Please oh man of great intellect, can you please let me die knowing how this “trick” works? You have probably seen this age-old party trick in one form or another, but I’ll run through my verion quickly to get you in the picture. (It’s a little long winded, but please bear with me).
One person (usually the biggest in the room) is asked to sit on a chair. Four other people are positioned standing around him. Each of the four people clasp their hands together in a “double gun” shape, index fingers extended. Two people place their fingers under each armpit (gross, I know) of the seated person, and the other 2 under each leg, behind the knee. On the count of 3, the 4 people are instructed to lift the seated person from their chair, which of course proves quite difficult, if not impossible. The person usually only rises a few inches in the air (if at all).
The 4 people then place each hand about a half inch apart, above the seated person’s head in a stacked pancake kinda fashion, but not touching each other’s hands. After holding them in position for about 30 seconds, the 4 then quickly move back to their positions (under the knees and armpits) and lift again. This time the seated person is lifted way above the 4 peoples heads with very little effort.
Now let me just say a couple of things before you get your teeth into this one.
I have been the seated person, lifter and “instructor” on this trick many times, and have seen it work time and time again (in fact, its never failed)
Neither the seated person nor the lifters know beforehand the purpose of the trick. They are all as shocked as each other.
So please… what the story here? My aunty speculates it’s to do with magnetic fields in the body, but I think she’s just been taking too much medicine (or perhaps not enough).
The truth of the matter is that NOBODY knows exactly why this works. There are some theories:
After the 1st failed attempt, everyone involved in the lifting is more “in tune” with each other and therefore is able to lift the person… the assumption being that they were not in tune with each other before.
The first attempt doesn’t allow the lifters to focus their energies (“Chi” for you Eastern Medicine folks), and the second attempt does.
This is a very old trick that most magicians know and have used. It also has been used as an ice breaker at group functions.
-Dragwyr
“If God had meant for man to eat waffles,
he would have given him lips like snowshoes”
-Rev. Billy C. Wirtz
I have also participated in this. I have never figured out what the hand-stacking is supposed to do (we always stacked the hands on the head, touching each other).
The difference in the person being raised is that on the first lift, the subject is limp. Each arm and leg simply goes up with the pressure lifting it while the body sits on the chair. On the second lift, the body is held rigid and the arms and legs are much more effective levers. (It’s the difference between easily lifting your 50 lb. child when you are playing and their body is stiff and trying to lift the same 50 lb. child when they are asleep and limp and now feel like a 250 lb. bag of concrete.)
Since our version of the trick involved placing hands on the head, I had wondered (not very much) whether the pressure triggered some nervous response. Since your version involves no contact, I would guess that at the second lift, the subject unconsciously tenses up.
The trick is that the first time everyone just tries to lift on their own.
The second time, everyone is lifting in unison. This is done by either counting, or chanting together, or breathing in unison.
The explanation is given to the audience in various ways, such as it is funnelling chi or hocus pocus or whatever. But the real reason is that it is a coordinated effort rather than individual effort.
There are many easy magic tricks that use simple principles such as this. Body placement, anatomical alignment, and good showmanship are how they work so well.
Wait a minute, let me get this straight … a person, presumably of roughly 150 pounds, is lifted the second time around by four people using only their index fingers? If so, that’s impressive … almost 20 pounds per index finger. Maybe the fact that they’re touching makes them stronger…
Sorry, I don’t buy the “all together now” theory when everyone lifts together on the 2nd attempt as opposed to lifting “on their own” on the first. The 4 standing folk are instructed prior to the first lift that they should all lift on the count of three. I think everyone understands this instruction loud and clear, and it’s not a matter of somehow realising that something different should be done between the first and second lifts.
I was interested to read that someone’s version includes a chant “light as a feather” or something to that effect, which may indicate that there is some sort of mind-play going on, but I have also done this experiment with non-English speakers using body language and broken phrases, and it still worked. Where’s Cecil when you need him?
I have never seen or heard of this trick before, but I’ll toss in my guess. My opinion is that this has more to do with physical and psychological conditioning than any mind tricks. This includes all of the four lifters being more familiar with the weight of the person and ready to exert a larger force in unison on their second try, and the person in the chair tensing up in expectance of fingers getting shoved under his armpits and knees, which he/she has probably learned to not enjoy. The first factor may enlarge the total force slightly, while the second makes lifting a lot easier; lifting will be very hard if the seated person is saggy or even remotely twitches.
There… and no, gravity can’t be defied. Magnetic fields only exert force on moving charges, and that requires an electrical current to exist. Given the extremely weak magnetic field of the human body and its low tolerance on current, it is unlikely that magnetic forces will have much effect here.
Uh uh, no way. If you really want to get the feel of this question, TRY THE TRICK YOURSELF. The difference in the 2 lifts is, in my opinion, far too great to be explained by tensing of the body and/or a better co-ordinated effort. “Just Do It”.
Yes Boris, it’s impressive. Thus the coolness of the effect.
Dave Marini, I told you the answer. Fine, don’t believe me. The answer is in beginner’s magic books. I tried an online search, but there’s no way I’ll ferret it out quickly. But here’s what you do - go down to your public library. They should have a few books on beginning stage magic. Look it up. They tell you the trick - just like I said above. (If they say something different, let me know.)
I could do the trick with a group of people, but that would hardly matter - I know it works, and I know how. I would invite you out to the Houston meeting in two weeks, but since you’re in Australia, I think you would have trouble making it. I would be interested in having you lead the trick, since you say you have done so before. Oh well.
That’s how it’s done. If you don’t believe it, well I can only stamp out ignorance if the audience is willing.
Have you ever tried the trick without the hand-stacking mumbo-jumbo step? That is, have the lifters try (and fail) to lift, wait a minute or so, and then try again? I think that might be interesting and instructive.
Forgive me Irishman, but it’s not like I don’t take on board what you say, but have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, there’s something greater at work here? How is it that the lifters involved suddenly become co-ordinated in their effort after the first lift? How is counting “1-2-3 lift” interpreted or acted upon differently on separate occasions? Time for further research, methinks. I’m going to try this trick tonight with some friends (who incidentally don’t know about the effect as far as I know) without the “mumbo-jumbo” bit as someone suggested and I’ll let y’all know what happens. (I’d really appreciate anyone out there trying this too and sending in your results and thoughts)
Having said all that Irishman, yours is the most feasible reasoning Ive heard thus far, its just that something “ain’t quite right”…
I agree with Dave on this one. I too have been freaked by this, and noone’s gonna tell me its a matter of co-ordinatin or physics. Let’s hear a better explanation please as its bugging me…