An American magician is giving Dumbledore a run for his money with an impressive new magic trick. Zach King, 29, has 28.2 million TikTok followers and 5.14 million subscribers on YouTube who are regularly blown away by his illusions and stunts.
But his latest one has some serious Hogwarts vibes, as the California trickster filmed himself appearing to fly — no strings attached — on a magic broomstick.
Zach naturally dressed up as Harry Potter for this particular video, which has a whopping 7.7 million likes on TikTok. According to Zach himself, it’s been viewed over 2.1 billion times in four days.
‘They rejected my application to Hogwarts but I still found a way to be a wizard,’ he captioned it. Wearing a robe, a red-and-gold Gryffindor tie, and glasses, he is shown flying around a cul-de-sac on a broomstick.
The amazing feat is quickly puzzling, since he appears to be levitating off the ground. Since he’s outside, it’s clear he can’t be hanging from any sort of harness from above, and there doesn’t appear to be anything holding him up from either side.
Zach zooms around before coming up close to the camera — which is when a large mirror hanging from the broom reveals itself. The mirror appears to be hanging from the broomstick, reflecting his front leg to make it look like another leg is hanging in the back.
As the camera pans around, Zach is seen riding a skateboard that has been covered by the mirror. But the ‘big reveal’ is all the more baffling, since upon replaying it the mirror still doesn’t seem to be present in the beginning of the clip.
However Zach managed it — whether with a green screen, more mirrors, or some post-production editing — the trick is certainly impressive, and has confusing and amazed commenters singing his praises.
