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Posted: 11/7/2001 8:48:34 AM EDT
Saw this show late last night on TLC. It was one of the coolest things I've EVER seen.

This low-key dude is a master illusionist. Walks around on the street showing people tricks. No celebrities (except a short couple bits with Leo DiCaprio), no showgirls, no flashpots. Just good ol' fashioned mind-boggling illusions.

This guy even levitated 8 inches off the ground, ON CAMERA! It was just F-ing amazing.

Some of the unbelievable card tricks he does will challenge your belief in physics.

Two of the most stunning examples...

David is sitting across a table from a little girl, in between the little girl and he is the little girl's mom. Little girl picks a card from a (new, unwrapped on camera) deck and David shuffles the cards back together.

David does his mojo and asks the girl. "Have I touched you at all? Anywhere?" (He's four feet away with mom and a table in between) The little girl replies "no". David says "Check your back pocket". Sure as hell, the little girl's card is in the back pocket. Unreal.

The other one, another deck of cards. Guy pulls a card, shows it to the camera, but not to David. Puts the card back in the deck. David THROWS the deck at a storefront window where they are standing. The guys card sticks, FACING THEM, from the OTHER SIDE OF THE GLASS!

I shoulda taped this. D.

Link Posted: 11/7/2001 8:56:21 AM EDT
[#1]
I've watched that twice, he is amazing.  He's got to be one of the best card trick magicians I've ever seen.  I'll bet he could have made a bad ass pickpocket.
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 9:17:37 AM EDT
[#2]
I figured out the storefront card trick but the other stuff is too complex for me. at first I thought he was levitating by tip toeing with one foot and a bottomless shoe but a different camera angle blew that theory.

The store front trick used an accomplice in the store that saw the card that the mark pulled. then from another deck quickley selected a duplicate , licked it and stuck it on the window, then stepped away. My guess.
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 9:36:11 AM EDT
[#3]
Yeah, David Blaine makes Copperfield look like a mommy's boy.  His magic tricks are way out there!
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 9:47:15 AM EDT
[#4]
As for the levitation, have you noticed that he always makes the people stand directly behind him when they are watching?  It's because he uses stilts to boost himself up, and the stilts are designed to be very thin, and hard to see from behind.  Look at a 3.5" floppy disk, and turn it sideways- he puts the people further away and behind him so they can't see the stilts.  


     He is talented, but doesn't have any magical or mystical powers.  Keep in mind that he doesn't always work alone, and may have other assistants that are helping him.  just my .02 about this guy.
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 9:49:49 AM EDT
[#5]
I saw that lasat noc too. Man, is he good. Actually caught the part of the show with the levitation trick - impressive![shock]
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 9:54:28 AM EDT
[#6]
Quoted:
I figured out the storefront card trick but the other stuff is too complex for me. at first I thought he was levitating by tip toeing with one foot and a bottomless shoe but a different camera angle blew that theory.
View Quote


That is how he "levitates".  Notice how he has the viewers crowd together "to catch him" if he falls.  He also keeps looking at them to gauge their viewing perspective and distance to make sure they don't see how it's done (his other foot pushing himself up).  Also, the cutaway shot of his lower body with feet was reshot for the show later using some "extra help".  What you saw on the show of his feet and what the people on the street saw are two completey different filmed events.  

If you've ever seen the technique in person it is pretty cool if done correctly but not as amazing as the "fixed" 8" levitation shot of course.

This is what it really looks like:
[url]http://www.easymagic.com/float.htm[/url]
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 9:59:41 AM EDT
[#7]
Quoted:
The store front trick used an accomplice in the store that saw the card that the mark pulled. then from another deck quickley selected a duplicate , licked it and stuck it on the window, then stepped away. My guess.
View Quote


Nope...Thats not how he does it. I don't know how it is done, but I saw him once on a talk show (Oprah?) and he did the same trick. However, since they were on a talk show the window was actually a big piece of plexiglass stood up on the middle of the stage with NOBODY around. He got the deck, threw it and the card was stuck to the opposite side. Its a really amazing trick and I wish I wouldn't have missed it last night. I did catch the levitation part at the end though.

Michael
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 10:01:38 AM EDT
[#8]
David Blaine is awesome. One of the best slight of hand magicians out there. He had a TV special a while back where he did magic tricks all over the world. When he performed his illusions in Haiti, the local people got really freaked out and started to flee in panic. They thought he was a Black Magic Voodoo Priest coming to steal their souls or something. It was one of the funniest things that I've seen.
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 10:03:53 AM EDT
[#9]
He's a fake, like most "street magicians". He is entertaining, though.

With practice you can fool people into thinking you're levitating too. I've gottan a couple people pretty good.[:)]
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 10:14:21 AM EDT
[#10]
Nope

He is a ex street punk con artist/pickpocket so thats where half of his crap comes from. He admitted himself he used to take watches to support his mom

As far as the levitation, check out the balducci (sp?) teqnique or something like it? There are a few interesting web sites explaining what he does.

Also the show "cuts" away etc. The method mentioned can definatly look real, but not as good as he does it. There are accounts of him being put into a rigging harness to get good shots for the camera etc.

His card tricks are good though, but I wonder how much of that is camera work too?

Later

IAJack
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 3:04:02 PM EDT
[#11]
Not Blaine, but...

I got picked from the audience to go on stage and verify Penn & Teller's double bullet catch trick. Beats the he!! out of me how they do it, and yes they've got all the sneaky bases covered. At least I now know that they don't use "plants" for the trick.

Details at http://www.donath.org/Rants/PennTellerBulletTrick
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 3:17:25 PM EDT
[#12]
He's the DEVILLLL!

Waterdog
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 3:40:52 PM EDT
[#13]
Blaine kicks ass. I saw him on ABC last year and he just blew me away. Coolest magician i've ever seen, by far.
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 3:49:02 PM EDT
[#14]
In an interview with him he said that he got interested in magic when he was a kid and he learned how to do most of his tricks from going to the library and reading books on magic.

I guess he is making a ton of cash now. Must be nice to have a job like that...

Michael
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 4:32:50 PM EDT
[#15]
Saw it last night as well, good show. I wonder how many chicks you could pick up doing tricks like that [:D]
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 4:57:05 PM EDT
[#16]
I'm not fascinated by his "magic" tricks, but by the fact that he is engaged to the hottest piece of ass around today; Josie Maran. What a son of a...

[img]http://maximonline.com/girls/josie_maran/gm_l3.jpg[/img]
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 5:00:21 PM EDT
[#17]
Quoted:
He's a fake, like most "street magicians".




Ok, what the hell are you talking about? Isn't every magician out there a fake? Do you actually know any magician who has mystical powers?

I bet not.

Yes of course there's a trick to everything he does. I don't think anybody here ACTUALLY thinks he can levitate. Or thinks he can ACTUALLY read somebody's mind. But he's awfully good at what he does.

And here's the key. People like him because he doesn't do all his tricks on stage with lot's of smoke, and tigers, and women in dresses, and lights, and what have you. David Copperfield is a bore to watch. It's alot like Zigfried and Roy show.

It's street magic. Which is alot more fun to watch, especially with David Blane doing it.

If anything, Copperfield is even more of a fake. Having to rely on ALOT more props, camera angles, and things behind the scene. I'd like to see him do some of his stuff on the fly.

Link Posted: 11/7/2001 9:47:32 PM EDT
[#18]
Quoted:


Ok, what the hell are you talking about? Isn't every magician out there a fake?
View Quote
Nope, just 99% or so.
Do you actually know any magician who has mystical powers?
View Quote
Not anymore. I no longer associate with those types of people.


The reason I refer to him as a fake, is that a lot of his tricks are "spruced up" post production. Like coming back to the scene to film more footage while nobody's around, and claiming there's no camera tricks.


I said he's entertaining.
entertaining? YES.
Real magic? NO.

Link Posted: 11/7/2001 9:57:19 PM EDT
[#19]
I am usually bored by magicians, but that dude rocks.  Some of his tricks are just too unreal. The one where he turned a cup of water into coins with the guy holding it is unbelievable.
Link Posted: 11/7/2001 9:58:59 PM EDT
[#20]
He also got Fiona Apple, which I think is one of the hottest pieces of ass around.
tony
Link Posted: 11/8/2001 7:08:34 AM EDT
[#21]
fake or not he is going to learn the price for practicing or prentending to practice the black arts is not so fake, when he is sent straight to hell.
Link Posted: 11/8/2001 7:35:54 AM EDT
[#22]
He was the guy that was frozen in ice in NY for 3 days.  When he levitates he is lifting himself with one foot, and gets at an angle so you can't see it lifting him.  On TV, when they show him levitate like 8-10 inches, it is a camera trick where he is actually being lifted by a device, and then they show a crowd reaction from another trick.  When he is lifted that high, you never see the crowd and him at the same time.

He is very impressive though!
Link Posted: 11/8/2001 7:44:21 AM EDT
[#23]
Treetop,
Real magic?  Please.  May I commend you to Houdini and the amazing Randi?  There is no "real" magic, only trickery.
Link Posted: 11/8/2001 8:38:03 AM EDT
[#24]
Hey guys, ya can't argue with Treetop on this. Hes even spooked by ouija boards. Something scared him so bad he won't even relate the story here, so we all can learn from it.
Link Posted: 11/8/2001 10:33:51 AM EDT
[#25]
Quoted:
fake or not he is going to learn the price for practicing or prentending to practice the black arts is not so fake, when he is sent straight to hell.
View Quote


LOL! Is that you, Garandman's real daddy?

D.
Link Posted: 11/8/2001 10:45:41 AM EDT
[#26]
Quoted:
Hey guys, ya can't argue with Treetop on this. Hes even spooked by ouija boards. Something scared him so bad he won't even relate the story here, so we all can learn from it.
View Quote

Flaming Ouija Boards...???
Link Posted: 11/8/2001 5:30:22 PM EDT
[#27]
I'm not "spooked" by ouija boards, witchcraft, spirits, or the supernatural.

I just have a great deal of respect for the unknown, like having respect for fire or natural disasters. The unpredictableness of a strong force intrigues me, but I can't allow myself to give in to every thing I'm drawn towards.
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