Contortionist Magic Trick Myths

Some of the most impressive magic tricks in any magician's array are contortion tricks! The pairing of an ultra-flexible female and a sleight of hand-trained male have made for some amazing magic shows all over the world. If you'd like to become a contortionist, we highly recommendMichael Giles' book "The Contortionist" -- but for those of you who are wondering whether you should buy it, we highlight a couple of myths about this highly versatile art.

Contortion Myth 1: Only a tiny fraction of people can do contortion tricks

Completely wrong! The setup of most people's bodies is basically the same. Training, practice and a love of the art is what gets any athlete to an elite level, not having a different bodily makeup. The large majority of people can do contortion magic tricks, and while it is easier to learn when you are young, even older people can do them.

Contortion Myth 2: 26 is the magic cutoff point for learning contortion tricks

Just as we now accept that it IS possible for an old dog to learn new tricks mentally, we now know that the body is equally amazing. While contortion magic tricks won’t come as naturally to adults as they do to kids, it certainly is possible to train your body into doing them. Professional help is always advised -- in book form at least!

Contortion Myth 3: All contortionists are double-jointed

Contortion magic tricks have little to do with flexibility in the joint, or even the range of motion that a joint has. They are much more about how flexible your muscles are. Hypermobile joints may help you perform some contortion tricks -- but even the rare event of having two hypermobile joints, and no contortion training, would make for a pretty short magic trick show!

Contortion Myth 4: Most men can't become contortionists

Women, especially those that have had children, have had their tendons and ligaments exposed to a hormone called relaxin which prepares the pelvis for childbirth. It affects all the joints in the body -- but this certainly does not mean that men can’t become contortionists! As we mentioned, performing good contortionist magic tricks is more about muscle flexibility and muscle control than any aspect of your joints.