# Hey, one of you smartasses spoil David Blaine: Real or Magic for me... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314 "2013-11-20T03:17:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/141 "2014-01-02T22:43:25Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I didn’t watch the show but I know on past Blaine specials they have creative editing where the trick you see on TV is not the same as the one the live spectators are seeing. > i.e. his street levitation. If I recall he was performing the [Balducci Levitation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balducci_levitation) to people on the street and they were awestruck. However when they cut to him doing the trick they showed a shot from his knees down and him levitating a good foot into the air. > I wouldn’t doubt that Gervais was watching the needle through the arm using the surface skin prosthetic while us at home were watching a needle through the middle of the arm via creative editing. [I think you need to watch that segment of the show.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoXvp9o20Y8) ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/142 "2014-01-02T22:45:32Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Ok. I follow this set up for the “insertion.” The notion is that the skewer is subtly collapsible, and he’s pushing it against a rod that is inserted through his bicep. When he collapses the skewer sufficiently, he pushes it against the rod to make the rod poke out the other side. The skewer doesn’t have to be collapsible … watch carefully and you will see that much of the skewer extends out behind his hand. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/143 "2014-01-02T22:48:59Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > A good magician is never actually in any real danger of hurting themselves. Uh, ever heard of Houdini? Have any idea how he died? > [@](#): > > A magician who does something like that for real just isn’t a good magic–okay, so maybe you do have a point. There sure are a lot of stupid and informed claims here, made with certainty. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/144 "2014-01-02T22:54:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Harrison Ford is an actor. It is literally his job to appear on screen for money. When you see him appearing on screen, it is because he is doing his job. If Blaine couldn’t afford to pay Ford, then he _certainly_ couldn’t afford to _not_ pay him, as that would be a heck of a lot more expensive. I can’t think of anything more stupid than the insistence that a trick wasn’t really a trick just because one can’t figure out how it was done … but that’s the _only_ motivation for the absurd suggestion that Ford was paid to be in on it. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/145 "2014-01-02T23:00:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The more I look at the clip, the more I think this is a real possibility. David Blaine is known for creative editing in his magic tricks. I think Harrison Ford is not in on it, and his reaction is genuine, but we’re not being shown a “clean” take. So do you think Ford was paid hush money to stay silent about what really happened? The “real possibility” is simply that you can’t figure out how the trick was done. That’s what makes it real magic (in the sense articulated by Ricky Jay, that real magic isn’t really magical, it’s technique, whereas the sort of magic people believe in … ghosts and gods and such, isn’t real, it’s fantasy). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/146 "2014-01-02T23:03:40Z")
> [@jibal](#): > > Pot/kettle/black, you arrogant, smug asshole … you have no idea how he does his tricks. Calling a performer an asshole is allowed; calling another poster at the SDMB is not. **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/147 "2014-01-02T23:03:47Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I don’t see how he could have slipped in the card while cutting it. Irrelevant. > [@](#): > > So … Textbook fallacy of argumentum ad ignorantiam. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/148 "2014-01-02T23:07:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I personally was thinking of Blaine, as in [this trick](http://www.secrets-explained.com/david-blaine/levitation) which involved some video editing, but with real reactions to his real levitation trick. Your gullibility is astounding. There is reason to accept the posted explanation as being valid, other than a will to believe. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/149 "2014-01-02T23:09:30Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Have you ever seen a closeup of his arm after the trick with actual holes going through his body? Of course not. It’s a trick. > > As soon as you say, “well, it must be real” you are declaring yourself to be the perfect mark. You seem to take pride in that for some reason. But you might want to notice that the rest of us are backing away from that title at 100 mph and leaving it solely to you. He didn’t say it must be real, fool, he asked how one can be certain that it isn’t … certainty like yours, which makes you the perfect mark. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/150 "2014-01-02T23:11:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > David Blaine getting invited to a party that Harrison Ford is going to be at is plausible. Blaine sneaking a camera into such a party is plausible. Blaine then showing footage from that camera on national TV without paying Ford for it is not plausible, as that would be way too expensive and Blaine can’t afford it. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you think that, say, news organizations pay everyone seen in all the footage they put on the air? Are you really that ignorant? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/151 "2014-01-02T23:12:42Z")
**jibal** , you need to stop insulting people this instant and try to be civil. You can’t talk to other posters this way in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/152 "2014-01-02T23:18:41Z")
> [@jibal](#): > > Uh, ever heard of Houdini? Have any idea how he died? I’m genuinely curious. Do you know how Houdini died? If so, how? ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/153 "2014-01-02T23:19:00Z")
> [@televin](#): > > Schadenfreude Let me know when your special is on What you mean is “sour grapes”. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/154 "2014-01-02T23:23:48Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’m genuinely curious. Do you know how Houdini died? If so, how? Let me add that I actually started a thread not that long ago on Houdini’s death. [How did Harry Houdini die?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=16806576) ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/155 "2014-01-02T23:24:59Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > As to the bicep piercing, it looks like he probably just skewered himself, unless you think National Geographic is in on it: [Nat\_Geo\_Skewer](http://vimeo.com/33462933) > > The beauty of the trick is that it has people coming up with all kind of outlandish ways that he pulled it off. Yes, it really draws out the cocky imbeciles with no imagination who think they’re being skeptical when in fact they’re the most gullible people in the world, falling for their own baseless beliefs and shoddy reasoning. “It can’t be real, he does magic tricks.” “It can’t be a magic trick because I can’t figure out how it’s done so it must be film editing!” etc. Quite beyond these people, apparently, is the notion that Blaine uses _all_ of these techniques. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/156 "2014-01-02T23:43:05Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Penn could be in on it of course, but I don’t think he is. I’ve seen little video blogs of him where he rants and raves about people like Blaine who just sit in their own shit and how that’s not really magic. He seems visually upset, and Teller of course is sitting there shaking his head. I think they have very little respect for Blaine and others who do such endurance stunts. Penn is an all around asshole … a sociopathic libertarian. Cato Institute – an organization by, of, and for sociopaths – actually appointed him as a “Fellow” despite his only academic credentials being a stint at clown college. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/157 "2014-01-02T23:45:01Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#): > > In regards to the bit where Ford can’t find his card in the deck, Blaine most likely… > > … handed Ford a [reverse color deck](http://www.hmsltd.ca/content/384/36-5504.jpg) (hearts and diamonds are black, clubs and spades are red). If you’re just doing a quick scan for a specific card, you’ll likely fail to notice that you’re sifting through a reverse color deck, while at the same time, fail to find whichever card you’re looking for. So many fools with limited imagination who think that _their_ explanation is the most likely one. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/158 "2014-01-02T23:51:07Z")
> [@jibal](#): > > Yes, it really draws out the cocky imbeciles with no imagination who think they’re being skeptical when in fact they’re the most gullible people in the world, falling for their own baseless beliefs and shoddy reasoning. “It can’t be real, he does magic tricks.” “It can’t be a magic trick because I can’t figure out how it’s done so it must be film editing!” etc. Quite beyond these people, apparently, is the notion that Blaine uses _all_ of these techniques. :nudge: How did Houdini die? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/159 "2014-01-02T23:56:11Z")
Goodnight, **jibal**. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314/160 "2014-01-02T23:56:16Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > :nudge: > > How did Houdini die? 😉 Probably not suicide by mod, I’m guessing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-one-of-you-smartasses-spoil-david-blaine-real-or-magic-for-me/674314.md?page=9)