--- title: The magician's trick explained — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The magician's trick explained», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: At a birthday party in Leeds, a magician pulled a coin out of Owen's ear. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / The magician's trick explained # The magician's trick explained Lesson 448 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 32 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/0/) — At a birthday party in Leeds, a magician pulled a coin out of Owen's ear. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/1/) — Owen checked his ear for the rest of the day. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/2/) — Afterwards the magician showed him: the coin had been in his hand the whole time, tucked between two fingers, while everyone watched his other hand waving. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/3/) — «So it's not magic, it's practice!» said Owen, delighted. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/4/) — A magician is an honest trickster: everybody knows it's a trick, everybody agreed to be fooled, and everything is given back. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/5/) — That is what makes it fun and not a con. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/6/) — The heart of most tricks is misdirection — making you look one way while the secret happens somewhere else. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/8/) — «I'm a professional liar,» he said, «but I tell you I'm lying.» He showed how a big movement with one hand pulls every eye, while the other hand does the quiet work. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/10/) — Mia then spotted the same idea in shops, which put the things they want you to choose right at eye level. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/11/) — Some «games» use the same skills to take money. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/12/) — In a big city, Jake's family watched a man with three cups and a ball. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/13/) — People were betting and «winning». - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/14/) — Jake's dad said those winners were the man's friends, pretending, so others would join in — and a tourist lost a lot of money while they watched. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/17/) — Fairs and screens fool people too. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/18/) — At a fair in Texas, the hoop-toss hoops were just barely too small for the bottle necks; Kai's dad said «They're set up so most folks miss.» Next time, Kai watched for five minutes first — nobody won. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/20/) — A buck's worth of plastic for five bucks,» Dad laughed. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/21/) — Leo watched a video of a man floating in the air twenty times; his sister said «It's camera angles and a hidden stand, mate.» A fortune teller told Aisha's aunt «You've had a difficult time recently, but someone close is thinking of you.» Aisha's mum said «That's true of everyone, love.» - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/22/) — Some tricks are gifts. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/24/) — At six he saw the thumb was just folded — and now he does it for his baby cousin. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/25/) — A magician in Dublin made a girl's watch vanish from a box and appear in his pocket; she was worried for one second, and he gave it straight back with a bow. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/26/) — A real magician gives it back. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/27/) — A con artist — someone who tricks people to take their money — doesn't. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/28/) — Magic tricks are deception people agree to enjoy: everyone knows it's a trick, and everything is given back. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/29/) — A con is a trick that takes something from people who did not agree to be fooled. - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/32/) — In street betting games with cups and a ball, the «winners» are often the trickster's helpers, and ordinary players lose. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/34/) — Fairground games are set up so the stall makes money; most people lose, and prizes are often worth less than a go. - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/35/) — Watching a game before paying shows whether anyone ever wins. - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/36/) — Videos can be edited and filmed from one angle, so seeing something on a screen does not prove it is real. - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/37/) — Fortune tellers often say things that fit almost anyone, and listeners fill in the details themselves. - [38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/38/) — Knowing how tricks work helps you spot the same tricks in adverts, shops and scams. - [39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/39/) — Some tricks, like a grandad's «disappearing thumb», are loving games for small children. - [40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/40/) — «Folks» (US) means people; «a buck» (US) is a dollar; «nah, I'm good» means no, thank you. - ← previous: [The fake friend online](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/447-the-fake-friend-online/) - next →: [Stories that change](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/449-stories-that-change/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)