The Secret to Floating Glass Magic Tricks

Preparing the First Card

• Take any two playing cards from a deck and cut a strip of clear sticky-tape so that it is slightly smaller than the longest side of a playing card doubled. Fold it over so that it becomes sticky on both sides. Imagine a vertical line down the center of one of the two cards and place the strip of sticky-tape down the line, so that one of its edges lies on the center line. The sticky-tape must be stuck to the back of the card

Joining the Cards

• Take the card that is so far unused and place the picture side of it against the back of the card with sticky-tape on it. Press down hard on the cards so that they no longer look like two cards, but one. Place the double card on the top of the deck and move the deck to one side.

Setting the Scene

• Invite your audience into the room and seat them directly in front of you, nowhere near the sides of the room. Stand behind a table with the deck of cards, a jug full of water and a small empty glass on it. Show the audience the glass and fill it with water. This shows the audience that it is a real glass and there is nothing to hide. Fill the glass, but it shouldn't be right to the brim. Pick the card on top of the pile and show it to the audience from all angles. Hold it between your forefinger and thumb on the edge of the side that is not sticky-taped down. This makes sure the card does not lift up at all and ruin the trick.

Performing the Trick

• Stand the card upright so that the audience are staring straight at the picture side and can see nothing behind it. Press one of your thumbs into the center line and fold the second card in half with your other hand. If you looked at the cards from a bird's eye view, you would see a T-shape. Place the glass on top of the cards so that the card that everyone can see is positioned slightly forward of the center of the base of the glass. Let go of the glass and card and stand back. To the audience the glass full of water is levitating in the air with only a flimsy playing card holding its weight. Of course this is not possible, so the audience are baffled by the magic floating glass.