Magic tricks using bags. Mysterious tricks with paper bags and plastic bags.
In this article, I’ll introduce magic tricks that use various kinds of bags.
When it comes to bags in magic, paper bags, plastic bags, and envelopes are commonly used.
They have features like hiding the contents and being sealable, and there are lots of tricks that take advantage of those characteristics!
Some of the tricks I’m about to introduce can be done without any practice, so if any of them catch your interest, give them a try.
Now then, let’s take a look at magic tricks that use bags!
Magic with bags. Mysterious tricks using paper or plastic bags (1–10)
Disappearance and reappearance of a bottle in an envelope
It’s a magic trick where a bottle that’s supposed to be inside an envelope disappears and then reappears.
To prove the bottle is gone, you even flatten the envelope, making everyone wonder, “Where did it go!?” But the method is simple.
You make it look like you’re using a brand-new envelope, when in fact you’ve cut a slit at the bottom in advance.
You secretly take the bottle out or put it back through that slit! Be careful with your body angle, though—if someone looks from the side, they’ll catch on.
As long as you manage that, it’s an easy trick anyone can perform!
The coin pierced through a sealed plastic bag.
I’ll introduce a magic trick where a coin ends up inside an inflated plastic bag when you toss it at the bag.
There’s no gimmick in the coin— the secret is in the bag.
In fact, there’s a slit cut into the bag, and the coin is thrown toward that opening, so it goes inside! You might worry that a bag with a cut won’t inflate, but don’t worry—it will.
That’s why the audience won’t suspect there’s a hole.
It’s also recommended to conceal the hole while rotating the bag to convince the audience there’s no trick to it!
Guess the card that someone picked at random from a bag while blindfolded.
This is a magic trick where you pull out the card someone chose from a deck placed inside a paper bag.
After the spectator chooses a card, you insert it back into the deck, shuffle it, and even put the deck into a paper bag and mix it around, so it makes you think, “Can you really find it?” The secret is a technique called the double cut control, which positions the selected card at the top of the deck during the shuffle.
While shuffling, you keep the top card in place, and when placing the deck into the bag, you bend just that top card slightly so it’s easy to locate.
Be careful not to bend the card too much, or it’ll be obvious—keep it subtle.
Magic where a piece of paper turns into a banknote inside a small gift envelope (pochibukuro)
Magic tricks using small gift envelopes (pochibukuro) are so exciting, aren’t they? It’s like a dream when an ordinary piece of paper turns into money.
But with just a few simple tips, anyone can do it easily.
Show it at a kids’ gathering or a party, and you’re sure to be the center of attention! Even after you learn the secret, you’ll still be impressed by how clever it is.
It’s amazing that you can do such a charming magic trick with a familiar pochibukuro.
Give it a try—feel like a magician and wow everyone!
A plastic bag that doesn’t leak even when you stick a pencil through it
It’s a magic trick where you keep pushing pencils through a bag filled with water, yet not a single drop spills out! This is what’s known as a chemistry magic trick.
The reason the water doesn’t leak is that the bag is made of polyethylene.
Polyethylene has the property of shrinking when heated.
In other words, the friction generated when you push the pencils through produces heat, causing the bag to shrink and prevent the water from leaking.
The key is to push the pencils through quickly.
If you do it slowly, not enough heat is generated and the water will spill, so be careful!
Disposable chopsticks placed in an envelope disappear
This is a magic trick where a pair of chopsticks inside an envelope disappears in an instant! The method is simple, but it’s very surprising.
First, take the chopsticks out of the paper sleeve and show them to the audience.
After they confirm there’s no gimmick, say something like, “Well, we won’t be using these chopsticks, so let’s put them away,” and secretly switch them for another pair.
The switched chopsticks are the gimmicked ones: in reality, only the portion visible above the paper sleeve actually exists.
Put that into the envelope, then roll up and crush the envelope to make it look like the chopsticks have vanished.
The key is to make the switch look natural—and get a laugh while you do it!
Take a bottle out of an unaltered paper bag.
It’s a magic trick where a bottle appears from an empty paper bag! Wouldn’t it be great if such a bag really existed… But since this is magic, of course there’s a method behind it.
It looks like you’re reaching into the bag to take out the bottle, but in reality you’re just grabbing a bottle hidden inside your jacket and pulling it out.
The key is to rustle the paper bag—if you don’t, people might doubt that your hand is actually inside the bag, so be careful.
As for the bottle disappearing at the end, you’re simply dropping it to the floor.
If you perform this in front of others, make sure to devise a way so the dropped bottle can’t be seen.