When you really get down to it, magic is 60% psychology and 40% technique. It’s not enough knowing the secret. You have to learn to play with audience’s mind. The key difference between a ‘trick’ and a ‘miracle’ lies in the way it is performed. This one is a real reputation builder and it is completely performance driven so practice this magic trick well.

Effect
You are at a dinner with a group of a people, waiting for the aperitifs to arrive. You are playing with a spoon and comment about how gravity is acting up nowadays. People look at you wondering what are you are talking about when you suddenly give the spoon in your hand a vigorous shaking and drop it on the table. There’s a scream and then silence. All eyes are on the table and the bent spoon lying on it. The situation is indeed very grave.

Magic Trick Requirements
You need to be seated at a table for this illusion and you need one regular stainless steel spoon. A lot of thicker high quality silver just won’t work for this effect and as a matter of fact it’s better to not play with other people’s silver if you want to be on their guest list the next time too.

Performance
1.The success of the effect lies in the fact that most people assume that cutlery cannot be bent easily… and as you’ll find out, the truth is stranger than fiction and easier than negotiating downtown traffic on a Monday morning.

2.You start by playing with a spoon in your hand. Bring the conversation around to weird phenomena like UFO landings or werewolves or whatever catches your fancy. Subtly show the solidity of the spoon by tapping the table with it to make an occasional point. Most people have strong opinions on this subject and very soon the conversation will become rather intense.

3.The audience doesn’t expect a miracle at this point of time. While the conversation is busy you casually take the spoon by its handle and move it down to your side. Press the bulb of the spoon hard against your thigh. Try not to wince with the effort and in most cases you’ll surprise yourself at how easily the spoon bends.

4.Alternatively if the spoon looks relatively thin you can move it to your lap and under the cover of conversation, push down the bowl of the spoon with your thumb while your fingers encircle the handle.

5.In either case the spoon is momentarily out of sight. You bring it up nonchalantly and very casually place your other hand over it for cover. You cut short the conversation by saying something like, ‘Sometimes even science can shock us. Look at what gravity can do…’

6.Without hesitation start shaking the spoon vigorously and after a due amount of time and preferably not longer than 10 seconds, drop it on the table as if it’s become too hot to hold.

7.Let the effect sink in, hear the exclamations and then very gingerly pick up the spoon by its handle and pass it around for inspection. This one is an absolute killer!  

Advance Performance Tips
1.You can bring more credibility to the illusion by avoiding having to take the spoon out of sight. This involves sleek misdirection and do it only when you are truly confident you can pull it off. 

2.While playing with the spoon on the table, you grasp it with the thumb of the right hand in the bowl and fingers encircled around the handle. The end of the handle is held firmly.

3.Ask the spectator in front of you to hold out her hand. No matter what hand she holds out, push that hand away with your left hand saying, ‘No, the clean one!’ and as she offers you the other hand, you swing your right hand further right and push the thumb down on the bowl holding the handle firmly at the ends with your ring, pinky and middle fingers. The spoon will bend.

4.Holding her hand in your left hand you bring the right hand with the spoon and tap her palm vigorously with the spoon while sliding your grasp as far back up the handle as you can.

5.When you stop she’ll see a bent spoon held by the edge of the handle. Drop it in on her palm and watch the reaction. It’ll be priceless.

Misdirection worked in 2 ways here. Asking her to give the ‘clean’ hand took the heat off the spoon and swinging the right hand further to the right while bending the spoon, helped mask a smaller action with a larger action. Get the drift… study misdirection to make your magic incredible.

Remember, a magic trick is only as valuable as its secret. If you share the secret, the magic is lost. So no matter how tempted you are to spill the beans, don’t do it, your audience will love you more for not knowing how it’s done.