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Magic tricks

Abstract

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
Dec 27, 2002
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Can someone explain some of them here? I mean.....can you "reveal" the secrets?

I just saw a magic show on TV, and it was absolutely amazing. I've seen these sort of tricks before, but they still amaze me. Is it all trap doors and such, or are there other things involved? I mean, cutting a person in half, for example. When the "assistant" gets into the box, does she/he just crawl up into a little ball and move to one half of the box so that she/he avoids the saw, or is there something else to it that I don't know about?

What about the rest? Floating? Being on stage one second, and then on a balcony with the audience after only several seconds. :confused:
 
Magic spoilers...

highlight next to 'answer' and all will be revealed, just like magic...

Abstract said:
When the "assistant" gets into the box, does she/he just crawl up into a little ball and move to one half of the box
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Answer: YES

Abstract said:
Being on stage one second, and then on a balcony with the audience after only several seconds. :confused:
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Answer: TWINS
 
Abstract said:
I've seen these sort of tricks before
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Not tricks, Abstract, illusions. A trick is something that a whore does for money... or cocaine!

By the way, iAlan explained (or, confirmed) only part of how the sawing a woman in half illusion works. Usually when this illusion is performed, you see the woman's toes down there at the other end of the box, wiggling around or whatever. And one way they pull that off is: to have the box sitting on top of a platform that contains yet another accomplice. That person slides their legs up through a door in the lower half of the box and stick their feet out the feet holes. So in other words, the audience is seeing the upper half of one person, but the lower half (legs/feet) of someone else.
 
I do mostly coin and card tricks - close up magic.

I saw David Copperfield live a few years ago. I knew how he did almost every one of his tricks. (I am still stumped on one of them, though.) What amazed me was how fast the tricks were preformed. In otherwords, how did he do that that fast!

In most cases with magic tricks, if I showed you how they were done you would slap yourself for how simple they are and all the wonder and mystery of seeing a magic show whould be gone....
 
ejb190 said:
I do mostly coin and card tricks - close up magic.
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I'm always much more impressed with "close up" magic than larger scale tricks and illusions. Being able to misdirect your audience's attention (a key in any kind of magic) is a natural talent that you either have, or you don't (and I don't).
 
I used to do sleight of hand and card tricks. Up close magic is a lot more personal and "magical" if you ask me. David Copperfield's illusions are amazing, I give him that- the speed and slickness of them - but he uses so many elaborate props, and I know how he does pretty much all of his big tricks. Still fun to watch though of course. :cool:
 
I had a boyfriend who could do magic tricks. The sleigh of hand types, pulling coins out of odd places and doing card tricks. He showed me how a few of them worked but it still amazed me when you realised how quickly he could do them and mislead people.
 
I once read about a magician in the early part of the 20th century who sawed a woman in half without a box! Just laid her on a table and sawed her in half...
Wish I knew how he did that one. I can't remember who it was or anything else about it, though. It was a long time ago that I read this.
 
My dad got me a magic kit so I'd always be the aunt who's doing magic tricks.

I'm HORRIBLE at them.
It's not funny how bad I am.


"WAS THIS YOUR CARD??"
"No... idiot."
:(

I saw that TV show that explained them all. It made me feel SO STUPID. :(
 
Stampyhead said:
I once read about a magician in the early part of the 20th century who sawed a woman in half without a box! Just laid her on a table and sawed her in half...
Wish I knew how he did that one. I can't remember who it was or anything else about it, though. It was a long time ago that I read this.
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I think the term you're looking for is "murderer", not "magician". Bit of a difference there. :cool:
 
Most magic tricks - especailly David Copperfield's scale of tricks are done way before you know what's up - the trickery is usually earlier in the illusion than anyone woudl suspect. Helps create the mystery.

As a general principal - if you want to figure out a magic trick - look for things that happened before you knew where it was going - it is likely a switch was made then, or similiar!
 
ibook30 said:
As a general principal - if you want to figure out a magic trick - look for things that happened before you knew where it was going - it is likely a switch was made then, or similiar!
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Also, looked for forced prespectives or props that just don't look right. Some magicians are really good actors - and it is the acting that sells the trick!
 
ibook30 said:
Most magic tricks - especailly David Copperfield's scale of tricks are done way before you know what's up - the trickery is usually earlier in the illusion than anyone woudl suspect. Helps create the mystery.

As a general principal - if you want to figure out a magic trick - look for things that happened before you knew where it was going - it is likely a switch was made then, or similiar!
Click to expand...

Yep, good advice. The art of misdirection is a powerful one, and always keep in mind that everything is done on purpose - everything has a reason. Even the most trivial hand movement, flip of a box "for show" or "drama" has its purpose. :cool:
 
A former science teacher of mine is a magician, and usually I can figure out his tricks, but he has one that has me STUMPED big time.

He asks a person in the audience to take a dollar bill, rip it in a particular place, mark it, or have some way to make that dollar bill unique, unlike any regular dollar bill.

He then takes the dollar bill and 1 orange, puts them on peice of newspaper, wraps the paper around them both, crumbles it all up into a ball, and rubs it.

A few seconds later, he lifts the paper, the orange lands in his hand, and he tosses it to the person who gave him the dollar.

He asks the person to inspect the orange as closely as they like. Once they agree its perfectly normal, he tells them to rip the orange open.

Once ripped open, the orange reveals the dollar bill, perfectly rolled up, stuffed inside the orange. Unravelling the dollar, and they learn it is EXACTLY the one they gave him.

Explain that one lol. Blows my mind every time.
 
A magician can pull a rabbit out of a hat, well, I can...

pull a hare out of my head!

Josh said:
A former science teacher of mine is a magician, and usually I can figure out his tricks, but he has one that has me STUMPED big time...snippy snip snip snip...Explain that one lol. Blows my mind every time.
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Could the audience member be a plant? You know, disfigure the bill in the same way as one already planted in the orange? Don't all bills have serial numbers? Why not write the serial number down on a big sheet of card and then check it against the one from the orange? This would be the only way in my mind the bills are in fact the same - and I would have to check the bills beore nd after to make sure they were real and not fakes with the same serial number...

Even when you know how a trick is done it is still fun to watch them pull of the illusion - this is the skill I think.

In case you didn't get my opening comment, replace hare with 'hair' and you get my drift...hardy-har-har-har...
 
My parents went to a David Copperfield show once... they were selected to go on stage and disappear. They had to sign a contract or something to say they wouldn't tell the secrets. They still haven't told me how he did it lol They also got a nice signed picture of him.
 
iAlan said:
Don't all bills have serial numbers? Why not write the serial number down on a big sheet of card and then check it against the one from the orange?
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I've seen this trick done myself, with the volunteer noting the serial number of the bank note as well as putting his signature on it.

Surely it's really magic? ;)
 
^^Yeah, that orange trick is amazing. But since I can't figure out ANY of the tricks (I do make guesses, though), I find all the tricks amazing, even card tricks where the person asks me to put the card back into the deck and he has to tell me which card was mine.

How do they do that, anyway? Can you tell us?? (use white text, of course) :confused:

Actually, this thread doesn't really clear ANY of the common tricks up. Sorry, I just want to know.

brepublican said:
Magic sucks. As do the people who believe in it and promote it :rolleyes:
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You sir, suck.
 
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