Author Topic: How to levitate  (Read 575 times)

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Offline Weisshaupt

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How to levitate
« on: January 24, 2012, 05:23:08 PM »
I'll teach you how to levitate

No, you don't want to know how I ran across this.

Offline trapeze

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Re: How to levitate
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2012, 06:03:22 PM »
Speaking of...remember this?


What you see in the above video is total BS...totally staged...not what people actually see when this effect is performed. Done correctly it is pretty amazing but you don't rise a foot off of the ground as is shown above.

Here is a (very poorly produced) vid that shows the explanation:


A pretty good David Blaine parody that makes fun of the BS/staged type of "illusion" (and the over the top Blaine spectator reaction)...

In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Online IronDioPriest

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Re: How to levitate
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2012, 07:30:59 PM »
So... re; the levitation thing... I see what the Asian kid is doing. But that doesn't look at all like what David Blaine is doing. It looks like Blaine is clearly coming at least a foot from the ground, from directly behind, and it looks as if you can see clearance in front of both feet equally.
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

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Offline trapeze

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Re: How to levitate
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2012, 08:03:04 PM »
So... re; the levitation thing... I see what the Asian kid is doing. But that doesn't look at all like what David Blaine is doing. It looks like Blaine is clearly coming at least a foot from the ground, from directly behind, and it looks as if you can see clearance in front of both feet equally.

As I said, what Blaine put on the air is staged. It's fake. The reactions by the spectators might have been to the actual illusion (maybe not) but they didn't see what the television viewer saw. What the viewer saw totally invalidated the rest of what was otherwise a very good television special on impromptu (or "street") magic. The parody video satirizes that aspect of Blaine's performance.

Take my word for it (because I am in a position to know what I'm talking about)...what you see on the amateur video is what anyone on the street saw when Blaine performed the levitation illusion live.

The nonsense that Blaine put on television is no more real than the video that opened this thread.

BTW...practice the levitation illusion a few times taking special care to use the correct viewing angle for the spectator...it takes about five to ten minutes of practice, making it one of the easiest routines to perform. Then perform it for someone. You will be amazed at their amazement.

Blaine did this next one on his first special, too, and unlike the levitation one this isn't faked. What you see on this video is as it actually happened. The secret is, as you might suspect, diabolically simple.

« Last Edit: January 24, 2012, 08:32:42 PM by trapeze »
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.