Make Lightning Strike On Command

Ok, David Blaine did that cool-looking electrified stunt. But, this is different; I’m going to teach you how to make a bolt of lightning strike anywhere. An actual bolt of lighting — for real — striking the ground wherever you like at the exact moment you choose.

This is the kind of stunt I would happily pitch in a writing room to big name magicians. Instead, I’m sharing it on this newsletter. Is part of the reason I’m so willing to share this because it’s unlikely any of us can afford to produce this stunt? Absolutely. Do I still want you to book me to consult if you do bring this stunt to life? Absolutely.

By sharing this with you, I hope to share how many of the most incredible magic stunts get conceived; someone saw a cool YouTube video one time.

To be absolutely clear — I’m about to share the scientific method for making a lightning bolt strike the ground on cue. Here we go.

The How & Why of Magic Stunts

Commissioners like big stunts because they allow the channel to see where their money is getting spent, and it’s great for marketing and retention. People stick around because they know a big stunt is coming at the end of the show. The retention problem isn’t exclusive to magic. Graham Norton added his big red chair game to the end of his show when his team realised viewing figures were dropping off during the musical performance. The red chair gave viewers a reason to stick around.

Often, for a one-off television special, the stunt is decided long before the show is commissioned. But on a series, you’ll be tasked with coming up with stunts to end every single episode during pre-production. That amount of stunts quickly adds up to become a lot of stunts.

There are three questions consultants ask to find big magic stunt ideas…

1. What would Jesus do?

2. Is there anything cool on the internet people haven’t seen?

3. Do stunt coordinators I know have good ideas for stunts?

I’ve never been tasked with reading the bible, but I’ve certainly been tasked with scouring the internet for big stunt inspiration. Of course, now I’m subscribed to all of the feeds and receive a consistent flow of such internet inspo.

What you might not realise about stunt coordinators is that they all have fantastic big ideas that they’d love to pull together one day. It’s often the stunt coordinators who pitch ideas for stunts to movie franchises. Approaching the James Bond or Marvel team with a stunt they’ve had in mind for years, scoped out, and quoted up. Writers will then build that stunt into the story.

Today’s big stunt idea comes from the a science experiment shared to the internet. Let’s take a closer look and figure out how we can change it to become a magic trick.

How to Make Lightning: Wire + Rocket + Thundercloud.

Scientists have been using rockets to trigger lightning bolts since the early 2000s. It’s pretty magnificent, and the fun part of this story is that scientists only invented this mechanic because they wanted to study thunder—not lightning.

Every year, about 60 wired rockets launch from Camp Blanding in Florida, attracting lightning roughly half the time. Florida is the perfect place for a lightning lab, thanks to wet winds blowing in from both sides of the peninsula: Hot, humid, rising air often leads to thunderstorms.

A video of Chinese scientists replicating the experiment appeared the other week on one of my usual method belts. Some of us call the places you subscribe to that just bring you a stream of methods method belts, like conveyer belts. @ifyouhigh is a pretty popular method belt amongst magicians that I don’t mind sharing but I’ll keep others closely guarded.

Here’s how it works

Rockets trailing 2300 ft. of copper wire are fired into thunderclouds, triggering lightning with a tiny spark. The mechanic is based on the very old and surprisingly similar “Key on Kite” experiment in which, you guessed it, a key is sent up on a kite into a thunderstorm.

Ben Franklin first conducted the Key on Kite experiment all the way back in 1752. A few hundred years later, a rocket replaces the kite, the wire gets swapped for copper, and Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend’s balls are swollen (ok, maybe that’s unrelated but what a story).

Here’s how it looks:

Here’s the Trick:

So right now, it’s an incredible stunt, but we need to add a layer of magic for this to truly become a magic trick. Because making lightning appear isn’t impossible enough. I know that sounds mad, but it’s true.

The easiest way to make anything into a magic trick is to add a simple force.

So let’s do that.

Imagine you’re standing in the middle of a vast area with an approaching storm on the horizon. You ask the person you’re with to hold their arm up high, pointing outwards. Then, you gently move their arm left and right across the horizon.

Your friend is told that wherever they stop their arm, you’ll make something appear in front of that point in the distance. They go back and forth, taking their time until eventually, their arm slows to a stop pointing maybe 30 degrees to the right ahead of them.

“Are you sure?” you say.

“Yes, I’m sure,” they say.

“Ok, if you’re absolutely sure,” you confirm.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt strikes the ground at the exact location. They scream in shock, and you try your very best not to flinch too, even though it is well and truly terrifying and much louder than rehearsal.

That’s it. That’s the trick.