TikTok's Favorite Magic Trick Is... So Random

Haj Poj is a monthly column where we interview online icons and revisit the moment they got memed.

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According to Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, every great magic trick consists of three parts. The first is The Pledge, where the magician shows you something ordinary, like a dove. Next, The Turn, where the magician takes the dove and makes it do something extraordinary, like disappear. Finally, The Prestige, the hardest part, is where the magician tops the disappearance and makes the dove appear once again.

There’s perhaps no piece of media—not even The Prestige itself—that illustrates the concept better than an 11-second TikTok uploaded by Camille Bordonaro (@hittinlikegrabbaa). With an ostensible rabbit plushie in hand, she crafts an artful Nolan epic in mere seconds. First, she introduces The Pledge: “Oh, you thought this was a rabbit?” Then, The Turn: “It’s Winnie the Fucking Pooh.” And finally, The Prestige, a mystifying declaration that exceeds the trick we’ve just witnessed: “Fuck Fourth of July.” The TikTok is even supported by an intermittent “nyeah” from a voice off-camera, echoing the wailing BRAAM of another Nolan hallmark, the Hans Zimmer score.

Despite that whole cardinal rule about magicians not revealing their tricks, I had to find the TikTok’s creator and beg for answers. She was on a family vacation in the Dominican Republic when we called. I felt star-struck to hear her signature voice; it’s relaxed and effortless and teeming with charm—just like her. By the end of our 15-minute conversation, we had already made plans to get drinks once she got back to New York.

I was completely under her spell. Below is our conversation.

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Haj: Can you briefly introduce yourself?

Camille: My name is Camille, but I go by Millie online. I am 22 and I’m from New York.

Haj: How did you decide to film that TikTok?

Camille: A lot of my videos are really random. I don’t really plan anything. I just had [the doll], and from the back, it looked like a rabbit. You can see my whole thought process in the video. It just comes to me, I guess. I’m a natural.

Haj: You really are!

Camille: I’m honestly just very random, and I say whatever comes to my head. And I know you guys thought it was a rabbit, because what else would it be?

Haj: Were you expecting the video to go so viral?

Camille: Not at all. I feel like I have so many other videos I made with the intention of going viral. I made the video so fast, I didn’t think it was gonna go viral.

Haj: Why do you think people like the video so much?

Camille: I think people like the cadence and the flow. I would also say my best friend’s little “nyeah” played a big part.

Haj: So the voice in the background is your best friend?

Camille: That is my best friend in the whole wide world. We always feed off each other, so you know she had to hit you with the “nyeah.”

Haj: You guys are so good at utilizing every second of that video.

Camille: There’s not a second of silence. I don’t think that video would have been that funny if we didn’t have the relationship we have. We just feed off each other.

Haj: Did you guys rehearse the video at all?

Camille: No! That was a one-take.

Haj: And history was made.

Camille: [laughs] We were actually having a really bad day. It was the Fourth of July, and I don’t even like the holiday, but I still wanted to do something. But we had no plans, and I was tired, and that’s why I have a bit of an attitude in the video.

Haj: Why don’t you like the Fourth of July?

Camille: I don’t think it’s a date to celebrate. Not everybody was free at the time. There were literal hundreds of thousands of people in slavery, so what am I celebrating that for?

Haj: Did you see the video went viral again this Fourth of July?

Camille: Yes, a lot of people sent it to me!

Haj: I almost feel like people were celebrating your video more than the Fourth of July.

Camille: That was so funny. It also went viral during Easter.

Haj: Do you like Winnie the Pooh?

Camille: The doll in the video is actually my best friend’s. She sleeps with it every night. I’ll go live on Instagram sometimes, and people will ask me to see it. I’m like, I’m not with him right now guys, I’m sorry.

Haj: I’ve seen so many people who bought that doll because of your video.

Camille: Absolutely. It’s funny because they’re making rip-offs. The doll I have is an old special edition. I saw one someone had bought, and I was like this is not the original.

Haj: What should people look out for so they know they have the original?

Camille: They don’t make them anymore! It’s from a special Easter edition. If you bought one recently, unless it’s from eBay, you’re not getting the doll.

Haj: I saw you have an OnlyFans. Have you ever thought about dressing up as Winnie the Pooh?

Camille: [Laughs] I think they just want to see my boobies, but I think it could go viral if I did it. I could dress up as Winnie the Pooh dressed as a rabbit. Like, “Oh you thought this was a rabbit? No. It’s Millie.” You may have just given me an idea.

Haj: Do you think you’ll ever do a follow-up video?

Camille: I was going to make another on The Fourth of July where I have an actual rabbit and go “oh, you thought this was a rabbit? It is.”

Haj: Why didn’t you!

Camille: I didn’t want to drag it out. I think it’s funny as it is. I don’t like to force things, because when I do, it doesn’t go the way I want. I have this other video where I’m just like, “Are you from New York even. Do you have a big black puffer even?” and that one went super viral. I always tell people not to think too much about posting on TikTok. Just do what you want.

One last thing, but my sister wanted me to tell you her first dog’s name was Winnie. It feels very fitting.