What magic can you do under water?

[Josh Burch]

So, one of my favorite things to do in magic is to look at things that have never been done before. It got me thinking about underwater magic. Believe it or not, there's a bunch of magic out there that has been performed underwater.

Houdini, did his escapes. David Berglas smoked underwater, David Blaine still does the Berglas smoking routine along with a few other underwater pieces. Penn and Teller had a whole special full of underwater magic and Dan Harlan has performed cigarette magic underwater inspired by Houdini and Berglas.

The problem with most underwater magic is that you need a crew or a large tank to perform it...well it's summer right now...swimming season! I want to do some magic at the pool in the water that is as good as anything I'd do on dry land!

I have some ideas that I'll share in a but but I really want to hear you guys. What kind of magic could you do IN A SWIMMING POOL?

To help grease the wheels I'll share an undeveloped idea. I think you could make a coin grow to 10 times its size in a pool, in full view. The idea is to put a jumbo coin at the bottom of a pool. I'm pretty sure it would just look normal-sized with all the distortion of the water. You'd have a coin in one hand and an ice cube in the other. Show the coin, and before you go to toss it into the water swap it for the ice cube. Toss the ice cube in (it makes the plunk sound) and then invite someone to dive for the coin. When they come up it will be huge! Just play it off like it's waterlogged or something and put it away

 

[Seth Hughes]

The is going to sound crazy, But once I was hired for a pool party and did card tricks UNDERWATER! I used the bicycle prestige cards because they are plastic and waterproof, and kept them close enough to the surface that the spectators could see the faces. And boy did it get a reaction. It was great because I wanted to do something that they genuinely have never seen.

 

[Josh Burch]

The is going to sound crazy, But once I was hired for a pool party and did card tricks UNDERWATER! I used the bicycle prestige cards because they are plastic and waterproof, and kept them close enough to the surface that the spectators could see the faces. And boy did it get a reaction. It was great because I wanted to do something that they genuinely have never seen.

Yes! That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for! How great is that?!?!

I remember going to a pool party as a kid wishing I could do magic in the pool and never being able to get it right. This is an awesome idea! I also, like the idea of using the water to make the magic happen. That sounds almost believable.

You also reminded me that Vernon's boat trick is another pool party trick that works alright. The problem is, it has a big clean up and if anyone's in the pool they'll figure it out.

 

[Seth Hughes]

Yes! That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for! How great is that?!?!

Glad I could be of assistance

 

[Josh Burch]

So, my favorite idea is this.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm6yCfUFxBZ/?igshid=ra867ywrqplx

You wear rubber bands on your wrist while swimming, just the 2 and they are different colored. At some point you call your friends over and show them how weird it is that the water changes the rubber bands. You then dip the bands in and they switch colors. You as the magician act completely clueless as to how it happens, "It must be the light..." But every time it's underwater the x changes and when you pull it out it changes back. I love this idea for practicallity.