Fly Resurrection

by Wyatt Pursley
(Navarre, Florida, USA)

THE EFFECT: You are walking down the street and casually pick any spectator. You ask them to come with you to a nearby car and pick a dead fly off the windscreen.


You hold it in your hand, do a few magical passes with the other hand and concentrate really hard. Slowly the fly comes back to life and flies off much to the surprise of the spectator!


THE SECRET: The hardest part of the trick is you have to catch a fly! This can be done by swatting the fly hard enough to immobilise it. You then need to put it in a small container in the freezer for a little while. This puts the fly into a temporary coma.


When the fly is asleep you need to quickly take it to a suitable windscreen or window ledge IN THE SHADE and plant it there. It is important that the car or window ledge is in the shade to prevent the fly from defrosting too quickly.


Then go and find a spectator and take them back to the car or window ledge which should appear to be randomly picked. Carefully pick up the fly and place it on your palm. The heat of your hand will warm the fly back up reviving it. After a little while it should start to move and then fly off!


A lot of this trick is in the performance of you reviving the fly seemingly back from the dead. It may be necessary to practice how long it takes for the fly to revive itself on your hand.


TIP: Freezing the fly as quickly as possible with dry ice is a better way, because it is quicker it causes less damage to the fly and is more humane!