The thing about magic is that everyone knows it's not actually magic. It's cleverly devised trickery, distraction and illusion that appears like it can't have any other possible explanation, even though it always does.

Stepping in to prove a case in point is this impressive trick:

You know that if you're watching something on a screen it's highly likely that there's going to be some kind of high-tech trickery going on behind the scenes, but still, it's a pretty impressive little trick.

A lot of people seemed to think so, too - Kevin Parry posted the trick to Twitter on 28 March, and it's since had over 1.4 million views on the social media platform alone, as well as making the front pages of both Reddit and Imgur.

Social media users were left baffled.

One simply wrote: "How in tf"

"What the what now?" another said.

The stop-motion animator from Portland, Oregon promised that he'd reveal how he did the trick - in which a small ping pong ball held in front of him towards the camera turns into a large white ball behind him that he grabs with his other hand - the next day, but decided to keep people in suspense a little bit longer.

"Going to wait a day or two to post the vlog," he announced.

"I have a bunch of news sites emailing me to post the illusion. I don't want to spoil the fun just yet."

He did, however, finally reveal the 'magic' behind his illusion on 30 March. If you want to try to work it out for yourself, or would prefer to believe that such a thing as magic does actually exist, then look away now. Otherwise, feast your eyes on Parry's revelations in the video below:

Still, even if his video proves that there's no such thing as magic - just a little technical trickery and some (by his own admission) not-so-good Photoshopping work - the skill of putting the whole thing together and executing it so well is a kind of magic in itself.

So while he may never be allowed to join the Magic Circle because he gave the secret up, he's still a magician in our eyes.