James over at The Action Lab shows off a neat series of chemical reactions that make it look like he cut his hand, then miraculously heals it. The combination of ferric chloride and potassium thiocyanite produce the deep red blood color, while the addition of sodium fluoride makes it turn transparent again.
Pulling off a triple backflip on a BMX bike is hard enough. Kieran Reilly amped up the difficulty even further with a triple flair, hitting a custom-built ramp, flipping his bike three times, then landing in the opposite direction on an adjacent ramp. Watch the behind the scenes footage to see how much work it took to accomplish.
Nathan Beauregard is a master at rail grinding on his kick scooter. As part of Joe Zuccaro’s promo film for French brand Royal Street, Nathan thought it might be fun to attempt a high-speed uphill rail grind. He achieved just that after being towed by a car at 30 mph. The full video is well worth a watch too.
In this brief clip from ViralVideoLab, they show off a simple way to make a paper airplane remain airborne for a very long time. The trick requires just the right kind of plane, and a series of small fans to keep it circling in the air. You can find folding instructions for the plane here.
Bubble-blowing expert Dustin Skye shows off a really slick trick, in which he blows a soap bubble, fills it with butane, uses his breath to start a vortex, then lights it on fire, producing a tiny fire tornado. More here.
(PG-13: Language) For his 31st birthday, Cirque du Soleil performer Thom Wall celebrated the occasion by assembling a reel of 31 different tricks that put to good use his juggling skills, balance, and manual dexterity. That knife trick.
We know they walk down stairs, alone or in pairs, and make a slinkity sound, but we had no idea that a Slinky could be used as the centerpiece for a crowd-pleasing stage show, as this participant on a Chinese TV talent show demonstrates. Original video here.
Yo-Yo master Ben Conde joined science channel Veritasium and Beyond Slow Motion to demonstrate his ability toss a yo-yo into the air, let it spin without its string attached, then recover it. You’ll be entertained, and learn a thing or two about physics along the way.
Captain Disillusion explains how animator Kevin Parry managed to pull off the seemingly seamless viral video of him playing catch with his reflection in the mirror. In a nutshell, it took multiple takes and painstaking video editing.
Night Verses drummer Aric Improta shows off an impressive bit of showmanship in which he performs a backflip between two drum kits, and manages to keep the rhythm going with only the briefest of pauses in his solo.
Vsauce talks about how cardists use patterns and probabilities to create long-winded tricks that seem to ensure a random outcome, even though what they’ve really done is the opposite. And then your eyes will glaze over as he explains that 52! is a large number.
NHL After Dark is an 11-part series from GoPro, the NHL and the NHLPA that will give us an in-depth look at the players’ late night training sessions. Claude Giroux’s version of Frogger is insane. Premieres 2/3/16.
DaveHax shows us a simple but impressive party trick: making it seem like your shoelaces tied themselves. All you need is an extra shoelace, a string, and pants that are wide enough to hide the bow. Now go and impress your nieces and nephews.
Zach Mueller shows off one of the most impressive acts of cardistry we’ve seen, as he manages to keep cards nearly stationary as his hands move around them, creating the illusion that the cards are floating. If the cards don’t mesmerize you, his intense gaze will.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to pull off Mark Rober’s silly party trick, in which he shows us how to remove the outer skin of a watermelon without damaging the insides. On second thought, it does take a rocket scientist.
The young magician Moritz Mueller doesn’t need assistants or props to draw your attention away from his sleight of hand. All he needs to do is flash a smile. If that doesn’t work, Moritz also knows how to rely on good old spit equity.
While isn’t nearly as impressive as opening five bottles with a chainsaw, this quick cap-popping technique that requires six guys and five rulers is far less likely to result in a severed limb.
LifeHackChan shows off a neat party trick you can do with a paraffin wax candle. Apparently, a small amount of the wax that burns off in its smoke is still flammable, so you can relight the candle without aiming for the wick.
Thanks to the wonders of physics, this guy is able to make a screwdriver float in mid-air with the help of compressed air, and a little phenomenon known as the Coandă effect, which allows an object to remain aloft in a diagonal stream of air.
Professional magician Jamie Raven got into Britain’s Got Talent with some Inception-level trickery. Jamie started off with a couple off sleight of hand party tricks, but his final treat is so good it’s spooky. Skip to 1:40.
Willie Nelson tells his sister and bandmate Bobbie a story about a poor but slick porter using a classic card trick. The Three of Spades was like, if you’ve got the money honey, I’ve got the time.
Veritasium challenges you to explain five physics-related phenomena, including water bending, magnetic cereal and a flying tea bag. You can check out the discussions on YouTube or wait until the next episode for the answers.
