Magic shows coming up....

Thanks for the reminder about te show tonight. I'd forgotten about it.

 

These shows remind me why I don't like the "event" magic tricks -- it's all engineering. While I respect the the creativity of the designers, the tricks hold no appeal for me.

Slight-of-hand, card-tricks, and other more personal magic tricks are much more fun! Perhaps they'll do a "hot-they-do-it" show of fun slight-of-hand tricks.

And is David Blaine trying to become the next Houdini? His recent ice-block trick and the Vertigo thing harken back to Houdini's physically-dangerous "shows".

As for the explanation of the trapped-in-ice trick: Didn't Blaine do it outside (on the street), without a mask or other head covering? If so, they the explanation on the show doesn't seem to make sense. Unless, of course, Blaine got permission to dig holes in NYC sidewalks; in which case, there are public records of it. And without the mask, the assisstant-doppleganger is less plausible. Any thoughts?

 

I missed the Masked Magician show last night. What was the "trick" to Blaine's ice stunt?

I saw Blaine do his ice stunt and he wasn't wearing a mask. The ice was up on a platform. He started out with just pants on. They wired him up with electrodes and he stepped into the ice "chamber." Part way through he put on a sweat shirt because his body temperature was dropping.

I don't really see how difficult it could have been. Water is an insulator, so it would actually be much warmer in there then it looked. Also, his body heat was causing the ice to melt from the inside and the cavity got much larger over the length of the stunt. The only difficult part would be to stay standing for such a long period of time.

It's possible that he could have been switched out from underneath without anybody noticing because you couldn't really see clearly through the ice. And he remained still enough that a dummy could have been slipped in and out.

 

The trick, according to the masked magician, was having the ice block set above a hidden compartment. When no one is looking he would switch with his look-alike assistant. The vital signs are coming from an external source.
I figured that Blaine just used meditation techniques to slow his heart-rate and breathing (and appetite); and as Bill said, the air in the block would be above freezing (thought not warm).
I've only watched a few bits of the MM, and I've no idea if his other stuff was indicative of professional magicians. But the ice-block thing was obviously meant to explain how Blaine did it (has anyone else done this stunt in the past few years?). And it seemed obviously wrong, but I could be mistaken.
I'd like know how Blaine does some of his card tricks

 

Thanks for the tip re: 'Vertigo'. I won't miss it.

 

I must be missing something here - why was the David Blaine block of ice trick all that special? The inside of an ice block is potentially warm (think of igloos) and the only remarkable feat was standing upright for a long period of time (but this isn't all *that* difficult). Altering your biofeedback can be easily faked (the signals, as someone else has noted, can be coming from someone else or can be altered through meditative techniques).

I'd much sooner know the secrets of the magic kettle or that amazing lightbulb floating over the audience.

 

I want to know how he levitates on the street.

 

> I want to know how he levitates on the street.

By carefully balancing on a few toes.

 

There was a thread in After hours about David Blaine with discussion about the Levitation.
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...ghlight=blaine
Basically, the trick he shows people on the street is blancing on the toes of one foot at an angle so you can't see the toes.
The one he shows us for TV uses a harness, and they edit in the reactions from the other trick.
So my tape last night switched over to tape Amazing Race just as they were getting to the double switching in. Can someone explain what was left... or perhaps the whole thing to those that were asking.