Me and a couple friends decided to take on this task as something cheap and different to do on a Friday night. We went to the grocery store down the block and, after much searching, found a few examples of the Droste effect (it seems this style of marketing has gone out of fashion). We chose the one that was the most challenging. And the one that required us to drink a bottle of wine. The magician in the label on the bottle is levitating a bottle and wine glass. Note: bottle of wine was $17.99.

Through years of eclectic dress, I happened to own a black suit, red velvet cape, black top hat, and Halloween makeup. And fortunately my house is red since the elaborate red light rigging we set up wasn't working out well.

I dressed up as the magician and a friend took the picture while another suspended the glass and bottle from above. We took the picture at night with extra lighting off to the side. The flame was made with a lighter and can of aerosol hairspray. As much effort as we took to recreate "Slight of Hand" physically, we did have to resort to Photoshop to stick the photo of the flame, taken moments earlier, into the picture.

You gotta admit, it looks pretty close.