Elaborate choreographed dances, singing challenges, recipe recreations — TikTok is constantly inspiring users to try something new or show off a hidden talent. But the latest trend might be the most show-stopping one yet. For those whose feeds have yet to be blessed by these videos (don’t worry, your time will come), Gen Z content creators are taking to TikTok to make coins disappear, guess playing cards, and put torn-up pieces of paper back together, all before viewers’ very eyes. Yep, the girls are doing magic tricks.
Typically set to the song “Friends on the Other Side” from Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, these videos started popping up on TikTok in late July, with Gen Zers showing off their very best sleight-of-hand tricks. In one video, TikToker Rachelle Cain pours water from one Solo cup into another, and then the water just… disappears? In another, user Alisson Paige somehow transports a coin from one hand into the other with just the flick of a wrist. Truly, the tricks are impressive — but what’s even more impressive is how many people are secretly good at magic tricks… or how quickly people jumped on the trend and decided to learn.
“Everyone is a magician now and I’m just flabbergasted,” one person commented on Paige’s video. “OK GUYS THIS TREND IS GETTING SERIOUS,” another person wrote in response to another coin-transporting video, this one by the account @user4203829493.
IMO, one of the best parts of this trend is the stereotypes it breaks. While magic is stereotypically considered a hobby of birthday party performers or 10-year-old boys who haven’t yet gotten sucked into the world of video games, it’s actually the Gen Z girlies who are eating up this trend. (Just scroll through the videos using the “Friends on the Other Side” audio for proof.)
If you want to get in on the fun, here are some pointers.
How to learn TikTok magic tricks
Look, the first rule of being a magician is to never reveal the secret of your trick to a non-magician. So, if you really want to learn a magic trick for TikTok, you’d better start considering yourself a magician! Once you do, you can try to reach out to someone who does magic and get them to tell you.
Another option is to scroll through TikTok. Not only are viewers swarming the comment section of each magic trick video to guess how the tricks are being done, but also, some people are even posting tutorials on how they did their tricks. Is it the most ethical option for serious magicians? Definitely not. But hey, the answers are out there.
That said, if you don’t want to know the behind-the-scenes details and just enjoy everyone else’s videos, that’s fine too. No need to spoil the magic.