# How did Franz Harare make the statue of liberty disappear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033 "2003-05-13T20:03:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wtyd666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@wtyd666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wtyd666)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/1 "2003-05-13T20:03:39Z")
I was watching the show titled “World’s Greatest Magic” the other day and was shocked to see Franz Harare make the whole statue of liberty disappear. Does anyone have any ideas on how that accomplishment was made possible? wtyd666 ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/2 "2003-05-13T20:28:30Z")
The crucial point in understanding the trick is that _ **the audience is in on it** _. Basically, the audience is usually sitting in a grandstand type dealie and so is the camera. The whole thing is on tracks so that it can be moved to the left or right. There are many different versions of this type of trick, with all kinds of big objects disappearing. They are all done the same way. Sometimes there is a picture frame which frames the statue/car/plane/etc. The camera will zoom in to the frame and claim that they won’t cut away. A curtain is drawn and the whole shebang is moved, very slowly, 2 feet to the left/right and thus the object is just out of the frame. Maybe they’ll build a separate, fake, statue base next to it. Curtain opens, the audience acts all amazed, and that’s it. You will never see one of these tricks performed live. Also, there is generally no explicit statement that the audience is for real, its just assumed. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/3 "2003-05-13T20:33:07Z")
Trap door. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/4 "2003-05-13T21:55:46Z")
Ho hum. Here we go again. Apologies to all who’ve seen me respond to these kind of threads before. Hi **wtyd666** and welcome to the Boards. I’m a magician, among other things. There’s no point coming here and asking how magic tricks are done. Those of us who know the correct answers won’t reply, because we think that giving away the methods spoils the fun. The people who reply don’t know the answers. They’re making guesses or passing along disinformation. Sorry, but that’s how it goes with magic tricks. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/5 "2003-05-13T22:08:32Z")
**ianzin** , I was going to ask you how you feel about Penn & Teller giving away secrets but something tells me you’ll just say they’re not really giving away anything. To **wtyd666** I say pay no attention to the man behind the curtain ( **ianzin** ). The rotating audience technique **Jayrot** mentioned has been used in illusions involving the “disappearance” of large obects such as Hawaii’s Diamond Head volcano. I have no idea whether or not it was used in the Statue of Liberty illusion but it’s certainly plausible. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/6 "2003-05-13T22:19:15Z")
Don’t know who Franz Harare is, but David Copperfield did it the way **Jayrot** described only the audience wasn’t in on it. The stage moves so slowly between the time the curtain goes up and comes down again, the audience doesn’t notice it moving. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/7 "2003-05-13T23:54:17Z")
> [@](#): > > The stage moves so slowly between the time the curtain goes up and comes down again, the audience doesn’t notice it moving. And they also fail to notice a floodlit 300 foot tall chunk of copper standing in open water? The Copperfield act I saw occured in the open air. There was no obvious reason the people couldn’t have seen the statue perfectly well. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/8 "2003-05-14T00:11:53Z")
[Blake\*\*, maybe it’s been a while since you’ve seen this and your memory fails you. The reason the audience couldn’t see the Statue is because it is was hidden behind one of two large towers that were used to work the curtains. The Statue’s lights were also turned out for the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/9 "2003-05-14T00:16:51Z")
I remember the towers quite well, but given the distance they were from the audience I wouldn’t have thought they could block the view of the entire statue. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/10 "2003-05-14T03:45:56Z")
It was at night. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/11 "2003-05-14T04:18:53Z")
Ok… Not sure if I’m understanding this… The statue was moved a couple feet to the left? -or- The people were moved a few feet? -or- A time warp opened up? -or- They all blinked? (Ok the last three weren’t serious…) But also… I saw several years ago Copperfield make one of the space shuttles disappear… Same idea? Anything different? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/12 "2003-05-14T04:32:21Z")
It wasn’t Copperfield who made the shuttle disappear, it was some other poor imitation. And it wasn’t a real shuttle, it looked collapsible to me. Further than that, the magician in question said that the camera would never cut away, yet it DID cut away about five times during the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/13 "2003-05-14T05:46:39Z")
The stage the people were on rotated a bit. At that distance from the Statue, it didn’t actually take very much to move their point of reference away from the previous view of it. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/14 "2003-05-14T07:03:16Z")
Simple misdirection…Franz Harare got the audience to look at his right hand while he palmed it in his left. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/15 "2003-05-14T11:57:55Z")
By moving the camera. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Frank\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_2)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/16 "2003-05-14T12:52:24Z")
He hid the statue up his sleeve. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/17 "2003-05-14T12:56:22Z")
My answer stands. Biiiiig trap door. Now, how he got a 300 foot tall swimsuit model wearing a sparkly bathing suit to take its place, I don’t know… ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/18 "2003-05-14T13:06:40Z")
A rule of thumb (and since I perform poorly as a magician, I have no reservations about revealing anything, **Ianzin** ): **If, during a magic trick, a curtain is drawn, it is done so _to cover up vital information._** You can be quite sure that, if the curtain were not there, the event would not be very mysterious. Except for Penn & Teller, of course, who routinely violate “the rules.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/19 "2003-05-14T18:40:38Z")
The Vanishing Space Shuttle was performed by Franz Harare, not Copperfield. And wasn’t very good. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033/20 "2003-05-14T21:31:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ianzin \* > \*\*The Vanishing Space Shuttle was performed by Franz Harare, not Copperfield. And wasn’t very good. \*\* I thought the Vanishing Space Shuttle trick was performed by a piece of foam and some extreme heat. [sub][sup]Is this in bad taste? I regret it already.[/sup][/sub] ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-franz-harare-make-the-statue-of-liberty-disappear/175033.md?page=2)