It’s incredible how many of the tricks I teach in this newsletter I came up with in my teens. When I was in the sixth form, I became a little hooked on the idea of making optical illusions permanent or bringing them to life in some way.
What I liked about doing such was that it ignited the imagination and relied on already magical optical principles. More often than not, there wasn’t an overly complicated method involved because the optical illusion did the work, and they tend to work both ways.
This trick was the only one I’d carry with me.
I just thought it was cool.
—
You borrow a bill.
You fold it twice.
There’s a face printed on the bill.
Each fold goes through their eyes.
Now for a cute optical trick.
Fold the bill this way.
Then tilt it back and forth.
The president will appear to smile and frown.
The magic doesn’t stop here.
You ask your friend which they prefer.
They say the smiling face.
You stretch out the folds of the bill.
Magically, the president retains the big smile on their face.
Your friend gets left with an impossible souvenir.
