How Vine Genius Zach King Pulls Off Eye-Popping Magic Tricks in 6 Seconds

Zach King has built an empire off his amazing 6-second videos.

ByABC News
March 5, 2015, 6:14 PM

— -- Vine magician Zach King doesn’t need long to impress.

His 6-second videos, in which he disappears into thin air, teleports, flies and turns a handful of coffee beans into a latte – just to name a few stunts -- have his 2.6 million Vine followers asking, “how does he do that?”

“We’ll do sometimes just simple jump cuts where I freeze and people come over and change my clothes and whatever,” King, 23, explained. “A lot of people… are like 'How did he do that?' And we’re like, ‘It’s just a freeze.’”

Invisible strings and optical illusions also help create the effects. But even though the videos are only 6 seconds long, King and his team spend hours perfecting them.

“It usually takes about five hours to shoot and edit a video,” he said.

King, who lives in Los Angeles, has used his tricks to build an empire, collaborating with celebrities like Macklemore

And big brand names like Microsoft

His talent even took him all the way to the Oscars red carpet…

But King warned that sometimes his stunts can risky.

“The most difficult/dangerous was I did one… I made it look like I fell off the roof into a cooler, with balloons,” he said. “It was one of those tile roofs where it can slide. So we had a couple tiles fall off the roof and break …I feel like I need to say, ‘Do not try at home, for all the disclaimers for parents.”

For King, making a little video magic is worth the risk.

“It’s all about inspiring people,” he said.

His talent even took him all the way to the Oscars red carpet…

But King warned that sometimes his stunts can risky.

“The most difficult/dangerous was I did one… I made it look like I fell off the roof into a cooler, with balloons,” he said. “It was one of those tile roofs where it can slide. So we had a couple tiles fall off the roof and break …I feel like I need to say, ‘Do not try at home, for all the disclaimers for parents.”

For King, making a little video magic is worth the risk.

“It’s all about inspiring people,” he said.","publishedDate":"2015-03-05T23:14:00Z","contributors":[{"name":"ABC News","url":"","role":"","logo":"","logoAlt":""}],"modifiedDate":"2015-03-06T15:15:34Z","section":"Lifestyle","wordCount":282,"relatedTags":{"heading":"Related Topics","tags":[]},"lead":{"ratio":"16x9","disableForMobile":false,"type":"xl","mediaType":"video","alignCaptionToBody":true},"ads":{"Sticky":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"RightRail":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"InlineBox":{},"InlineOutstream":{"disabled":false},"Taboola":{"position":"bottom","pageType":"article","config":{"network":"abcnews-abcnews","mode":"thumbnails-a","container":"taboola-below-article-thumbnails","type":"article","targetType":"mix","placement":"Below Article Thumbnails"}}},"featuredVideo":{"id":"29432263","type":"video","locator":"https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/vine-magician-pulls-off-epic-stunts-29432263","issued":"2015-05-29T06:55:00Z","created":"2015-05-29T06:55:00Z","modified":"2015-05-29T07:07:49Z","date":"2015-05-29T06:55:00Z","keywords":["Zach King","Vine","magician","epic stunts","magic","magic tricks","6 second videos","pool trick","abc","abcnews","Video","29432263"],"section":"Nightline","title":"How Vine Magician Pulls Off Epic Stunts","headline":"How Vine Magician Pulls Off Epic Stunts","shortHeadline":"How Vine Magician Pulls Off Epic Stunts","linkHeadline":"How Vine Magician Pulls Off Epic Stunts","description":"Zach King wows his 2.6 million followers with his eye-popping magic tricks in his 6-second videos.","leadInText":"Zach King wows his 2.6 million followers with his eye-popping magic tricks in his 6-second videos.","duration":110000,"contents":{"image":{"id":"29432264","created":"2015-03-06T07:50:32Z","modified":"2015-03-06T07:50:49Z","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"name":"raw","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/150306_ntl_magic_0103_16x9_992.jpg"},{"name":"16x9","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/150306_ntl_magic_0103_16x9_992.jpg"},{"name":"16x9t","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/150306_ntl_magic_0103_16x9t_992.jpg"},{"name":"33x16","ratio":"33x16","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/150306_ntl_magic_0103_33x16_992.jpg"},{"name":"4x3","ratio":"4x3","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/150306_ntl_magic_0103_4x3_992.jpg"},{"name":"4x3t","ratio":"4x3t","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/150306_ntl_magic_0103_4x3t_992.jpg"}],"description":"How Vine Magician Pulls Off Epic Stunts"},"playlist":[{"id":"29432263","type":"video","streams":{"m3u8":{"16x9":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2015/05/150529_ntl_magic_0103_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"}}},{"id":"25529007","type":"video","streams":{"m3u8":{"16x9":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2014/09/140915_ntl_vine_1251_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"}}}]},"streams":{"m3u8":{"16x9":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2015/05/150529_ntl_magic_0103_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"}},"transcript":{},"alertTag":"","sectionRoot":"Nightline","adFlag":true,"noAds":false,"isAmbient":false,"sponsored":false,"hideDate":false,"hideReportTypo":false},"featuredImage":null,"dateline":"—","seo":{"JSONLD":{"videoObject":{"name":"How Vine Magician Pulls Off Epic Stunts","description":"Zach King wows his 2.6 million followers with his eye-popping magic tricks in his 6-second videos.","uploadDate":"2015-05-29T06:55:00Z","thumbnailUrl":[null,"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/150306_ntl_magic_0103_4x3_992.jpg?w=384","https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/150306_ntl_magic_0103_16x9_992.jpg?w=384"],"url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2015/05/150529_ntl_magic_0103_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2015/05/150529_ntl_magic_0103_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","publisher":{"name":"ABC News","logo":{"url":"","@type":"ImageObject"},"@type":"Organization"},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","id":"https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/vine-magician-pulls-off-epic-stunts-29432263"},"duration":"PT1M50S"}}},"LivePromotion":{}},"autoUpdate":{"enabled":false,"topics":["general-elections-2020-balance-of-power"]}},"upw":{"balanceOfPower":{"electoral":{"header":"Biden Projected to be President-Elect","candidates":{"democrats":{"id":1036,"displayName":"Joe Biden","shortDisplayName":"J. 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