"For my next trick, I'll make racist comments about your family."

He then placed a small metal box on the floor and asked a burly volunteer to lift it, which he did with minimal effort. But after Robert-Houdin said the magic words, the man found himself unable to move the box at all. Furious that this little Frenchman had embarrassed him in front of his leaders, he really gave it a go, but ended up screaming in pain and fleeing from the stage in tears. Not only had Robert-Houdin constructed an electromagnet under the stage to hold the box down, but he also rigged it to deliver an electric shock through the handles.

Shortly thereafter, he sent word to the marabouts letting them know how he did it, and they were so impressed that they honored him and conceded to France.

A Street Magician Accidentally Revolutionized A Global Trade Market

We all tell little fibs now and then -- hell, that’s how most magicians make a living. The truly great ones, however, are the ones who are up front about it. We're not sure if he's the one who originally said it, but Teller is often attributed with the quote, “Magic is an art form where you lie and tell people you are lying.” The audience knows they’re not witnessing real sorcery, and yet their eyes and ears tell them otherwise.

One thing they tend to not mention in the Magician’s Handbook, however, is that if you claim to have actual powers, you could accidentally make a discovery that could shift the global economy of two of the most powerful nations in the world. We've all been there.

Johann Böttger was a young magician and chemist who lived in the early 1700s. As a teenager, he became obsessed with alchemy -- specifically, the study of turning lead into gold. But when he realized that you can’t actually do that, he said "screw it" and decided to pretend that he could. He started performing on the street when he was nineteen years old, using sleight of hand to convince the crowd that he could transform silver into gold. Unfortunately for him, the King of Saxony caught wind of his claims and immediately placed the young charlatan under “house arrest” until he revealed his secret.