The homeless men in Las Vegas, Nevada were given a dose of magic and a bit of help thanks to a great magician. As the video shows, magician Rob Anderson gathered a crew of Sin City's disenfranchised and told them he's been giving food out all day. He then showed them an empty bag. The look of confusion and apprehension on their faces is pretty disheartening, as if these people are so used to cruel jokes in addition to their living conditions that they're not even surprised. Eventually, however, they're convinced to take a leap of faith, and by turning in what food they have, they're rewarded with more food.
So how does the trick work? I’m not going to lie, I’m no expert on the ways of wizardry. Every magician has their own technique, but here’s how I think it went down. It’s too much of a coincidence this guy has the exact same brands of snacks that these men are eating, so I would wager either these men were given these snacks by someone else prior to the trick or perhaps there was a food stand nearby and he was tracking their purchases. While it might be simple to purchase snacks, making them appear in a bag is obviously not so simple. So, how was that feat accomplished?
I’m not positive on this either, but there has to be a reason as to why the bottom of his paper bag is so crisp and square. My guess is there is likely a false bottom where the snacks are safely packed underneath. Another guess comes from this magic mesh egg bag I found online, which works by having a cut in the sides in which objects can be slipped through. The way it is designed creates an optical illusion that doesn’t make it immediately evident that something is hiding along the walls of the bag.
Check it out...
Of course there could always be the possibility that this is just some video editing magic ala Criss Angel. Then again, this doesn’t seem like some street magic that would just be impossible without the use of post production. By the way, am I the only one who is skeptical about magic videos because of Mindfreak?! They did some of the most ridiculous stuff on that show and it’s forever ruined anytime I watched a magic video.
