Rabbit From A Hat
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The hat-trick is a classic magic trick where a performer will produce an object (traditionally a
rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
or a bouquet of flowers) out of an apparently empty
top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...
.


Method

In its simplest form, the trick works by placing the hat on a specially made table or chest. Both the hat, and the surface it is placed on, will have a hidden opening in them, through which an object stored in a compartment in the table or chest can be pulled. Alternatively, the performer can produce an item hidden in their sleeve using
sleight of hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...
and misdirection. This eliminates the need to place the hat on a surface, and also allows the performer to give the hat to an audience member for inspection. However, producing a rabbit from a hat using nothing but sleight of hand is a much more difficult trick. This trick is also traditionally performed for children, since it is a basic trick with basic props. It is said that the earliest magician to pull a rabbit out of a hat was
Louis Comte Louis Apollinaire Christien Emmanuel Comte "The King's Conjurer" (born Geneva, June 22, 1788 – Rueil, November 25, 1859), also known simply as Comte, was a celebrated nineteenth-century Parisian magician, greatly admired by Robert-Houdin. He pe ...
, in 1814, though this is also attributed to the much later
John Henry Anderson John Henry Anderson (1814–1874) was a Scottish professional magician. Anderson is credited with helping bring the art of magic from street performances into theatres and presenting magic performances to entertain and delight the audience. C ...
. QI, A Series, Episode 3


Pop culture

This magic trick is so well known that it has been referenced in a wide variety of media. The top hat used for the trick has become almost synonymous with stage magicians, and is commonly used as an icon to represent magic (such as the example on the right). Likewise, rabbits are so commonly associated with the trick that rabbits are often used to represent magic in general.


See also

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Black box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...
*
Bizarre magic Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertainment, entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natu ...
*
Card magic Card manipulation is the branch of magic that deals with creating effects using sleight of hand techniques involving playing cards. Card manipulation is often used in magical performances, especially in close-up, parlor, and street magic. Some ...
*
Card throwing Card throwing is the art of throwing standard playing cards with great accuracy or force. It is performed both as part of stage magic shows and as a competitive physical feat among magicians, with official records existing for longest distance th ...
*
Cardistry Cardistry is the performance art of card flourishing. Unlike card magic, cardistry is meant to be visually impressive and appear very hard to execute. The term "cardistry" is a portmanteau of "card" and "artistry". People who engage in cardist ...
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Children's magic Children's magic is a specialized aspect of parlor magic and is meant to entertain children. It is typically performed at birthday parties, churches, preschools, elementary schools, Sunday Schools or libraries. It is often the only type of magic m ...
*
Coin magic Coin magic is the manipulating of coins to entertain audiences. Money Magic, pp. 175-221. Because coins are small, most coin tricks are considered close-up magic or table magic, as the audience must be close to the performer to see the effects. Th ...
* Escape magic * Flourish * Gospel Magic *
Illusionist Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...
*
List of magic tricks This article contains a list of magic tricks. In magic literature, tricks are often called effects. Based on published literature and marketed effects, there are millions of effects; a short performance routine by a single magician may contain doze ...
*
Magic Castle The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in t ...
* Mental magic *
Sleight of hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...
*
Street magic Street magic falls into two genres; traditional street performance and guerrilla magic. Traditional street performance The first definition of street magic refers to a traditional form of magic performance – that of busking. In this, the m ...
*
Platform magic Platform magic (also known as parlor magic, stand-up magic or cabaret magic) is magic that is done for larger audiences than close-up magic and for smaller audiences than stage magic. It is more intimate than stage magic because it does not requir ...
* Terms *
Trick deck A trick deck is a deck of playing cards that has been altered in some way to allow magicians to perform certain card tricks where sleight of hand would be too difficult or impractical. Trick decks Stripper deck A stripper deck (also known as a ...
*
Tarbell Course The ''Tarbell Course in Magic'' is a notable encyclopedia of magic amongst professional and amateur magicians. It has eight volumes; the first five were part of the original home-study correspondence course compiled in 1928 by Harlan Tarbell, the ...
*
The Magic Circle A magic circle is a ritually defined space in a number of magical traditions. Magic circle or Magic Circle may also refer to: * Magic circle (mathematics), an arrangement of natural numbers on circles such that the sum of the numbers on each circl ...
*
Timeline A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale representi ...
*
Theatrical Séances Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...


References

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