Hat-trick (magic trick)

The hat-trick is a classic magic trick where a performer will produce an object (traditionally a rabbit or a bouquet of flowers) out of an apparently empty top hat.

Both the hat, and the surface it is placed on, will have a hidden opening in them, through which an object stored in a compartment in the table or chest can be pulled.

Alternatively, the performer can produce an item hidden in their sleeve using sleight of hand and misdirection.

It is said that the earliest magician to pull a rabbit out of a hat was Louis Comte, in 1814,[3] though this is also attributed to the much later John Henry Anderson.

The top hat used for the trick has become almost synonymous with stage magicians, and is commonly used as an icon to represent magic (such as the example on the right).