Whether we'll admit to it or not, everybody loves a good magic trick. It could be a simple "is this your card?" set-up or an elaborate sawing-a-woman-in-half sort of visual act, but - regardless of its content - we can all enjoy a magic performance if it's done convincingly enough.
And nobody does it better than Eric Chien.
Chien, a magician from China, wowed the judges at the FISM (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques) World Championships of Magic back in July, and walked away with the close-up magic grand prize for his ribbon trick.
Now, after sharing a clip of the performance last month, Chien is going viral for his seemingly-impossible skills with a piece of ribbon, a few cards, and some silver coins.
In the video description, Chien wrote:
"I am really excited to share my Fism Act with everyone, I know you guys have been waiting for a while now.
"Though winning Fism is a big accomplishment, it is also just the beginning for me. I’ve been behind the scenes for most of my magic career and its finally time for me be on stage performing.
"I have lots of things planned out right now and I cant wait to show you guys what I can do! Thank you everyone for the support and love, and please like and share my act, it will help me greatly!"
Throughout the clip, Chien manages to change his waistcoat from black to red and blue, transmute paper playing cards into silver coins, and - with no apparent effort at all - make objects disappear into thin air.
And once you see the trick for yourself, you'll understand why Chien is such a deserving winner:
Commenters on the video were baffled by the routine, with person writing: "I keep watching over and over, this is just pure genius. I can't tell how much of the table is velvet and how much of it is an actual LED screen - which explains the appearing/disappearing rectangles -- no post editing here folks. Great job indeed!"
Another fan joked: "Pretty easy to see what he does. He lifts the ribbon and summons the demon Belial to transmute the cards into coins and back. He simply presents his offering backstage and the objects turn back to normal. He'll only be able to do this trick a limited number of times before he runs out of conjurings."
In a post on Instagram, Chien said:
"I want to thank all of you for the support, it has been one heck of a journey.
"Even two weeks after FISM, I still can’t believe what I have achieved. Being the first Asian Magician to win Close Up Grand Prix, does put some pressure on me.
"But of course, this is just the beginning. I have received a lot of invitations from shows around the world, so stay tuned for that."
Needless to say, we can't wait to see more of Chien's work - and we'll continue to scratch our heads over the ribbon trick in the meantime.
