Disappearing magic trick: Learn how to vanish small objects

Making something disappear is an awesome magic trick, gets great reactions, and usually takes a lot of practice. However, I will show you how you can vanish any small objects yourself in a very easy way!

So, how can you make something disappear in magic?

To easiest way to make something disappear is using a “magic thumb”. It’s a special gimmick for magic tricks, a false thumb with enough room to hide any small object inside. With this tool, you can vanish silk, a dollar bill, a piece of paper, and other small items.

Once you’ve seen this special thumb in action, all of the tricks with it a pretty self-explanatory. But knowing the method alone is never enough for a good magic trick, so make sure to really practice your routine before performing!

By the way, the fake thumb might not look that exciting, but trust me, many magicians use it until today for a variety of different tricks, sometimes even in big TV shows.

The easiest disappearing magic trick for beginners explained

As I already mentioned, the easiest way to make something disappear is using a magic thumb – by far. Trust me, I’ve spent quite some time researching many different methods, but all of them include sleight of hand and a lot of practice.

So, your best bet is to just get your hands on one of these false thumbs (don’t worry, you can get them for like 10$ – 20$). You can perform so many different tricks with this one tool, it’s well worth it.

They often sell a small piece of red silk together with this thumb, I’ve got one of these sets as well:

False thumb with silk
A “false thumb” with a small piece of red silk.

But honestly, you can just buy a thumb without any accessories as well, because you can use literally anything for this illusion. It just has to be small enough to fit inside the thumb.

By the way:
This is a magic trick you should not underestimate. The technique might look like nothing special, but believe me - the reactions on this trick are incredible, people just love it.

Well, since I’ve now shown you the secret behind this trick, let’s move on to the tutorial, so can you do this wonderful illusion yourself!

As always, make sure to learn your moves before performing it in front of audience!

How you can make something disappear: A step by step Tutorial

Once you got the magic thumb, you can start doing many different tricks. By the way, a red cloth is very often used, because its eye-catching color makes it very easy to be seen by any spectator. But of course, you can use other items as well.

The preparation

Before you perform the trick, you have to push the silk (or whatever you use) completely into the thumb. It really has to fit all the way in, nothing of the cloth should be visible from the outside!

Tip: You can use a mirror to practice all of your movements and learn the right angles..

Then put the thumb over your finger. By the way, depending on how big your hands are, you can also try your index finger. For instance, I have very large hands, so I sometimes use my index finger as well.

Making a cloth (or anything else) disappear

Before you make the cloth appear, you should first show the audience your “empty” hands. In reality, of course, you have the rubber thumb on one finger, but no one should notice that.

To ensure the audience doesn’t see the fake finger, you should always keep your hands moving.

By the way:
If people don't know about the magic thumb, they probably won't see it. So don't worry too much, no spectator will expect you to use a fake thumb (unless they know to trick, of course).

The key for this trick is to hide to thumb in your hand as soon as you’ve pulled it off.

Here’s how I like to do it:

Put the magic thumb on your left hand as shown and you are good to go.

Disappearing magic trick 1

Now, all you have to do is clench your hand into a fist and fold your thumb inside (as shown in the pictures). You can cover this by dropping your left hand down next to your wrist and using your right hand to show the item you will vanish.

While your left arm hangs next to your body, you can pull the thumb off unnoticed.

Disappearing magic trick 2

Grab the fake thumb with all of your fingers and pull your real thumb out. You should now hold the magic thumb inside of your fist.

Disappearing magic trick 3

Bring your left arm all the way up and immediately put the cloth inside your fist. Don’t hesitate too long, but don’t make your movements look hectic.

Once the first part of the silk is inside your fist, you can let go and show it for a moment. This way, everyone in the audience can get a good look and see that you actually put it inside your fist.

Disappearing magic trick part 4

Next, you wanna push all of the silk inside the magic thumb, all the way down. For your viewers, it looks like you just put the cloth inside your fist.

Make sure it’s completely inside, this is how it should look like:

Disappearing magic trick part 5

As soon as the entire silk is inside the magic thumb, you can do the key move to make this trick possible. Make sure to practice this part, but don’t overthink it!

Use your right thumb to push the silk “one last time” into the fist of your left hand. This is where the magic happens: The move allows you to put the thumb on your right hand and you can remove it secretly.

Now, you might be scared that everyone will spot the fake thumb on your right hand when you pull it out of your left fist.

But keep in mind that everyone watching is focused on your left hand!

From my experience, nobody will notice the fake thumb as long as you keep your hands moving.

Quick tip
As soon as you've put the fake thumb on your right hand, drop your right arm next to your body and move your left fist up. This will shift the attention towards your (already empty) left hand.

As always, practice is key for a smooth performance.

So make sure to practice the movements in front of a mirror or film yourself when performing it. If you can do a little bit of misdirection, this trick can get really, really good.

The method might look easy, but this magic trick will get many amazing reactions, so go ahead and try it!

Some other items you can make disappear / appear:

  • Small pieces of silk or cloth
  • Any note
  • Piece of paper
  • Salt, sugar, rice, etc.
  • Small sponge balls
  • A short piece of rope
  • Etc.

Image sources:
All of the images are my own photos, click here if you want to use them.