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David Blaine tricks revealed (SPOILERS!!)

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in advance...

**** enter at your own risk****

the following tricks have been performed by illusionist david blaine and the secrets to them will be given out...
so if you dont want to know how they are done... then leave now...





LEVITATION

effect - The magician raises his arms up by his sides and slowly appears to rise a few inches off the ground for a little while before returning to earth quickly.

The Balducci Method

The Balducci method involves positioning your audience about 8 to 10 feet away at a 45 degree angle.You need to keep your audience small so they are within this field of sight.

This is a very restrictive angle trick and it is essential that the angles are practised,preferably with a friend or in front of a mirror.

The Balducci levitation involves pretending to float off the ground by going on to your tip toes on just one foot ( the one furthest from their view ) while the nearest foot is raised a little off tthe ground.

This looks fantastic as the foot on your tip toe is hidden by your trousers, the nearest foot and the angle they are watching at. You only rise a few inches off the ground but the impression is fantastic. This trick is all in the presentation with you appearing to rise slowly, wait for a second or two and then return to the ground quickly so as the audience do not have time to figure the trick out.

The picture here shows the beginning on the left and the climax of the trick on the right .



David Blaine Version

David Blaine used various camera shots in his TV special with the audience reaction being filmed close up and linked to other clips of him in mid air with some of the angles showing the Balducci levitation.

The view that shows him rise a good few inches in the air and does not show the audience and would have been done with a bar attached to a pivot like a seesaw.

The end of the pivot would have had a hook which clipped onto a harness attached to his belt and a member of the crew would have pushed down on the other side of the bar lifting David up in the air. The camera angle would have hidden the props.

This film would have been mixed in with the audience clips in the studios later.

The Balducci levitation is clearly explained in the Learn to levitate video which can be ordered online by clicking the link here and will allow you to learn master and perform self levitation like David Blaine and object levitation very quickly with incredible results. Go ahead and click the link above now. You can find access to lots of free magic secrets on the main page of this site.

*********************

magician... i think not...
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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I never dug much on David Blaine. Never really thought of him as a true "magician" per se. Never understood how sitting in a block of "ice" over London was a magic trick. He just seemed far too desperate to be in the spotlight and maybe that's what turned me off.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
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kapgar.com
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well your gonna be even more dissappointed...
in all of his huge stunts like that...
they were all fake...

his body was superimposed and he just fell through a hatch somewhere...
the live audience...
not live... all in on the stunt...

they have those big ones all over the net...
same with the staying inside a box for 55 days...
they were all done very similar with computer effects...

now that i know how this guy does his stuff... i find him to be a total disgrace to magicians and illusionists everywhere...
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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here's another one of his tricks which i thought was really awesome... but now just think is totally pointless

CARD THROUGH WINDOW

Effect

The performer asks the spectator to pick a card without him seeing the face and replace it in the pack.

The pack is then shuffled and the performer is apparently unsuccesful in locating the card.

After a few attempts ,the cards are thrown against a window in a fit of rage , on looking at the window , the chosen card is seen to be sticking to it , even more surprising is the fact that the card is on the inside of the window.

Preparation

You will need two identical packs of cards and a willing helper.

Method

This trick should be performed in an area with a large window nearby and with the spectator facing away from the window.

The spectator is asked to choose a card from a pack , memorise it and without showing you , replace the card in the pack.

The pack is then shuffled and and a couple of attempts at "is this your card " tried followed by a look of disbelief when the spectator tells you that it is not their card ( this is all part of the act as you dont and dont even need to know the card).

After a few attempts you fake an angry outburst and making sure the cards are squared up , throw the pack broadside at the window , where they will hit the window and fall to the ground except the chosen card which is stcking to the window.

Your helper was already positioned behind the window and spectator and had an identical pack of cards. He was able to see the chosen card and took the duplicate from his pack.

A small piece of looped sticky tape or magicians wax was attached to the duplicate card and it was stuck to the inside of the window.

The helper should then have walked away from the window.

This trick creates a real surprise but it is important to pick up the fallen cards quickly and to pocket the original chosen card.
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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Obviously you wouldn't have an audience for this trick or they'd see the "helper" in the glass. Great trick for kids to do in front of their parents or the like, though.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Quote
Originally posted by: Luke Skywalker
well your gonna be even more dissappointed...
in all of his huge stunts like that...
they were all fake...

his body was superimposed and he just fell through a hatch somewhere...
the live audience...
not live... all in on the stunt...

they have those big ones all over the net...
same with the staying inside a box for 55 days...
they were all done very similar with computer effects...

now that i know how this guy does his stuff... i find him to be a total disgrace to magicians and illusionists everywhere...


I fake job eh? I doubt he could he have used computer effects. As talked about in another threat, the human eye can tell computer effect from the real thing. even if they were that doesn't make him a disgrace to magicians. After all, all magic tricks are fake. You don't that the magicians have real magic powers do you?

P.S. please reveal more of his tricks. I am always interested in how magicians pull off their tricks.

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but it would have been much cooler if it were slide of hand or something...
i mean the guy pretty much is misleading his audience in his television special by showing his feet come off the ground from a different angle that was done in from of people....

i think thats just stupid... if ur gonna show a magic trick u should not have any editing done to the shot... otherwise i might as well just stop the camera and walk out of view when its stopped.... then start recording again and say i disappeared....
how is that magic???
lol

i dunno i think he's a pretty crappy magician...
hahaa
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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I remember watching on TV how this trick is done, a few years ago. Yep, exactly like that.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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when i first saw his show i was amazing at some of the things he did...
i saw it again yesterday and said to myself im going to search the internet for everyone of his tricks.. took me about 5 min to find them... lol

i was really pissed that in some of his illusions he editted the video and added different angles which made it seem like he really did come off the ground in his leviatation...
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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Quote
Originally posted by: Luke Skywalker
but it would have been much cooler if it were slide of hand or something...
i mean the guy pretty much is misleading his audience in his television special by showing his feet come off the ground from a different angle that was done in from of people....


But isn't that what magicians are supposed to do? mislead the audience? trick the the audience in to believing he performed real magic?

Quote
Originally posted by: Luke Skywalker
i think thats just stupid... if ur gonna show a magic trick u should not have any editing done to the shot..


more magicians than he, used editing.

Quote
Originally posted by: Luke Skywalker
i dunno i think he's a pretty crappy magician.
he is no worst than David Copperfield. I am told that he used very simular gags to make the Statue of Liberty disapear. The skill of magicians is not in the carrying out of the trick itself, it is in the presentation. the block of ice stunt is a good example. You complain that it was fake. But he had everyone believing he had actually done it. that is the goal of a magic trick. He fooled us all. he carryied his presentation out perfectly. That is the true skill of a magician. imho


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No way. A true magician would never, EVER use camera tricks or editing! If he oes he's betraying his profession and colleagues, and cheating. Like Penn and Teller used to say: "On our mother's graves... we swear... no camera tricks."
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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maybe Penn and Teller don't but. Other do. And since they also reveal their tricks somtimes, could you really consider them real magicians?
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put it this way when someone hires a group of people to act as a live audience for one of his stunts... and most likely pays them to be there... thats not magic...

thats exactly what he did for his stay in a box for 58 days with nothing but water routine...
try and find someone over the internet who was actually there... lol
its impossible because it was all a scam...

how can you say thats magic??
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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The whole "starve in a cage" thing has been done a lot of times before, I don't doubt he really did it, mostly because that's not real magic, he just stayed in a box and waited.

The real magician is the one who can perform before a live audience, and never reveals the secret behind it. Doing it with camera tricks, editing and planted audiences is NOT real magic. I can do some pretty neat magic tricks with some clever editing myself. Unfortunally, the original art of magic is fading away, thanks to these false magicians such as David Copperfield and David Blane.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
Author
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Post link
Quote
Originally posted by: Luke Skywalker
put it this way when someone hires a group of people to act as a live audience for one of his stunts... and most likely pays them to be there... thats not magic...

thats exactly what he did for his stay in a box for 58 days with nothing but water routine...
try and find someone over the internet who was actually there... lol
its impossible because it was all a scam...

how can you say thats magic??


Then you must also believe that David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disapear was not magic. There as well the Audience was in on it. same goes for the Jet

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most magic tricks seem disapointing once you find out how it was done.
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WHO PUT HIMSELF UNDER WATER IN TIME SQUARE HOW DID HE DO THAT?
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Originally posted by: Warbler
most magic tricks seem disapointing once you find out how it was done.


YES
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i already knew about the Copperfield scam but this guy seemed like he had some real skill... no doubt he has fast hands.. but when you have to resort to using camera tricks..
i personally find that pathetic...
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."