'Breaking lots of things while juggling': 10+ Magic tricks that went hilariously wrong

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 10, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

Pick a card, any card… And hope your magician gets the trick right. 

The trick to nailing any kind of performance is practicing over and over and over again. Practice alone, in front of a crowd, in front of your parents, or in a park. The point is to get very comfortable with your performance. That way, if something goes wrong, it's no big deal! You'll be prepared for whatever happens, and able to quickly get back on track. 

Talented magicians know that their tricks take years to master. A lot of these performers grow up watching the greats surprise crowds, and they want to wow people in the same way. A lot of folks come to magic shows with low expectations, so when a trick makes them gasp instead of rolling their eyes, it's exactly what the magician wants. 

These magicians and illusionists explained that not every trick goes to plan, however. U/RayComfortsBanana requested these funny and terrible stories, "Whether it was a card trick, sawing a person in half, whatever." Some of the replies came from performers, while others were from witnesses in the audience. Check them all out below! 

Next up, this customer was stunned to enter an empty national chain donut shop, only to be directed by the cashier to order on a self-service screen. 

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  • 01
    IIIIIIII
    via Edson Junior on Unsplash
  • 02
    Magicians and Illusionists, have you ever screwed up a trick horribly, and what happened? Whether it was a card trick, sawing a person in half, whatever. Let's hear your funniest or worst story.
    via u/RayComfortsBanana
  • 03
    thysteffi I was just messing around with magic and my neighbour asked me to do a show for her five year old boy's birthday. I agreed since there was a girl my age that was the little boys older sister and I wanted to impress her with my magic abilities. So I came up with a few tricks and did them for the kids. The time
    via u/thysteffi
  • 04
    came for a disappearing item in a box trick. It was just a mirror but worked well on young kids since they didn't think to hard on it. So I asked for the little boy's favorite action figure. I put him in the box and made it disappear! The kid immediately broke down in tears. My neighbour thankfully consoled him long enough for me to
    via u/thysteffi
  • 05
    make it reappear. However when I pulled it our it hadn't fit very well and the little toy's arm had broken off. The kid broke down again and took off. The show was over. I looked like a and the worst part was that the girl that lived there wasn't impressed with my tricks, although I don't think she would've been impressed regardless.
    via u/thysteffi
  • 06
    Temporal Distortions. I was doing the UFO/floating card trick when the card dislodged from the wax and hit a girl right in the eye
    via u/Temporal Distortions
  • 07
    baumpchickachicka. I had a coworker that became a magician, and was fairly good at the close up tricks. The one and only time he attempted a trick on me, it was one of those distractions like "hold this quarter, don't let me take it out of your hand" while he is actually slipping his thumb under the
    via u/baumpchickachicka
  • 08
    buckle of my watch band to take it. I had a g-shock with an odd band (both leather and nylon webbing) and it was too thick to slip through the buckle. Pretty soon the struggle to take the watch meant he was too distracted to keep up the diversion. It was a good lesson for him and a good laugh for me.
    via u/baumpchickachicka
  • 09
    C [deleted] Accidentally spoiled Santa to a neighbor's children. 22 Share C [deleted] Watch as I make your childhood beliefs... DISAPPEAR
    via u/[deleted]
  • 10
    Hypoxian I must have been about 11 or so. Knowing I was into magic, my neighbour asked me to put on a show for her kids birthday party. Part of the trick involved making a 'mistake', which was intentional. While performing, I made the fake mistake, continued to the next part, then made an actual real mistake...
    via u/Hypoxian
  • 11
    the trick was basically unrecoverable at this point. Not being a masterful magician, I admitted that I had messed up the trick, and just wanted to move onto the next one. But the parents wouldn't let me, dismissively insisting that I start the trick over again. I couldn't communicate to them that I would be giving away the trick by doing it again, as it would be
    via u/Hypoxian
  • 12
    so obvious the 2nd time around that my 'mistake' was a rouse. I ended up doing the thing again, and it was just sooo painful acting out that part, totally ruining the whole effect. parents. you
    via u/Hypoxian
  • 13
    C [deleted] Ive got a friend who does some magic shows. One of his tricks is an ESP mind reading thing, where the test dummy thinks of an animal, the magicians draws a very vague picture that could be just about anything on
    via u/[deleted]
  • 14
    4 legs. The other person was thinking of a bird. Then my friend said "and that is why i dont believe in ESP!" and ended the show
    via u/[deleted]
  • 15
    ThatLemoN Not sure if it counts but... Breaking lots of things while juggling. And mind you, i don't mean juggling with those things and then just dropping them. I mean full on embedding juggling into things and shattering glass pots.
    via u/ThatLemoN
  • 16
    Seeker469 Not my trick but was present for a major screw up. Used to be a bartender at a night club in Dallas. One night a magician was scheduled among other acts. The guy sat at the bar prior to his performance and was slamming back scotch & water like a madman.
    via u/Seeker469
  • 17
    His act begins. He is totally sloshed and making a fool of himself but the crowd got great laughs out of it. At one point he looses his balance and knocks over his little podium. Out come about 15 baby bunnies. They start hopping through the crowd while he stumbles around trying to catch them.
    via u/Seeker469
  • 18
    We put him in a cab and sent him on his way. The funny part is that for the next week we kept getting calls from people wanting to know how to return these baby rabbits.
    via u/Seeker469
  • 19
    WandererAboveFog. I tried to do the classic 'got your nose' illusion but poked my 8 year old cousin in the eye instead.
    via u/WandererAboveFog
  • 20
    CDot523 One time, at my summer camp, we had a talent show. My friend and I decided we would do a magic show, but screw up every trick, so it would be funny, you know? There was this panel of judges to decide whose talent was best, so I decided to make them a part of my show. I went up to one of them
    via u/CDot523
  • 21
    and did the standard "you pick a card, look at it, put it back" thing. I then proceeded to throw the entire deck of cards into the air and grab one at random. So I showed the judge the card I had picked and asked, "Is this your card?" She
    via u/CDot523
  • 22
    simply stared at me with this shocked expression and nodded. So I accidentally pulled off a trick that wasn't supposed to work. Just my luck.
    via u/CDot523
  • 23
    [deleted] I screwed up a trick as an audience member. My mom took me to some magic show as a kid and I was picked for a trick, the set up being that they were doing a card trick but I "swallowed" it and they had to get it out.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 24
    So I laid down on a cot and they put an arch thing over my midsection and whipped out a power saw. I was kinda freaked out and saw the card peeking out of the arch prop and went "Wait no, its right there the card is right there!".
    via u/[deleted]
  • 25
    They told me to shut up and sawed it out of me anyway
    via u/[deleted]
  • 26
    minidude01 One time i tried to do the trick where lighter fluid flies out of my sleeve while on fire, but it didn't light so i had to cover and ask "where did the lighter fluid come from"
    via u/minidude01

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