There are many references in Indian and tibetan scriptures, about devotees (who attain the higher levels of enlightenment) being able to levitate. I have never seen any actual proof of this. However, I do remember reading about a 17th century Italian priest (Joseph of Cupertino) who supposedly had the ability to levitate. Sorry, I don’t have any cites, but I do remember reading that this Joseph (apparently he was canonized) was observed (in flight) by several reliable witnesses, including G.W. Leibnitz(the co-inventor of the calculus), and the Duke of Brunswick. Unfortunately, there is very little written about Fr. Joseph-does anybody have any info about this extraordinary claim?
Sorry, the closest thing I have on information it the street magician David Blaine. Judging by the reaction of the people on his TV specials (which include the Dallas Cowboys), his levitation trick is pretty darn amazing. many of the witnesses say he has to have learned that through Mideast studies and meditation. At least from the camera shots, it looks pretty darn convincing.
My point is that there is a magician who goes out and does levitation without props, out on the street. I don’t know how he does it, but he’s probably not the first.
I’ve actually seen that trick demonstrated by someone else with the explanation behind it. I won’t tell you how it’s done, but it’s not magic. It’s a HELL of a trick, though. David Blaine is a phenomenal magician.
Of course, I haven’t had David Blaine explain how HE does it, but what I saw looked and went off exactly the same way, so it seems reasonable to presume it’s a similar trick.
Ok, it is SO not nice to tease. I figured it wasn’t magic, but a clue on how it’s actually done would be nice. Actually, if it is easily repeatable, it might give some insight to the OP.
So how is it done? Don’t hold back now!
David Blaine is incredible, but never seems to repeat that trick when asked to. I don’t know if it’s easier to catch the second time around. He never really explains, but goes through the act that it takes a lot of concentration and then feigns sickness after doing it, presumbably to deter witnesses to ask for a repeat.
The trick, as I saw it demonstrated, basically involves the construction of a mirrored apparatus, usually a metal or PVC tube of some kind, in the shoe/boot than can be lowered to support one’s weight. The mirrors are angled down and away from a viewer standing right behind the conjuror, which has the effect of having them reflect the sidewalk/pavement up, so you don’t see them unless you’re really looking for them.
It sounds cheesy, but the execution has to be perfect; it would obviously take a great deal of practice to lower such a device into place, and the guy I saw demonstrate it (a plucky engineer) didn’t have the panache or balance Blaine does. The magician’s patter and misdirection to get his audience into place must be a polished as army brass. You’ll note that Blaine has his audience stand directly behind him when he does the trick; he misdirects this as concern that he might fall over, but he just wants to ensure your angle on the mirrors is perfect. As you point out, he never does it twice because the audience is much likelier to look for things like that.
The trick that blew me away was when he had the spectator pick a card, then threw the cards against a window and the chosen card was on the other side of the glass. Getting someone to pick a card of your choosing is easy, but how he got it on the other side of the glass I don’t know. I’ve tried to figure that one out and haven’t come up with a way you could do it.
David Blaine is not the originator of the specific Levitation Trick. He made the illusion popular, with his recent television special, “David Blaine: Street Magic.” The unfortunate reality is, however, that the viewer never really get to see Blaine performing it. One watches several times as Blaine performs it for others, but never get to see it for ourselves.
What Blaine did was a camera trick - known as a post-production edit. The audience at home watched the second (wire suspension) levitation performance, with the audience reaction of the real levitation edited in. It was said, in the television special, that no strings or wires were used to perform Blaine’s levitation. This is true, no wires or strings are required. Unfortunately, we never got to see Blaine’s real levitation - we saw a wire-suspension.
Other than a few camera edits, Blaine did a wonderful job with his first television special. This is one magic special worth owning on videotape.
as for the card through the window, or card in the beer bottle, or card in the kid’s shoe, remember-
any good magician has “associates”.
jb
Blaine’s TV levitation has nothing to do with meditation or levitation. Nor does it involve mirrors or reflections.
The trick is called the Balducci levitation, and it requires a very controlled angle of viewing between the magician and the audience. Hence it is generally performed for a small group of people at any one time.
Magician stands with his back to the spectators, about 12-16 feet away. His feet are close together. He appears to be standing totally square to the spectators’ line of vision, so they see the broad of his back. In fact he is very slightly angled to his right, so that the spectators cannot see all of his left foot, which is on the ‘far’ side from their point of view.
The magician stretches out his arms, and rises upwards just a few inches on his left toes, keeping his right foot perfectly straight. The right foot plays no part in the lifting. It is all done by the front part of the left foot and toes. From the specs’ point of view, the magicians heels and feet seem to rise a few inches into the air. The only foot they can see all of is the magician’s right foot, which is kept straight as if in a normal standing position. They can’t see the front of his left foot, which is still touching the ground and providing the lift.
When you watch the TV show, you see some of the preparation and the ‘after’ bits, but during the actual levitation you only see the reactions on the faces of the spectators in the street. Then, finally, the camera shows us, the TV audience, fotage of Blaine levitating. But this time it’s different - it’s a staged trick involving a concealed support (positioned in front of Blaine, and blocked from the camera’s view by Blaine’s own body) by which Blaine can appear to be several feet high in the air.
What people see on the street: the Balducci levitation. A few inches up in the air, only looks good from a specific point of observation. What we see: separate stage illusion adapted for use on the street and done when it’s just Blaine and the TV crew around, no spectators. Splice the two bits of footage together, and the world goes crazy and the ratings rise.
From the Skeptic’s Dictionary entry on Levitation:
I just wanted to grin at that last sentence with y’all. 