Easy Magic: the Banana Buster Trick

By executing an ultra-secret ninja move, you magically cause a banana to separate into pieces while it's still inside the peel. This magic trick is an easy one that's great for kids and only requires a little preparation. And be sure that you're hungry so you can eat the banana when you're done.

Note: For really young kids, an adult should help to prepare the trick, although it's fine for a kid to actually perform the effect. It's the preparation that may require supervision.

Secret:

Using a pin, you slice the banana while it's in its peel before you perform the trick.

Materials:

A banana and a straight pin, the kind used in sewing. This also includes straight pins that come with packaged clothing. You can call this a gimmicked banana.

Preparation:

Stick the pin into the banana where you want the banana to "break." Move the pin in a horizontal plane to effectively separate the banana into two pieces. Repeat the process if you want to cut the banana into multiple pieces. Simply use the pin in each location where you want it to break.

The trick is to use the pin to cut the banana without causing any visible damage to the banana peel. At the end of the preparation, the banana will appear to be normal. The spectators will not notice the tiny pinholes that are a result of the preparation that breaks up the internal banana.

Bring out and show the banana to your spectators.

Execute any magical Karate moves to apparently split into parts the banana inside its peel, or simply stare at the banana to cause it to "separate" using the power of your mind. This is the show part. Don't be afraid to play it up and have some fun.

With your "showy" part done, you're ready for the big unveil. You've suggested to spectators that you have apparently caused the banana to break into pieces inside its skin. You've told spectators this but they won't believe you.

Slowly unpeel the banana to show that the banana is already cut inside of its peel.

If you like, eat the banana to show that it's completely normal. You're clean.

Thoughts: 

This is a hard trick to classify under the usual seven magic effects as it doesn't fall cleanly under any of the categories.

If you're performing this trick in a casual setting, it's probably a great idea to pull the banana from a place where it would normally reside. This can include a lunch sack or perhaps a fruit bowl. By pulling the banana from a place where it would normally be, this makes the banana to appear to be ungimmicked. Spectators will be far less likely to think that the banana is suspicious or prepared in any way.

If you were to pull a banana out of an unlikely place, such as your jacket pocket or out of the blue from a briefcase, it would probably be suspect.

Another Way to Perform This Trick:

There is another way to prepare the banana using needle and thread. What you do here is thread the needle with some thread and push the needle through the side of the banana but parallel the skin of the banana. Wherever the needle emerges, you reinsert the needle and continue along the perimeter of the banana skin. What you essentially are doing is wrapping the banana inside of its skin so there's thread surrounding it. At the end of the preparation process, you pull the thread to cut through the flesh of the banana, thus cutting it in half.

The second method for cutting the banana within its skin is far more time-consuming. Obviously, with the use of needle and thread, this method also requires parental supervision with young kids.