The "de-bunking" done of Blaine is ALWAYS "he's doing things off camera we don't see." That isn't really explaining anything. That is just really an assumption. ------------------ Time for a new cause.
See, to me the trick isn't having something show up on your arm or picking out cards or whatever. The trick is how he knows what people are thinking. Maybe he wrote a name in advance on his arm, but how did he KNOW what name? Maybe the best example is in one of his shows where he asked a woman on the street to think of someone and he just looked right at her. About 20 seconds later, a taxi cab with the word "Dawn" painted on the side drove by. That was the name of her friend. The trick wasn't painting the cab. The thing was how did he know he would meet this woman who had a friend named Dawn and that is the person she would be thinking of? There are too many random possibilities to guess the outcome and get it right. And, the logistics alone border on impossible. ------------------ Time for a new cause.
Actually, if they react surprised, then it can be post-production editing. Check out the link I posted earlier. ------------------ -------------- Did you know? Derrick Chievous sucked. It's true. -- from the ClutchCity.net "Did You Know" sidebar
In the debunking, he had the person write the name down. He then proceeded to take the piece of paper with the name on it and say something about it not being valid or something (I can't remember the exact excuse). He then ripped the piece of paper up and asked her to try again. What he didn't show was that the way he had torn the paper in such a way that he kept the name of the person on on sliver that was left over (if I recall correctly). He then went back to his position about 20 feet away and did the writing on his arm. Of course, at this point when the person writes the name down again, you hope that they pick the exact same person. My guess is most people will. I don't find these things as impressive since there's almost always some explanation for it. What I find most incredible are the tricks that allow the human body to do things that are incomprehensible to the layman. For example, being frozen in a block of ice for days or igniting paper with your bare hands. That's just COOL. ------------------ -------------- Did you know? Derrick Chievous sucked. It's true. -- from the ClutchCity.net "Did You Know" sidebar
Well, not all debunkings are just "he's doing something off camera we don't see". Here's one that goes into some detail about one trick: http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Stage/7308/balducci.html Also, just doing a web search for "David Blaine" will bring up tons of magic shop sites selling what they say are the same tricks as well as sometimes some descriptions of how to do the tricks or books explaining them. I'm sure Mr. Blaine has put his own spin on these and developed some of his own tricks. But I suspect that with a little research and practice, you too could become an amazing street magician. ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page [This message has been edited by mrpaige (edited November 28, 2000).]
sure...fancy street magic...but how about this internet magic for my 3000ths post. I shall do the impossible and elevate my post above all other posts. <a href="http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000026.html">Post Levitation by heypartner</a> [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 29, 2000).]
I imagine you'll need more than just a "little" practice to do what David Blaine does. I think he's great, even with post-editting and whatnot. The fact is that HE REALLY GOT THOSE REACTIONS, you know? Even if it wasn't on the same trick. I think his best tricks are the card tricks. Of course, they don't show the mistakes on the TV specials, but they're good nonetheless. I think the challenge is to try and figure out for yourself how it's done. That's what I like. If you happen to have taped the Street Magic special, you'll notice that the same card that is selected by various participants over and over again. Slight-of-hand artists have a way of making you select the card they want you to. For example, when flipping through a deck, they'll go real fast, then slow down very slightly on the card they want you to pick, then speed up until it's done. Of course, your mind focuses on the card that was seen the longest. If you ever get a chance to participate, screw with the guy and pick a card you didn't see. Mad fun! ------------------ "We end up with Francis/Mobley isolations very often. More often, I'd say, then other teams." -- jamcracker
Yeah, I saw those Fox magic specials so I know how he does the levitation and name on the arm tricks. I'd still like to know how he did the card inside the glass or the card in the beer bottle tricks. Somebody earlier asked how he got the shirt. He had it tied around his waist when he went in. Also, I'm sure you didn't need to know this, but he has heated underpants on to keep his sensitive areas in good working condition. On another note. Yesterday, a production assistant who was cleaning the melted ice accidently vaccumed his catheter. OUCH! ------------------ "Play that funky music white boy." Six West Texansnet.com
Man, he didn't look good coming out of that ice block. Gotta catch Good Morning America tomorrow to see what happened. The three tricks that freaked me out were: 1. Bringing the pigeon back from the dead. Man, that was just wrong! 2. The image of the guy's girlfriend tatooed on his stomach. How the hell? 3. The ring that fell down in the gutter and ended up in the bottle like 10 feet away and they had to break the damn bottle just to get it out. Totally freaky. ------------------ Mmmmmmm. Sacrelicious.
Hey Jeff, the one with the card being stuck in the middle of the basketball was pretty good too. This guy is just awesome in every sense of the word! ------------------
I had no idea who this guy was until I saw this topic. I didn't read the topic until today and now I've seen the TV special, found a website or two and if you ask me, this guy is pretty wacky. The bird thing, the tattoo burn a hole in my shirt trick... Anyway.. the ice thing...I'll say I was a bit baffled by his latest stunt. But man, he didn't look to hot (no pun intended) after having to squeeze through that tiny hole they cut for him. Sheez, especially after having your catheter pulled out! OUCH>>>>> And could the dude with the chainsaw work a little freakin' faster? No official news since he was taken away by ambulance, but the word shock was thrown around. I would've treated this whole thing as an emergency situation and made sure that he was ok sooner..It seemed like the doctor was no where around when he came out?! I'm interested to know what the "official" word is... I hear his next stunt will be "jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge"??? Into the water? whatever... rockHEAD ------------------ *** THIS SPACE FOR LEASE ***
He did actually do a show detailing how he pulled off the tricks shown on Fox. Aside from the typical sleight of hand tricks, almost every one involved the participation of the trickee. The rest were trial and error, with (of course) the successful attempts making it to air. The levitation trick is accomplished by standing at the proper angle relative to the audience, and standing on the toes of one foot.
I watched the special and was entertained. But you gotta love this quote from Penn of Penn & Teller. Even if it's sounds like sour grapes cuz he didn't think of it first, the quote is pretty funny: Copyright 2000 Guardian Newspapers Limited The Guardian (London) November 30, 2000 SECTION: Guardian Foreign Pages, Pg. 18 ... Other members of the magic trade were not over-impressed, either. "Pumping hot air into a phone booth and putting ice around it, and standing around without a thought in your head, isn't a trick," said Penn Jillette of the Penn & Teller act. "The hardest part of this trick is being in there and looking good without a shirt on." By the way, I read some reports that ABC paid him a million bucks for the stunt. ------------------
I think they are just pissed off because he has stole their thunder,hell he has stolen everyones thunder! He is the best at what he does and he is the MAN! Now Jeff if someone had the ability to bring life back wouldnt you think they would be doing something else with thier gifts than puting on TV shows? Still I have no idea how he did the bird thing or most of his other tricks but all I can say is I dont care I love it! ------------------ President of the why in the Hell isnt Langhi playing club!!!
David Blaine may of been in ice for 58 hours but David Copperfield was engaged to Claudia Schiffer for 5 years, now thats an amazing trick. ------------------ Ceo of the Walt Williams fan club. Web site coming soon atheistalliance.org
