate a ton of laughter and amazement with this trick. Have fun.