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How is this magic done???

And remember that Google also has a lot of nonsense and lies. You won't believe how many secrets I've seen from some websites that are very far from the truth.

Google can be your friend and it can also be that annoying neighbor that you always try to avoid. ;)
 
firecoins said:
I am still impressed that a magician has beatiful women dancing in his show. Once that happens, I am not interested in the magic.
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Me too but alas I think their purpose is most to distract us while props etc are put into place/switched etc without us noticing.

-
 
Rrose Selavy said:
His Death Saw illusion was voted best trick by Members of the Magic Circle in a Tv prog a few years back -


[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9U3pZFPNcc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9U3pZFPNcc[/URL]
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Absolutely amazing!!
There's just nowhere he could hide his body when the two pieces were separated and brought to the center of the stage.

And to think that the guy in the Shaman performing levitation thread was impressed over someone levitating a foot up in the air. Copperfield outdoes him with no comparison.

BTW, do check out that thread:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91751

Regards,
Yair
 
I think it's kinda obvious how the Death Saw is accomplished, but I really like his presentation there. It's pretty clever that he made it seem like a failed escape, as it keeps it more dramatic than just cutting himslf for no reason. For a few seconds some people in the audience might even think he could be dead and that it was a real accident!
 
As a non magician the saw is not obvious to me - but that folding box that he covers his body with at the beginning and end sure rings alarm bells - I think is the key ?- now if he could it without it - that would be something.-
 
I must have a blind spot. The death saw is well done but, to me as to others, very obvious.

The laser, though, I can't get...
 
Garrette said:
I must have a blind spot. The death saw is well done but, to me as to others, very obvious.

The laser, though, I can't get...
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I have figured out the laser by looking at other people's videos on youtube doing the same magic only not as good so you can figure it out.

The death saw I don't get. Where does he hide his body?? and how can he be seperated feet from head and then be put back together again with his feet staying in the same position but now it's his feet and not somebody else's?

Regards,
Yair
 
Okay, I've got the David Copperfield (and more amateurish youtube versions) figured out. As has been said, the idea is actually simple but constructing it without the exact pattern might be a bit difficult. Except my mother is, among other things, a professional seamstress. I might be able to convince her...

The other version, though (Andrew Mayne?), is still more impressive, I think, though I think a serious presentation would work better. I might have to work on a Bizarre bit for the upcoming Halloween spookiness.
 
GroundStrength said:
Amature youtube magicians are the worst thing to happen to magic in quite some time.
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Perhaps in the short term. In the long term, I see it as a net gain.

More people will know how some effects are achieved than before, but as a percentage of the population, I doubt the change will be significant. Most people don't search out magic tricks on youtube. Of those who do, I wager very few can use them to determine the method. Of those who do, I wager very few broadcast the info to others. Of those who do, I wager they reach a vanishingly small audience.

I imagine there was consternation amongst conjuror's over Gutenberg's little invention, too, but the profession seems to have survived.
 
GroundStrength said:
Amature youtube magicians are the worst thing to happen to magic in quite some time.
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I don't think so. If anything, they might just push the professionals to get even better.

There have been many books exposing the secrets of tricks, there have been television programmes (the "masked magician", for instance), all sorts of information is easily available on the Internet and there are loads of tricks that anybody can buy (having the technique and the presentation skills to actually do them properly is another matter).

All this hasn't affected the popularity of magic shows. I guess that many people are like me: part of the fun of seeing a magic trick is trying to work out how it's done. If I can work it out, or find the answer somewhere, it in no way diminishes my enjoyment. In fact, it usually increases it.

I'm confident that I have figured out both the Copperfield illusions mentioned in this thread. It certainly helps that David is very slim and supple. I particularly like the death saw one, where the cutting in half is presented as a surprise. The idea that he reverses time to put himself together again is simply brilliant.
 
You can see a very poor quality video of Steve Fearson doing the original version of the trick here.

Mr. Fearson is not as slim as Mr. Copperfield. Mr. Fearson is not so physically fit as Mr. Copperfield. Mr. Fearson does not have as much control over the cameras and audience angles. Mr. Fearson does not have a laser, nor does he have dancing girls.

In other words, you might very well be able to figure this one out.
 
I know about this gimmick, but Copperfield seems to push it to levels that I would think impossible. One might say "I know how the trick is done, but I don't know HOW it's done."

For starters it's extremely angle sensitive. Does Copperfield only rent out the seats directly in front of the stage?

Next, maybe the hardest part for me to figure out about this trick, is the ending when he becomes whole again. Does he...um, just "walk off the stage?" I think this trick concludes with what magicians would call "ending dirty", in my mind, the "clean-up" is almost as fascinating as the main effect. Of course on stage you can always just cut the lights or drop a curtain if you really have to.
 
Unalienable said:
For starters it's extremely angle sensitive. Does Copperfield only rent out the seats directly in front of the stage?
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No. At $60-$100 (or more) per seat, even Copperfield wouldn't cut out a few hundred seats for the sake of one trick.

Unalienable said:
Next, maybe the hardest part for me to figure out about this trick, is the ending when he becomes whole again. Does he...um, just "walk off the stage?"
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It's been about 12 years since I saw him do it live, but I believe the stage went dark at the end of the trick.
 
GroundStrength said:
Amature youtube magicians are the worst thing to happen to magic in quite some time.
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I was watching a card trick on Youtube and the performer messed up halfway through made his excuses and carried on. The only thing he was performing in front of was his video camera. I have no idea why he did not start over from scratch.

Amature magicians are the funniest thing to happen to youtube in quite some time.
 
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