Just watched David Blaines street magic special a couple nights ago... just wondering if anyone can explain a few things (like him biting the coin or the card stuck in the glass) it just seems to surreal to be "street magic". His levitation is what was really... different. If anybody has any thoughts let me know (or if there was already a thread you could direct me there).

Yes I'd like to know too!!

Insight? Any comments?

Interestingly enough, you'll find most of the information you desire just by clicking on some of the links directly above your opening post.

Focus on the fact that Blaine is a magician, there's much more involved than what you are allowed to 'see' in any of his programs.

Thankfully, it's difficult to find anyone with the knowledge or insight who would willingly give up another performers secrets openly, no matter how mis-guided or unrealistic someone else's perceptions may be.

MM

Thankfully, it's difficult to find anyone with the knowledge or insight who would willingly give up another performers secrets openly, no matter how mis-guided or unrealistic someone else's perceptions may be.

I'm glad this is the case actually...

Its trick of the mind, he is very good, although even I can pull off the levitation trick to some people, its all about how you position yourself, and hoist yourself up with one foot behind the other, it works, trust me

That one is really easy to pull off too. I can't remember, but he revealed most of his tricks like 5 or 6 years ago as a "masked man".

The Levitation he does is called the Balducci method,its quite well known now so I dont mind giving the name away.Its very easy to do and if positioned right looks great.
The masked magician was Valentino,not Blaine.

Really? I could've swore it was Blaine. Maybe you're right. It was also a hell of a long time ago so I might have mixed the names up. Thanks.

If you're looking for a magician, look harder. He's good, I grant, but Derren Brown truly is a god.

He sure is! Derren is F****NG AMAZING.

I think the masked magician explained some of Blaines tricks,maybe thats the link.

I think the reason they're not revealing the masked magician is because he's not anyone famouse. They're going to wait til they find someone famouse and THEN they'll unmask the famouse person.

^ I used to watch the masked magician, which was aired a few years ago. It wasn't because he was not famous that they didn't reveal his face. They didn't because of how wrong it is to reveal magicians secrets. And besides, he did take off his mask by the last episode.

The coin trick is really easy to understand. Especially when they tell you that it's a specially designed coin. Wonder what they did to it?
The levitation trick was pretty convincing, but I heard of another way it was done. It does make more sense as it seems like foot positioning wouldn't work for levitation that high. They said they used wires or something and have someone with the same clothes on as the spectater stand just slightly in front of the camra so it look like they're watching. If you look at it sometimes you can see how it would work.

They also stop and restart filming to get the scene they want. This was all disucssed on a discovery channel show about magicains secrets about 2-3 years ago.

Didn't hear about that. Did anyone see the documentary about a magician who was used in a war to hide tanks and stuff?

After viewing Clive Barkers Lord Of Illusions some time back the only conclusion that could be drawn is that David Blaine is an evil man who stole his magical powers from his master, who he proceeded to murder.

With his evil eye? Shazam!:w00t:

hahahaa

The Truth Is He is Just a Rubish...Nothing more than a trick...

He doesn't even believe in God....

Just Type David Blaine in Kazaa and all the Tricks/Tips will be revealed...

in the words of michael jackson, "David Blaine, your magic is real and I believe in you."

that quote is so funny, but i don't believe in the guy's magic.

Are you sure about him not believing in God. Someone said that he found God during frozen in time. While he goes seem to like to pretend that it's real I doubt he would fake something like that.

Everything that he does/do is fake...He use the word GOD to gain publicity...

You know what I am talking about...

The World is full of relegious..

i saw him float! it was wierd. he was in the middle of the street, and suddenly, he started floating. no harness or anything.

Balducci method and clever editing im afraid.

David Blaine's gotta be one of the finest magicians of all time. No doubt his stuff are not real magic, but just "magic", he's an entertainer by the way, so Graylady don't take it so harsh on him ok?

Well people, just remember one thing. This art is based on illusions, distractions, speed, and efficiency (oh I'm forgetting practice ). It's not difficult (some are even too simple that no one's able to figure them out). I'm a part-time card magician too, so I'm not gonna get too detailed on this. David's just very imaginative and innovative, at times disgusting too (heart-pull trick ).

Nooooooooo, Great entertainer ,crap magician.
He's pretty good with cards,(2 card monte,hindu shuffle,etc)but as a magician he's kinda lame.
All his tricks are copied and require no training or skill.
His shows look good because he picks simple but high impact tricks,he could never perform on stage for an hour or two because his catalogue of tricks isnt that big and cant be edited to make it look good.
Nearly all the tricks he performs can be bought at the local magic shop!
I think people are amazed by him as he's the only modern magician they know.
Excuse my rantings im just jealous as i think im better than Blaine and arent a multi millioniare,(yet)

Yeah, but he popularize the whole street magic thing, I wouldn't dare to confirm he's the first but certainly an icon in this magic genre because he brought in a whole new style and look towards magic. I agree, most of his stuff are coming from other greats (Card Through Glass-screen, Healed & Sealed Tin, Ambitious Card etc....), but it's his way, the people and the right kinda situation he uses those tricks that would (guarantee) freak them out (even the camera tricks in his levitations, if it wasn't for "whistleblowers", the home audience would still be like huh?), remember he did the arm-twist for a guy working in the hospital? "Healed" a tin can with the drink restored for a couple while they were having thier picnic? You know what I'm saying? He actually takes those tricks, and doubles or triples the effect according to the right moments and at times, adding his own innovations too. Street magic is not all about showing the miracle, you have to choose the right moments too. So yup, there are many more greats compared to David, but he's certainly one of them right now.

PS: MK, you do magic too? You're an expert? PM me......

out of all the magic tricks, i could never figuar how harry blackstone
made the rope clime out of the basket straight up in to the air.
then someone would then climb up the rope. anyone know what im talking a bout?

True,point taken.I guess he's the only magician I've ever known who's made such an impact and gets people talking about the art.He also brought street magic to people who before had no interest in magic so he's not all bad.
I must admit the first time I saw him perform healed and sealed I nearly(i did really ) wet my pants.
I saw him in his glass box hanging over the Thames and found it amazing,he was in there for over a month without food,only water.My mate threw a cheeseburger at him and he found it quite funny so he's not as serious as he makes out.

Same here man, up til now I'm still wondering how did he bashed his hand through the newspaper and glass to grab that watch for the lady. The camera angles were in a very nice view, yet....

Hello. This is my first post in here. I love this site. I've always been interested in unexplained mysteries.

I've been a professional magician for about 10 years now. I also have some tricks that I've invented on the market so if you ever go to a magic shop you might just see my name (Ron Jaxon).

Here's something many non-magicians don't realize. Every trick Blaine has done on his specials can be done by your average magician. He does them well so I'm not knocking him or anything. It's just that in all honesty he's an average magian. If you went to a magic convention you'll meet hundreds of magicians who can do all those tricks and more.

The one thing we magicians get annoyed about is the fact that because so many saw Blaine do his stuff on the TV specials, we often get requests to do the things he did. Why that's annoying to us is that there is so much more magic tricks out there that are so much better. The biting the coin is a very, very old trick. Probably over 50 years old. Many magicians saw this trick in magic books and just kind of turned the page to something else because one look at a picture told us how to do it. It uses one of the most commonly known gaffed coins out there. Now, it's a popular trick because it was seen on TV by so many people.

I won't give away the secrets but it's true that he did the Balducci levitation for the people on the TV specials then later edited in a rigged method. What it doesn't show is the many people he did the levitation for who caught how it was done. Or just didn't get as good a reaction. That's something we magicians have to deal with. Even the best tricks will only get a small reaction sometimes. It depends on the persons likes and dislikes. I've made myself float for people and they just went, "That's neat" but the same person went crazy over a simple trick with a rubber band or a coin. By the way, just do a google search for levitations. you'll find ones such as Fearsons Floatation, pocket levitator, The elevator, wild levitation, King Rising and many others. Just to many methods to name here.

Blaine got into the position to do on national TV what many magicians have been doing for years. It's a good thing because it's helped us get out of the black tux/white gloves/pulling rabbits out of the hat reputation and made known what more modern magic is like.

Personally, I like some of the tricks Blaine did, but I prefer a funnier performer. But that's an entirely different topic.

One more thing. Blaine has also changed the meaning of Street magic. What he did would have been called Close up magic before that. Traditionally a Street Magician was a busker. Many magicians who have gotten into it in the last 5 years or so tend to call themselves street magicians because they got interesteed after seeing Blaines Specials.

Ron Jaxon

I couldnt agree more Ron,welcome to U.M my fellow wizard friend.

I've just realised thats THE Ron Jaxon,he's kinda famous in the magic world.
Good luck with "outsmokin",it looks great,hope to see you round here and the magic cafe.

I think that some of the things are cliche card tricks, while the one with the card stuck to the window was pretty awesome

yeah,the one that gets me is when he got the card in the cops shoe,David doesn't even touch the shoe.The trick can be pulled off pretty easy if the magician removes the shoe but the cop does all the work and there is the pre selected card,(I cant remember if it was signed,I doubt it as this would be tooooo amazing! )

The card stuck through the window was probably done with a duplicate card already stuck to the window,(easy to do with the Svengali deck,so they can only choose a certain card, but the deck looks perfectly normal.)
The attention is focused on David until he throws the cards at the window,and theres the chosen card.
Card on ceiling can also be done this way.

If you happen to have the show on video. Watch it again and keep your eye on the other cop. His partner. Maybe he's a good cop but he's not a good actor. His face is a huge hint to the method.

Oh God! I pulled this one on two of my friends right after we saw some magic special, and they fell for it all bad. I had to explain it to them and everything. This trick is indeed all about the angle the person see the performer in.

Does anyone have any video clips of him doing some of his stuff?

If you really want to see some awesome David Blaine stuff, watch the South Park episode Super Best Friends. Not only does he attract thousands of people to his side, but he eats his own head!!

I always thought of David Blaine as an illusionist. I didn't think he did that stuff for real, I thought it was carefully planned 'tricks' with a couple of average actors to look surprised. They still are pretty cool tricks, real or not.

It's the same with Derren Brown that séance thing was a complete farce, but people were scared witless. I laughed the whole way through; it’s all in his name. Illusionist. None of it is real! It is all mind control, with him it is any way. He just has a clever way of fooling people. I bet he goes home after work and laughs himself to sleep.

Don't get me wrong dudes, you have to be clever to pull this stuff off!

Say it ain't so! My beautiful David Blaine was that horrible Masked Whistle Blower? Poop. I have a such a mad crush on this man, just because of the way the people in the street look at him when he pulls something off! Then again there is something mighty sexy about a mask..........

I LOVE magic. I've always been interested in it ever since i was a kid. I got loads of books on magic and everything, but kinda stopped during my teens. But oh well i still love it. I love the feelin you get when some one pulls of a sweet magic trick on you. You just sit there like .... damn.... i love it.

Some of David Blaine's stuff is pretty cool but some stuff is just.. eh.
Derren Brown on the other hand is BAD ass. I reckon he takes magic to another level. Some of the stuff he does is crazy. He incorporates every aspect of magic and puts it together into this crazy thing.

I'm pretty sure you people in the US of A dont get his stuff much. But if you ever get the chance to you should watch it, its mind boggling.

Anybody watch the one with the Zombies? Ethically a big no no but it was SO COOL.

He does some serious amazing stuff and its more to do with f***ing with your mind.

Hmmm. I didn't know that was him.

Nevermind. I should've read further

I agree. I like his demonstrations, but he's not the best by any means. It helps that I find him rather attractive.

Yea he is entertaining...I learned his tricks for about year ago and im training on other stuff. MagicJaxon welcome Do you mind if i add you on msn? I can PM you right now. And is there any other magician here? Would be wonderful to talk to "our" kind of people

I am a magician myself, I happen to meet david blaine, and he doesn't use the Balducci levitation much and he DOES NOT EDIT DIFFERENT TAPES TOGETHER TO MAKE IT LOOK REAL, me and him swapped some tricks, so now i know just about all his tricks, I also happen to meet Criss Angel, David Copperfield, PJ Webber, and a couple others, I am a pretty well known magician too.

I think he does.His levitation is always performed off the cuff,so he must be using the Balducci.He isnt using the elevator,King rising,Zero gravity etc as his angles and position of feet isnt correct.(no dodgy tying of shoelaces beforehand etc)
He must be attached to wires for some scenes then edited to make it look spontanious.I doubt he would admit to edits in his shows,but they are edited for effect.
Im a magician myself and its quite common knoledge he uses the Balducci method.Theres so much info on the net about how his tricks are achieved he's gonna have to do something amazing to get noticed in the future,as Criss Angels the new guy in town.(I dont really rate either as being great magicians though,not enough sleight and practiced skill,too showy and theatrical.)

I've watched David Blane's specials and when he does levitate, the camera man doesn't cover the angles. And sometimes you can't even see him totally leave the ground. David Blane is still a great magician.

yep.Props to Blaine,he is a great performer and kickstarted magic alot.
I think its good people are still talking about him and his levitation.Even though alot of his tricks are sold on ebay,exposed in TV shows,sold in shops etc.It still gets people interested in the great art of magic and can only help with advancing different methods and better magic!!! yippee
He's a great performer.I wonder what he'll do next.
I thought he was gonna jump off London Bridge,or that massive one in San Franscico i think? then suddenly(poof!).... appear on the top of a building somewhere.,I think Criss Angels peed on his fireworks with that one with "the bin trick",where hes covered with a Trashcan type Bin and then suddenly (poof!)... appears on top of a nearby building.
Old Blainey is gonna have to come up with something pretty darn amazing to blow our minds next time,but I hope he does,and soon.

Hey man, i've liked magic since forever but only really started getting into it like 6 months ago. if you wanna add me fine, but if not w/e.

and for the record i think that criss angel is better than blaine.