Members Counterpoint Posted August 18, 2005 Members Posted August 18, 2005 I apologize in advance for the WAY OT thread, but I'm really curious about this. I watched the Mindfreak guy on A&E tonight do some amazing levitation tricks/stunts. Some of them looked like maybe some hidden wire was involved, but others just blew my mind (hence the subject line). Can anybody give a rational explanation to what I've just seen? I've seen some amazing illusions, but nothing that compares to this.
Members 60hurts Posted August 18, 2005 Members Posted August 18, 2005 At least you're calling them "illusions". Some people actually believe them to be paranormal acts. If other magicians know how they're done, they won't be talking. There's a magicians code ya know.Here's a short interesting topic on Criss Angel on one of James Randi's sites: Criss Angel Topic
Members Tedster Posted August 18, 2005 Members Posted August 18, 2005 Which just goes to show that there's still an audience for magic. Cool..magic has come a long way since pulling rabbits out of hats. David Copperfield did some cool illusions, making the Statue of Liberty disappear and all. I have no idea how he did it, but...yup, it was an illusion. And if we knew, that would ruin the fun. David Blaine (I think his name is) is pretty cool, too.
Members nat whilk II Posted August 18, 2005 Members Posted August 18, 2005 If you're talking about the street magician who levitates and all the crowds watching totally flip out....it looks like this: the guy turn his back to the crowd. He always faces into some wall or other - the crowd is always directly in back of him. He holds his arms straight out like someone about to walk a tightrope and then....he floats up about 6 inches or so - you can see the sunlight on the pavement below his feet. It's very freaky to watch, and the crowd, especially the women, just about wet their pants. Then the TV show has interviews with some of the crowd, and some of them start blabbering on about spiritual power, etc etc. If that's the one you've seen, then I saw the trick explained somewhere (but I can't remember where dang it). It's so simple it makes you feel like an idiot for being awed. The guy actually keeps one foot down on either the ball of his foot or on his toes. He totally lifts the other leg up off the pavement and the heel of the "anchored" foot also goes up in the air the same distance. It's just enough that the crowd sees daylight under both feet, and the fact that the crowd is looking down from their "head height" keeps them from seeing the part of the one foot that is still down on the ground. Classic sleight-of-hand sort of illusion. He pulls it off flawlessly, and all the elaborate preparation and poses he makes gets you all primed for the "uncanny" levitation part. Great stuff. nat whilk ii
Members blue2blue Posted August 18, 2005 Members Posted August 18, 2005 I was once sitting with a psychologist and a journalist watching David Blaine on TV with one other person (who urged us to watch) and I was the only one who kept any skepticism. The others were ready to give up on the laws of physics as they had previously known them. It was pretty funny. A good magician is a wonderful entertainment. A great magician can make you think. But they are not sorcerers... except in the sense that a sorcerer is a very sophisticated and persuasive salesman.
Members phaeton Posted August 18, 2005 Members Posted August 18, 2005 A good magician is a wonderful entertainment. A great magician can make you think. But they are not sorcerers... except in the sense that a sorcerer is a very sophisticated and persuasive salesman. I made him say that.
Members Shars Posted August 18, 2005 Members Posted August 18, 2005 David Blaines cool with a complete freaked out mind!I went and saw him in his box when he was in London and still cant figure out why on earth he was doing this mad stunt. Complete freako but cool illusionist!
Members Base Posted August 19, 2005 Members Posted August 19, 2005 David Blaine does endurance stunts as well tho. No idea why. He's supposed to be a bit, er, strange in real life too. He's also apparently better known over here than in the US?! My friend does a lot of magic tricks as a hobby, has performed them on stage, etc. I've been the 'stooge' for a couple (where I was supposedly a random volunteer, but I was in on the act). It really does ruin the illusion when you know how a couple of them are done, you start working out how others are too. Still like magic shows tho, the one reason I'd like to visit Vegas someday...
Members deanmass Posted August 20, 2005 Members Posted August 20, 2005 Originally posted by phaeton I made him say that. ROFL!
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