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Taking time to live well
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Photograph by Alamy

Magic | Do the Tablecloth Trick

Iona Bower May 21, 2022

Always harboured a secret desire to whip a tablecloth out from under a fully laid table? Us too. We’ve got good news… Anyone can do it!

Surprise your family and delight your friends with this impressive trick. And you don’t need to be Paul Daniels to have a go. Here’s how to do The Tablecloth Magic Trick…

  1. You need a table with straight sides, not curved - that messes with the physics.

  2. Choose the right cloth. It should have as little traction as possible on the table, so smooth, slightly silky material is great. The table should be clean and dry, too. You want that cloth to slide across it easily. Also, your cloth should have no hem. 

  3. Place the cloth on the table with most of the ‘overhang’ on the side you’re going to pull from. 

  4. Carefully lay your table with crockery and cutlery. You can start with unbreakable crockery if you’re nervous. It actually helps for the items on the table to be heavy, so you can weight glasses down, for example, by filling them with water, which also adds to the effect. Pop a red rose in a glass of water if you’re feeling showy. 

  5. When you’re ready, grasp the tablecloth edge firmly with both hands and pull downwards towards your feet, quickly. Hesitate, or pull straight out to the side and you’ll mess it up. 

  6. Take a bow. 

How does it work?

It’s more a feat of physics than a magic trick. There’s no sleight of hand involved. The tablecloth trick is an illustration of Newton’s theory of inertia in action. If an object is at rest, it stays at rest unless acted on by another force. So the tablecloth, when pulled, leaves the table and the items on it where they are because the force of it moving is not enough to move the items at rest on it. 


If you’d like to have a go at this trick and are in the market for a new tablecloth, you might like to read our Looking Back feature on the history of tablecloths in our May issue, which is adapted from The Elements of a Home: Curious Histories Behind Everyday Household Objects From Pillows to Forks by Amy Azzarito (Chronicle Books).

Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our May issue…

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May 24, 2022
Dream divination | What bees mean
May 24, 2022
May 24, 2022
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May 14, 2022
Outing | Nights at the Museum
May 14, 2022
May 14, 2022
Natural dye swatches.jpg
May 10, 2022
How to | Find Dyes in Nature
May 10, 2022
May 10, 2022

More nice things to put on your table…

Featured
Alamy tablecloth.jpg
May 21, 2022
Magic | Do the Tablecloth Trick
May 21, 2022
May 21, 2022
SIM68.COMFORTOFTHINGS_Thornback & Peel Pea Pod tableware.png
Feb 18, 2018
The Comfort of Things | Grown up tableware
Feb 18, 2018
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Jan 28, 2016
Supper on the sofa with The Stuff of Life
Jan 28, 2016
Jan 28, 2016
InFun Tagstablecloths, table linen, magic, science
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  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025

Buy, download or subscribe

See the sample of our latest issue here

Buy a copy of our latest anthology: A Year of Celebrations

Buy a copy of Flourish 2, our wellbeing bookazine

Listen to our podcast - Small Ways to Live Well

Feb 27, 2025
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The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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