David Blaine

[tnf]

Just watched an old rerun of one of his street magic shows. A-Fucking-mazing. Some of his sleight of hand card tricks defy all attempts at explanation, at least for me. Has he done anything lately since his little living in the box stunt?

[bitWISE]

I heard that most of his shit is staged and edited.

[tnf]

then thats some pretty good editing as far as his card tricks go. I'm not talking his big stuff, I'm talking the little shit he does with a deck of cards. Its nuts.

And who did you hear that from? I'm curious as to who you know that is really "in the know" about what Blaine does...I'd like to hear some explanations for some of his tricks.

[bitWISE]

then thats some pretty good editing as far as his card tricks go. I'm not talking his big stuff, I'm talking the little shit he does with a deck of cards. Its nuts.

And who did you hear that from? I'm curious as to who you know that is really "in the know" about what Blaine does...I'd like to hear some explanations for some of his tricks.

I don't remember but I thought it was on here.

[[xeno]Julios]

yea i've read in numerous places that the shit is heavily edited.

In one example (levitation), they showed the audience reacting to one angle of levitation, even though that reaction was in response to another angle.

(too complicated to explain properly and i can't remember details, but the point is that it really misleads tv audiences)

also consider that you only see the card tricks that work - i'm sure that many of the "trials" don't work, as they are simply based on the idea that people will usually choose certain cards.

[[xeno]Julios]

http://www.quake3world.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4468

[Chupacabra]

also consider that you only see the card tricks that work - i'm sure that many of the "trials" don't work, as they are simply based on the idea that people will usually choose certain cards.

hm...i doubt that. i think its pretty systematic.

[tnf]

The one where he has the guy write his name on the card isn't based on the assumption he will choose a certain card. The guy is good. The levitation trick, from what I can tell, really requires the viewers to be at a certain location. He always has them get clumped together right behind him at a certain distance and angle....
Regardless, he's really fucking good. And I'm not buying the idea that every trick is just the result of good camera work and editing.

[[xeno]Julios]

also consider that you only see the card tricks that work - i'm sure that many of the "trials" don't work, as they are simply based on the idea that people will usually choose certain cards.

hm...i doubt that. i think its pretty systematic.

i remember reading a pdf that explains a lot of the tricks. There are certain numbers and cards that people tend to pick.

I've read, for instance, that if you ask someone to pick a random even number between 50 and 100, with different digits, they'll pick 68.

some stuff here:

http://goodtricks.net/mental_magic.html

not sure how legit these ideas are, but i wouldn't be surprised if he incorporates them into some of his tricks.

A lot of his tricks also use assistants and elaborate gadgets. Not my idea of good magic.

I hold a lot more respect for mentalists like Derren Brown, who are pretty open and honest about the fact that they aren't performing "magic".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown

http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/t ... index.html

[[xeno]Julios]

The levitation trick, from what I can tell, really requires the viewers to be at a certain location. He always has them get clumped together right behind him at a certain distance and angle....
Regardless, he's really fucking good. And I'm not buying the idea that every trick is just the result of good camera work and editing.

Yeah the levitation trick is optical illusion, but Blaine improved it by levitating higher.

...by doing a crane-assisted wire levitation and then editing it into his video days or weeks later lol. If you were there at the time he only got 6 inches off the ground or less using the Balducci method or with a device concealed in the sole of the shoe

They should call his videos David Blaine's editing room special.

Been reading up on Blaine since I first saw his vids and I also have alot of friends into magic, so I love exposing how he does this stuff to hopefully avert more "Blainetology"

[tnf]

Thanks. But I think the levitation is the least impressive. The card tricks are sleight of hand I am sure, and that's the stuff that I find most impressive.

[[xeno]Julios]

oh my good god, tnf, i just noticed the true horror of your sig - i never watched the whole animation - just assumed it was a small loop of some guy typing away.

[eepberries]

Yeah I love his sig, hahaha

[tnf]

oh my good god, tnf, i just noticed the true horror of your sig - i never watched the whole animation - just assumed it was a small loop of some guy typing away.

GKY found it. He deserves all the credit.

[Canis]

I heard that most of his shit is staged and edited.

I've thought that, but have never heard of a credible claim for that...

[Chupacabra]

also consider that you only see the card tricks that work - i'm sure that many of the "trials" don't work, as they are simply based on the idea that people will usually choose certain cards.

hm...i doubt that. i think its pretty systematic.

i remember reading a pdf that explains a lot of the tricks. There are certain numbers and cards that people tend to pick.

I've read, for instance, that if you ask someone to pick a random even number between 50 and 100, with different digits, they'll pick 68.

some stuff here:

http://goodtricks.net/mental_magic.html

not sure how legit these ideas are, but i wouldn't be surprised if he incorporates them into some of his tricks.

A lot of his tricks also use assistants and elaborate gadgets. Not my idea of good magic.

I hold a lot more respect for mentalists like Derren Brown, who are pretty open and honest about the fact that they aren't performing "magic".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown

http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/t ... index.html

one of my previous roommates use to be a magician. he had some amazing tricks and they werent "guessing" games. watch for the hand--its fast.

a lot of the tricks magicians including blaine do are blind picks. its not like picking a number you think of between 50 and 100. its more like picking a random number between 50 and 100 and you cant see it til after you pick (usually with a bystander or camera being shown that the deck is legit)

[MaCaBr3]

Japanese version of David Blaine.

WA DA FAK!

http://media.skoopy.com/vids/vid_00668.wmv

[[xeno]Julios]

a lot of the tricks magicians including blaine do are blind picks. its not like picking a number you think of between 50 and 100. its more like picking a random number between 50 and 100 and you cant see it til after you pick (usually with a bystander or camera being shown that the deck is legit)

i don't follow the meaning here. Are you explaining how the trick is done? Or how it's a cheap trick?

are you talking about a card trick or a random number trick?

i'm thoroughly confused

[StormShadow]

There was a show on fox a while back that had this masked magician who 'exposed' all of these magic tricks - many of which were seen on the David Blaine special. As stated before many of these tricks require assistants and are heavilly edited.

Most of Blaines current stunts (buried alive for 30 days, trapped under ice for a week, etc) are really fucking stupid. Someone should shoot him.

[CrinklyArse]

There was a show on fox a while back that had this masked magician who 'exposed' all of these magic tricks - many of which were seen on the David Blaine special. As stated before many of these tricks require assistants and are heavilly edited.

yeah i may have seen these, wasnt he banned from the magic circle for exposing there secrets or something when he revealed himself?

[Eraser]

How do you "expose" an illusionists tricks? I mean, he's an illusionist, not a magician. He creates illusions. He makes you see things that aren't there. It's all a trick. Yes, it's tricks. He isn't really floating with his levitation tricks. Wow, what a revelation is it when someone tells me it's fake. Ofcourse it's fake. The man can't fly. They're illusions. That's the whole point of it.

The impressive part isn't in the fact that this man could fly, it's in the way the whole thing is stages. Making good use of optical and technical tricks or sometimes complex mathemetics, Blaine makes it look like he's flying. And the whole way it's done, that's the impressive part.

[StormShadow]

There was a show on fox a while back that had this masked magician who 'exposed' all of these magic tricks - many of which were seen on the David Blaine special. As stated before many of these tricks require assistants and are heavilly edited.

yeah i may have seen these, wasnt he banned from the magic circle for exposing there secrets or something when he revealed himself?

Yeah, he was ostrecized. Depite being masked, every magician instantly recognized him by his style and his body language.

How do you "expose" an illusionists tricks?

You tell people how he did them?

[StormShadow]

maybe i should have used the word 'revealed'..

[CrinklyArse]

Yeah, he was ostrecized. Depite being masked, every magician instantly recognized him by his style and his body language.

on the one i watched he revealed himself. kinda helped them work out who he was.

[tnf]

Again, I don't care about the big illusion stuff - impressive as it is - I am talking about how good David Blaine is with sleight of hand tricks right in front of folks. You've got to have some serious skills to pull off what he does with a deck of cards.