# Another "How'd he do that levitation trick" thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-howd-he-do-that-levitation-trick-thread/485295 "2009-02-10T23:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-howd-he-do-that-levitation-trick-thread/485295/21 "2009-02-11T17:19:17Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#): > > Franz Harary also vanished the Space Shuttle on the “World’s Greatest Magic” series back in the lat 90’s. It also was an edited for video sequence and very obviously so. > > I’ve met Franz and he’s a pretty nice guy, but I do have to wonder what is going through his head when he thinks he can pass off what he does on video as magic when there are many tells indicating video edits and trickery. Yeah, that was a bad one. Looking at the clouds behind the shuttle before and after made it painfully obvious that you weren’t looking at the same scene with only a shuttle missing. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-howd-he-do-that-levitation-trick-thread/485295/22 "2009-02-11T18:28:19Z")
In the end it’s about entertainment. I take **ianzin** ’s point about ethics and a ‘shared understanding’ with the audience, but in the final analysis if spectators are entertained by an illusion what does it matter whether the illusion is achieved with stooges or by some other method? Certainly, in the former the audience would feel cheated if they knew how the trick had been done, but surely the whole point is that the audience _don’t know_, and don’t find out. I saw a TV show where an illusionist revealed how he had made an airplane on the runway disappear. It was all achieved by camera angles. In other words the spectators that were actually present saw no illusion at all, only the TV audience. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-howd-he-do-that-levitation-trick-thread/485295/23 "2009-02-11T18:56:21Z")
> [@](#): > > If I stand on stage, ask someone to think of a number, and then show that I can read her mind, there is a shared understanding that the girl in the audience should not be a stooge or a plant, a secret confederate. Why? Because if she isn’t, I am using some sort of skill, talent or ability to create an illusion of telepathy. If she is, anyone could do it and there’s nothing to admire or appreciate. The end result may be similar, but if the understanding between performer and audience is intact, there is a world of difference. Even that can be acceptable, if the presentation is good enough. I saw a show once where the magician “randomly” picked a volunteer from the audience, and asked to see a piece of jewelry she was wearing. He then cold-read his way through “This was a gift. It was given to you by someone special”, etc., culminating in “The person who gave this to you is your fiancee, isn’t he? He’s here right now, isn’t he? He’s me, right?” Given the presentation, it was actually pretty funny. As for your Type 2 illusion, I don’t think there’s any problem with having _some_ confederates posing as “audience”. But if you’re showing an audience, then at least some of them have to be legitimate, too-- I’d say half of them, at a bare minimum. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-howd-he-do-that-levitation-trick-thread/485295/24 "2009-02-11T19:19:31Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > In the end it’s about entertainment. I take **ianzin** ’s point about ethics and a ‘shared understanding’ with the audience, but in the final analysis if spectators are entertained by an illusion what does it matter whether the illusion is achieved with stooges or by some other method? Certainly, in the former the audience would feel cheated if they knew how the trick had been done, but surely the whole point is that the audience _don’t know_, and don’t find out. Not for me, really. The whole point of illusionism is cleverness and skills. I’m impressed by a trick that has needed hours of training and planning, but doing a Criss Angel, just shooting the scene again but this time with a dummy, having actors pretending to be a surprised audience and then editing it all together… well, I could do that. So could you. Where’s the fun in that? ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-howd-he-do-that-levitation-trick-thread/485295/25 "2009-02-11T23:37:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Even that can be acceptable, if the presentation is good enough. I saw a show once where the magician “randomly” picked a volunteer from the audience, and asked to see a piece of jewelry she was wearing. He then cold-read his way through “This was a gift. It was given to you by someone special”, etc., culminating in “The person who gave this to you is your fiancee, isn’t he? He’s here right now, isn’t he? He’s me, right?” Given the presentation, it was actually pretty funny. That was The Amazing Jonathon. That particular routine was a spoof on mentalists and was hilarious. He is known for being a comedian who performs magic and his act reflects that. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-howd-he-do-that-levitation-trick-thread/485295/26 "2009-02-12T00:22:53Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Certainly, in the former the audience would feel cheated if they knew how the trick had been done, but surely the whole point is that the audience _don’t know_, and don’t find out. As I said before, it comes down to a matter of opinion. There is no definitive answer. Some say it matters whether you are using a ‘legitimate’ method, and others say ‘who cares?’. Although no comparison is ever 100% accurate, there are some parallels here with singers at live performances either singing live or just miming to a pre-recorded track. Most people seem to feel that it is ethically questionable for the singer to let the audience believe they are singing live if they are in fact just miming. But there are some people who honestly don’t care. There was some discussion in the news a while ago about a certain famous singer who was miming during some of the songs in her ‘live’ shows, and I read one fan saying, ‘Who cares? So long as it’s her voice on the backing track, what difference does it make?’ Not the majority opinion, but an opinion nonetheless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-howd-he-do-that-levitation-trick-thread/485295.md?page=1)