Magician's Prank Video Viral as 'Demonstration of Ill Effects of Energy Drinks'
The video was uploaded by a magician called Rick Lax on his Facebook account in 2018.
The video was uploaded by a magician on his Facebook account in 2018.
(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
A video which shows a man performing various tricks with energy drinks is being shared to claim that he is demonstrating the harmful effects of these drinks on one's body.
What tricks?: The five-minute video shows him cutting the edge of a balloon, dipping it in an energy drink, and then successfully inflating it. He also shows how cooking eggs in energy drinks makes them extremely stretchy. Then as he adds white vinegar and an energy drink, he is able to crush a wooden hammer with his hands.
The video is being shared across platforms.
But what's the truth?: While there is emerging evidence that links negative health consequences to energy drinks, this video isn't one of them. This was a video uploaded by a magician named Rick Lax on his YouTube channel in 2020. The video was titled, "LIFE HACKS WITH ENERGY DRINKS YOU NEVER KNEW EXISTED (Parody Magic Hacks from Rick Lax)."
How did we find out?: On conducting a reverse image search on one of the keyframes of the video, we were led to the same video on another YouTube Channel, uploaded in 2020.
In the comments sections, a user wrote that the man in the video was a magician.
A user said that the man in the video was a magician.
Using this, we did a keyword search on YouTube and found the video uploaded by one 'Network Media'. This video mentioned Rick Lax's name.
The video was uploaded by one 'Network Media'.
We looked up Lax's profile on Facebook. He identifies himself as a 'magician' and has several prank/magic videos uploaded on his profile.
The video uploaded on Rick Lax's website.
We have reached out to Rick Lax for a comment, and the story will be updated if and when we receive a response.
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