Tom Mullica's Cigarette Magic Secrets Revealed!

In today's video, we will reveal the secrets of Tom Mulliker's impossible cigarette-eating magic trick. And as a bonus, I will also cover the amazing card-to-mouth trick he performed as well. Let's do a quick recap of what happened in his performance. In one of the most widely shared performances he's done online, he kicked things off by spreading out a deck of cards, asking a volunteer to pick one, have it signed, and then hand it back to him. After giving the deck a shuffle, he told her to pick a number between 1 and 52, confidently saying her card would appear exactly at that position. While chatting, he casually smoked a cigarette, then took another one, slid it inside the first, lit the whole thing, and actually ate it. He grabbed a third cigarette, gave it a lick, tossed it into his mouth, and just kept stacking them until he had four cigarettes crammed in there. Then, like it was no big deal, he pulled them back out, relit each one, swallowed all four at once, and kept pushing further, going up to eight, and eventually managing to burn through 12 cigarettes all at the same time. He followed that up by swallowing tissues, jamming all 12 lit cigarettes into his mouth again, chewing them up, and swallowing everything until there was nothing left in his mouth at all. After that, he told the volunteer to count up to the number she had picked, but her card didn't turn up in the deck. Without skipping a beat, Tom made a gagging motion, and slowly a folded playing card started to come out from deep inside his mouth. When he carefully unfolded it, there was no doubt. It was her signed card, right there. After watching that performance, there's one question that pops into everyone's head. Did he actually eat a bunch of lit cigarettes without burning his throat or insides? Some people might believe he really did, but most folks would probably say it has to be a clever illusion. But even if we played along and said he did swallow them, is the human body even capable of safely digesting cigarettes? We already know cigarettes are dangerous, even when you're just smoking them the regular way, so it's pretty clear that trying to actually digest them would not turn out well for anyone. Using basic logic, it makes more sense that he's pulling off a trick, most likely hiding the cigarettes in his mouth for a short while, then spitting them out discreetly behind the table when no one's looking. But here's where it gets tricky. The cigarettes are actually lit, even if he's using fake ones made from non-toxic stuff. With only the outer layer burning, the ashes and heat would still be intense enough to hurt the soft tissue inside the mouth. And it's not like it's just one or two cigarettes. We're talking about a total of 12 fully burning cigarettes, all packed in at the same time. There's just no realistic way to keep that many cigarettes hidden in your mouth and still talk naturally with someone during the act. The most obvious sign would be smoke visibly leaking out, which would instantly give the whole thing away. The real secret, though, is tied to how he cleverly uses tissues as part of the performance. This definitely isn't the first time a magician has used tissue paper as a clever distraction. Just look at Tony Clark's famous ring vanish. During that trick, he simply clips the ring between his right thumb and index finger, while the tissue acts as a decoy. When his hand gets close to the table's edge, he casually ditches the ring behind it and no one notices. Tom uses a very similar tactic, once again relying on tissues to misdirect the audience's attention. The key moment happens when he jokingly offers a tissue to the volunteer, pretending to get her to try some. If you watch closely, as his left hand stretches forward, his right hand quickly grabs another tissue and uses it as a cover to secretly spit the cigarettes from his mouth into his palm. In the slowed-down footage, you can even catch a brief glimpse of the tissue-wrapped bundle just before he nonchalantly drops it onto his lap. He repeats this exact same move in his TV special, where he manages to secretly dispose of the cigarette-stuffed tissue ball behind the table, right at this point in the act. At the start of the trick, as he loads each cigarette into his mouth, you'll notice he carefully positions them with the lit end facing outward, away from his throat. As he lines them up on his tongue, he also pushes his tongue toward the back of his mouth. This creates space and keeps the cigarettes from pressing against the inside of his mouth, while also tucking them securely behind his teeth. Even with all this precision, the trick is still dangerous if you haven't practiced it extensively, and honestly, I strongly advise against ever trying it, because you'll almost certainly burn your mouth. But for performers like Tom, or even someone like David Blaine, taking extreme risks purely for showmanship is nothing out of the ordinary. So while Tom's routine definitely has its hazards, it's also built around a smart strategy that helps lower the chances of serious harm. First, he uses the initial tissue to wrap around the front ends of all 12 cigarettes already in his mouth, forming a layer that shields the burning tips from the soft inner parts of his mouth. Then he takes a second tissue and wraps it around the back portion of the first layer, fully enclosing the cigarettes in a sort of protective bundle. You can actually catch a glimpse of him rotating this tissue-wrapped bundle inside his mouth, adjusting its position. At that point, the cigarettes are relatively secure within the layered tissues, and he starts chewing steadily to compress the ball, making it smaller and easier to palm later on. He then wraps everything again with a third tissue. This extra layer is necessary because when he exhales through his mouth, it brings in fresh oxygen, which temporarily reignites the glowing embers of the cigarettes. This brief reignition causes the tissue to burn slightly and get thinner, weakening its protective layer. But he does this on purpose, to show the audience that the cigarettes are still burning, giving the illusion that he's actually consuming them while they're lit. So in a way, he really is chewing up the cigarettes, but he's not swallowing them. Instead, he crushes them down as much as he can, using strong, deliberate pressure from his jaw. Now, about the card trick. How did that card end up inside his mouth? If you go back to the very beginning of the routine, right after he takes the signed card from the volunteer, you'll notice he does an overhand shuffle that actually helps him control where the card goes. As the method behind it, the volunteer places her card onto the bottom half of the deck, and then Tom sets the top packet over it, while secretly keeping a pinky break right at that point. Immediately after that, he lifts the top packet from the break, and starts an overhand shuffle, subtly rearranging the cards, so that her signed card ends up at the top of the deck. Once her card is on top, he goes into another overhand shuffle. But this time, when he removes the top portion, he uses what's known as the slip force technique, which lets him keep her card locked in place at the top, even though it looks like the deck is being mixed. Then we see a cut in the video. Suddenly, the deck is neatly squared up, and lying flat on the table in front of her. During that brief jump cut, he's used a sleight of hand move called the mercury card fold, which allows him to secretly fold her signed card right in his hand. That folded card is then discreetly dropped onto his lap without drawing attention. So how does the card make its way from his lap to his mouth? Watch this specific moment closely. Right when he drops the marker, he uses that small distraction to lean behind the table, and during that motion, he secretly slips the folded card into his mouth. This is why, if you look carefully, you can catch a quick glimpse of a bulge in his cheek, right after he returns from that brief trip behind the table. Behind this mask, only the truth remains till we meet again.