Every now and again, I fall down a Penn & Teller rabbit hole. They articulate the way magic works in a fun and engaging way and their famed nail gun trick is a fine example.
The basic premise of the trick involves Penn using a nail gun to flit between nailing a long block of wood and shooting it into his hand. But the trick lies in remembering when that’s safe to do so as a “magazine” of nails has gaps in it, at which the nail gun just shoots air—safe for a hand to withstand.
The video shows two examples of the trick synced together and it’s impressive how that even works. I can’t even put IKEA furniture together without making a mistake, let alone handing a nail gun without needing a hospital visit or a tetanus shot.
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