The (Not So Secret) Secrets Behind Magic Tricks

Down the Hatch

The trick to this performance is knowing exactly how your mouth and esophagus meet, and the ability to contract your lower esophageal muscles to stop the sword from falling into the stomach. This is arguably the most dangerous widely represented trick, and nobody should simply “attempt” sword swallowing, you will most likely cause serious, irreversible damage to yourself.

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The More You Know

  • The sun and moon appear to be the same size in the sky because of an astonishing coincidence: the moon is 400 times smaller but 400 times closer.
  • Roughly 600 Parisians work at the Eiffel Tower each day.
  • Mount Rushmore cost less than $1 million.
  • The word "muscle" comes from a Latin term meaning "little mouse."
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