Buzz
Magicians have been refining their craft for millennia, but what’s the first magic trick that we know of that was preserved in history?
Some historians believe the oldest trick isn’t just a figure of speech but can be seen on the walls of an Egyptian burial chamber. Dating back to around 2500 BCE, this artwork seems to depict two individuals performing the classic ‘cups and balls,’ which may be the earliest documented magic trick.
The cups and balls trick typically involves making three balls travel through the sides and bottoms of three cups, causing them to move from one cup to another, vanish, and reappear. This routine incorporates key elements of magic such as vanishing, transpositions, misdirection, and dexterity, and becoming proficient in it is often viewed as an essential part of a magician's training or initiation into the craft.
It is indeed a very ancient trick, says magic historian Bill Palmer, but he doesn’t believe that’s what the tomb paintings portray.
For one reason, Palmer argues, the image shows cups but no balls. It also features two individuals handling the cups, whereas the trick has traditionally been performed by a single magician, even in its earliest forms. The cups and balls trick doesn’t quite fit with the other nearby depictions from the tomb either. The surrounding images show people preparing food—a butcher with his knife, animals being led to slaughter, and so on. According to Palmer, the men in the painting aren’t magicians and aren’t manipulating cups; they’re likely bakers preparing bread for a feast.
The earliest recorded mention of the cups and balls trick appears in the writings of a Roman author around 45 CE, still probably making it the oldest sleight of hand trick. The lota bowl trick—which involves a vessel that appears to refill itself after being emptied—is considered the oldest known prop trick, dating back to around 3000 BCE, according to magician and historian Bill Spooner.
(The GEICO folks have their own theory.)
