A middle-aged person feeding a juvenile orangutan in a zoo enclosure with natural light and straw-covered ground. 0:39
Dan Zaleski channel icon Dan ZaleskiOriginal creator 176M views Save

The magic trick that left an orangutan laughing

A man sits on the ledge of the orangutan window at the zoo, holding a foam coffee cup and a lid. On the other side of the glass, a young orangutan stares back. more

The man shows him a small object that looks like a walnut and drops it into the cup. The orangutan sits close, his face right by the cup, and his eyes follow the man's hand the whole way.

A young orangutan sits inside an enclosure, looking toward a human hand holding a cup near his face. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The orangutan watches the man's hand as the cup comes close.

On goes the lid. The man shakes the cup around for a moment while the orangutan keeps watching.

Then the lid comes off, and the man shows him the inside. The cup is empty. One small hand goes up.

An orangutan sits on the ground near a white cup, looking toward the camera with one hand raised. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The cup turns out to be empty, and one hand goes up.

A few seconds later he goes over. He drops flat onto his back on the straw, mouth wide open, laughing hard.

A young ape lies on his back with his mouth wide open and teeth showing, inside an enclosure near a window. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The orangutan drops onto his back with his mouth wide open.

The man starts laughing too, and for a few seconds the two of them crack up on either side of the glass. The orangutan's face and gestures look startlingly human.

A middle-aged person feeding a juvenile orangutan in a zoo enclosure with natural light and straw-covered ground. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A man sits on the ledge of the orangutan window at the zoo, holding a foam coffee cup and a lid.

At last he pulls himself together and sits back up, right in front of the cup again. "You crazy guy," someone says. He looks ready for the next trick.