15. Whiskey vs. Water
class: closer | impressiveness: 4/5 | factors: big setup, slow payoff, impressive visual | requires: 1 shot whiskey, 1 shot water (both full to rim) | watch full episode
This simple play on high school physics is gorgeous to watch, simple to perform, and sounds utterly impossible:
The Setup: Pour a shot of whiskey (all the way to the rim), and set it next to a shot of water (also filled to the rim). Challenge your friend to figure out a way to get all the whiskey into the water glass, and vice versa, without using a third vessel of any kind (including your mouth).
The Trick: Whiskey is lighter than water (the better the whiskey, the better this works). Place a playing card over the water-filled shot glass, turn it upside down and place it on top of the whiskey glass. Then, pull the playing card out just the tiniest amount, so a small crack opens between the two glasses… and wait.
The lighter whiskey will slowly trickle upwards to the top of the water’s shot glass, while the water trickles down. It’s a really neat looking effect. After 3 to 5 minutes, the two drinks will have completely swapped places.
This is one I highly recommend you practice beforehand. There’s no tricky moves to it, but it’s easy to make a mess… and the cleaner the effect is, the better it’s going to look. I mean, if you’re dribbling water everywhere and making a mess, you just won’t look cool, right?
Watch Demonstration (External link)