Needle-through-arm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Needle-through-arm is a magic illusion that was created by Bruce Spangler and later popularized by comedy actor/magician Harry Anderson. The trick can be performed as part of either a stage magic or a parlor magic routine. As the name would suggest, needle-through-arm relies on shock value to have a comedic effect.[1]
Although the trick popularized by Anderson is an illusion,[2] other magicians, such as David Blaine, have apparently performed the trick by actually sticking the needle through a fistula surgically created in the performer's arm.[3]
The effect was originally invented by Bruce Spangler, who debuted the trick at the premier of the 1960 movie Macumba Love and later sold it under the name "You-Do Voodoo".[4] Harry Anderson popularized the trick in the 1980s, performing it on television on Saturday Night Live in 1982[5] and selling his own version of the trick.
