David Blaine

[runlola]

 

[CaCoDeMoN]

Who is David Blaine?

[WalkerInTheWoods]

I have seen his Fearless (I think that is the title) video and read one of this books. He is a pretty amazing guy. I think all of this stuff is just illusion though. That is what you get from this book. Regardless he is still entertaining, very talented, and worth seeing. I still don't see how he does a lot of what he does.

[GANAMOHA]

If you read his book you'd learn alto more about him and you would also learn he doesn't really have any belief in being psychic. he does believe in paranormal, but .... he states in his book that all of his tricks are just pure endurance or mere illusion. you should get the book.

[Logic]

If its on television, don't forget that 99% of the stuff involves camera tricks or setting up things off camera, etc..

[WalkerInTheWoods]

David Blaine does Street Magic, meaning up close and personal. Cameras have little to do with what he does. Though with things like levitation I am sure correct camera placement is important. I have never heard how he does that.

[CaCoDeMoN]

Thanks for info, Runlola

[pmlonline]

I agree that a lot of his magic are tricks, but he seems to have unusual abilities.  One of just many examples this ...  A TV host calls David on the phone.  David asks her to choose any card from a deck of cards.  David successfully tells the lady what card she picked.

fallnangel77,
There is one of David's levitations on his DVD (with the 3 white girls) where the camera guy filmed it close to the ground.  You can clearly see underneath both of David's shoes including the shoe shadows.  That particular levitation generated a lot of controversy amongst the magic community.  Some even acuse David of embedding magnets in the ground and in his shoes to explain that one.

Paul

[clandestino]

heh heh....he's just another stage magician ! We could all do his tricks easily. He uses body language, camera trickery (& editing) to make his performances appear all the more believable.

The levitation trick is easy !! Here's how you do it :

1) have your "audience" of 1 or 2 people standing about 6' away from you.

2) Stand facing them. Now turn approx 130degrees to your right. Now you aren't facing them, but you haven't got your back completely turned on them. Your right foot should be further away from the audience than your left.

3) Heels together. Slowly "levitate", whilst keeping your right toes on the ground !! Its like standing on tip-toes with one foot, but retain the"standing" angle with your left. The left foot blocks out the view of the cheating right foot.

Bear in mind that David Blaine makes his living from this kind of thing and practises for hours. You might not be able to pull it off straight away !!

ps - the camera showing both his feet off the ground.....Did you notice how it only showed him from the ankles down ?! I wonder what the rest of him (i.e. his hands) was doing at the time...a pull-up, maybe ?!  

Kind regards
Mark

[MJ-12]

Hey Runlola. Love the new avatar!  

David Blaine wouldn't be the first magician to perform "magic" on camera that was completely staged, including the audience. Some great tricks though.

[The AlphaOmega]

His magic is awsome to watch.  I once saw how the levitation was done, but the person who showed it showed kept one foot partially on the ground.  Blaine definately goes higher then his feet would allow.  Most people are amazed, but I've always found it hilarious how black people just freak.  Most people just say how amazed they are, sometimes they'll yell.  But black people scream and jump up and run around like a chicken with their head cut off... it cracks me up.  I think his street magic is better then the show of stage magic because most of the time people don't even know he's going to show them a trick, then they're astounded by what they see, which probably totally makes their day.  Pretty fun stuff.

[WalkerInTheWoods]

Whether the performances are real or not is not important, for that is not the magic. The magic is in the amazement and reactions from the audience. The magic is in that for a few brief moments people forget their worries and are like children again, with childlike wonder and amazement. The magic is in that David Blaine can bring this magic to people crossing the boundaries of race, economic status, and culture. He says this in this book, though better than I have.

David Blaine's book is very good. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in him or magic.

[pmlonline]

Whether the performances are real or not is not important, for that is not the magic. The magic is in the amazement and reactions from the audience. The magic is in that for a few brief moments people forget their worries and are like children again, with childlike wonder and amazement. The magic is in that David Blaine can bring this magic to people crossing the boundaries of race, economic status, and culture. He says this in this book, though better than I have.

Very nice and true!  I think David has higher goals than to prove real magic.  If he had supernatural gifts then he would be smart to keep it secret rather than be crucified emotionally and mentally by the public.  Personally I knew someone who could levitate and instantly vanish right before your eyes.  No cloud of smoke.  Just boom ... gone.  My friend was smart to keep it secret.  Ever now and then rumors and his address would somehow get out so he would receive the nastiest letters and even death threats.  It seems there are more of these gifted people then we think but they learn early on to keep it secret to but a few.