In the mid-’80s, magic inventor Doug Bennett was turning out one great trick after another. Business Merger was a visual restoration of a torn business card. Fire Trap sent a signed coin inside the cardboard layers of a matchbook. But it was Bewildering, performed by Doug Henning on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, that made magicians’ jaws drop. No one had seen anything like it. And to be honest, nothing similar has appeared since.
I love this effect. Anyone would love this effect. I own a couple of them. Now and then I set it up and perform it facing a mirror, with no one in the room but myself, just to do it. Maybe it’s to take in the thinking behind it, as well. I have, with some frequency, shown Bewildering to magicians who are unfamiliar with the routine, as I feel it is one of the best close-up effects ever created. That said, aside from Henning’s nationwide appearance on television, I have never seen this trick performed.
I will say that again: One of the best close-up effects of all time. I have never seen it performed.