david blaine

When we go to magic shows, we know what we're actually seeing are cool illusions and sleight of hand tricks, not someone's supernatural ability to actually defy reality. Sometimes we can even figure out how a magician does it—especially in the age of the internet, where you can look. up the secrets of magic tricks—while still being impressed with how well they pull it off. Magic is a skill that takes relentless practice to perfect, and it's fun to see someone at the top of their game.

There's "top of their game," and then there's David Blaine.

David Blaine is an illusionist and endurance artist who first made a name for himself with his TV show Street Magic. He has set world records for feats of endurance and wows audiences with his magic tricks that are truly hard to believe.

In his show Real or Magic, Blaine performed his tricks on celebrities, and one incredible card trick he pulled on Harrison Ford is going viral because Ford's reaction is hilarious. It's an old video, but someone shared part of iit on TikTok, which has given it new life. The full video is included below.

First, Blaine tells Ford to think of a card, then hands him the deck. "Are you thinking of a card?" he asks. Ford nods. "Do I know what card you're thinking of?" Blaine asks, and Ford shakes his head no.

"Your card just left the deck," Blaine says. He tells Ford to look through the deck, but that he won't find his card there. "You won't see it there," he says as Ford flips through the cards. "It's nowhere."

So far, this seems like a fairly standard mentalism trick, but then Blaine tells Ford to pick a piece of fruit from the fruit bowl on his counter that can be cut into. Ford picks up an orange from among a dozen or so apples and oranges. Blaine tells him to cut open the orange, but first asks him to name the card he'd chosen.

"Nine of hearts," said Ford.

Together they slice open the orange, and sure enough, rolled up inside is the nine of hearts card. Ford looks stunned, and a voice off-camera says, "No way."

Then, after a few seconds of silence, Ford's hilarious reaction: "Get the **** out of my house."

Harrison Ford Finds Card in Orange: Real or Magic | David Blainewww.youtube.com

Some might think that Ford and his family were in on it, or that this was some sort of editing for television trick, but Blaine's magic skill in real life is legendary. According to professional magicians, it's not that his tricks are over-the-top impressive in and of themselves, but rather his skill at entertaining with magic and pulling off the tricks with a large audience that works so well. It's not that he's a flashy entertainer most of the time—it's actually his understated way of talking through the tricks that makes them so amazing to witness.

Blaine's skill with cards is where he really shines. He does sleight of hand card tricks better than most. And while there's an explanation on YouTube of how to get a card inside a piece of fruit (that part's actually not that hard), how he managed to get Ford to choose the nine of hearts as his card and how he got him to choose the orange remains a mystery.

At least it remains a mystery to me. I have a friend who does mentalism tricks and it freaks me out every time (and he refuses to explain how he does it—he just says it's something anyone can learn to do). But part of me doesn't even want to know. Being wowed by magic tricks allows us to keep a bit of childlike wonderment alive—and also gives us delightful moments like this one with Harrison Ford.

Speaking of childlike wonder, if you want to see more of David Blaine's card tricks, his appearance on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon does not disappoint. Jimmy Fallon practically pees his pants being blown away by Blaine's tricks. Enjoy:

David Blaine Shocks Jimmy and The Roots with Magic Trickswww.youtube.com