Magic tricks using boxes: recommended illusions for parties and performances
This is a collection of magic trick ideas that use various kinds of boxes.
We’ll introduce a range of tricks: some where you can make your own gimmicks using candy boxes or tissue boxes, and others you can perform with technique using items like playing card boxes or matchboxes.
It’s great for finding tricks to perform as entertainment, and the gimmick-making projects seem fun to tackle with small children, too.
Please use it as a reference, and if you find a trick that looks interesting, give it a try!
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Magic tricks using boxes: recommended tricks for parties and performances (1–10)
A box that produces a lot of balls
When you open the box, there’s one ball.
Close the lid and open it again…
another ball appears.
Then another, and another—each time you open the box, more balls appear in what should have been an empty box.
You’re wondering where the balls are, right? The secret is on the underside of the lid.
A slightly smaller box is attached inside, and it can hold four balls.
The trick is to manipulate the lid to guide the balls toward the opening.
You don’t need to make any big movements to produce them, so with a little practice, you’ll be fine!
A mysterious matchbox with synchronized movements
Two matchboxes: when you close one, the other inexplicably moves as if they’re linked.
You might suspect the boxes are connected somewhere, but even if you stand a card between them, they still move in sync.
No matter how you change their orientation or position, closing one makes the other open—like a telekinetic magic trick.
In fact, they’re very much connected.
The secret is transparent fishing line—tegus—tying the two boxes together, so the boxes catch on the line and move.
Tegus is hard to see, but it stands out when it catches the light, so work on hiding it and refining how you present the trick.
A box that doesn’t spill even when you put in a cup filled with water
This magic trick makes you want to cover your eyes, because you can clearly see that if you place a glass of water inside a box with a picture of a glass showing which way is up, then pick up the box and turn it upside down, the water should spill.
Yet somehow, not a single drop falls.
You can even return the box to its original position and take out the glass from inside—and of course the water remains in the glass without spilling a drop.
The trick is actually simple: there’s another box inside the box, with a base for the glass that has a rod through it.
When you place the water-filled glass on this base, the base rotates so that the glass itself doesn’t change orientation.
Just be careful not to confuse the vertical and horizontal directions when moving the box!
Magic tricks using boxes: Recommended tricks for parties and performances (11–20)
The Chip Star box swaps places with the box inside the bag.
Let’s try a magic trick using empty Chip Star containers! All you need is an empty container of Lightly Salted flavor, an empty container of Seaweed & Salt flavor, and a paper bag that fits them.
Put both containers in the bag, take out the Lightly Salted one, and hide it behind the bag.
Then—although you supposedly took out the Lightly Salted flavor—it appears to have turned into Seaweed & Salt, and inside the bag there’s the Lightly Salted one.
It’s a swapping trick.
The secret is that both containers are actually Lightly Salted; one of them is just a half-and-half gimmick that makes it look like Seaweed & Salt from one side.
Practice your presentation to make it convincing!
A box that a card penetrates through
This is a magic trick using a deck of cards and a card box.
On top of the deck is the Ace of Spades.
You put the deck straight into the box, close the lid, flick the box with your finger, and… the Ace of Spades that was on top penetrates the card box and appears outside! The method is surprisingly bold: during the motion of squaring up the deck, the Ace of Spades is secretly removed and placed on top of the box.
The way you remove it is called a palm—it’s a technique where you slightly bend the card and conceal it in your open hand.
You might think, “Wouldn’t that be visible to the spectator!?” but with careful control of hand position and angles, the card is completely hidden from view.
If you practice repeatedly in front of a mirror or by filming yourself, you should be able to master it.
A box that produces various things
A big box that looks like it could hold just about anything—but the sides are like doors that swing open so you can see inside, and you can even see straight through to the other side, giving it great ventilation.
And yet, for some reason, when you open the lid on top, out comes a bunch of clothing.
Where on earth was it? The trick is that there’s a slightly smaller box hidden inside the big one.
That inner box also has openings so that when you open its doors you can see inside, but its top and sides can be used for storage.
As long as the size fits, you can put anything in there, though fabrics like clothes that can change shape freely are perfect.
Card Under the Box
Card Under the Box is a highly effective magic trick that never fails to amaze.
When the selected card appears from under the box, it’s such a puzzling sight that jaws drop.
The secret is a technique called the “top palm,” where you conceal a card in your palm—once you get the hang of it, it’s surprisingly easy.
The fun of this trick is how a bit of sleight of hand and misdirection can truly astonish people.
Why not give it a try yourself?