I am pretty certain it was a “magic”/sleight of hand trick because the predictions he pulled out of the satchel in the glass box were too precise to be guesses. But unless there was a switch made moments before Harris read them, it really didn’t seem possible.
Spoiler-box your answers if need be. Or if you are of the “A magician never reveals his tricks” cult, just confirm that it was, in fact, a sleight-of-hand move.
The box the satchel was in wasn’t suspended in mid-air, was it?
Because if it wasn’t, then it’s just a matter of a case (and satchel) with slits.
(I won’t spoiler-box that because it’s just an obvious answer a non-magician such as myself would come up with.)
I am fully in the ‘appreciate ‘magic’ more when I know how it could be done’ camp. I don’t know for sure what method was used here, but I can think of a few options, all of them pretty easy for a practiced and confident amateur (in the sense of not making his living from his magic) magician like NPH.
sleight of hand. Actual predictions were on his person somewhere when he came out in his last costume change of the night, and he simply switched that card with the card from the satchel.
satchel was tampered with during a break or a performance and the correct envelope inserted.
Nearly endless minor variations on choices 1 or 2.
Peersonally I think 1 is the most likely - it’s very like the orange trick in that so much damn attention is focused on the receptacle that it is almost inevitable the switch has nothing at all to do with the container. Also, for a performer like NPH, directing an audience’s attention/focus somewhere specific (and therefore NOT somewhere else specific) has to be getting much easier with the scads of practice he’s had.
Regardless, it’s a very well executed trick, it capped the night off beautifully, and I love that he always works a magic trick into his performances.
My thoughts went immediate high-tech. The “cards” were computer screens, and the writing was loaded onto them as the evening went on from back stage. All NPH had to do was remove the stack of monitors from the case and read what had been written.
Was there anything written on the card at all? He could have been reading off a teleprompter, or off of crib notes, or have had an audio feed in his ear that he was repeating.
Generally, the way this sort of trick is done, the magician surreptitiously replaces the original with a fake. Whether there’s a slit or just sleight of hand, the swap is performed by the magician. It would cheapen the trick to use camera stuff, and I think NPH has more integrity than that. Plus he mostly does classic tricks.
Yes - there are still and videos online.
If you believe what NPH says - and he is very specific about what he says - the only thing I can think of that would allow this to happen since:
I believe he is taking special pride in that - I personally think Silenus is right - they are e-ink cards that got the info wirelessly.
I don’t see any wire or connectors shown, but I believe (I don’t know for sure) that they are within the size that a special effects shop and people in Hollywood who know people could get this done with current technology.
The thing that struck me most about the trick was how badly it was done. Probably because the show was running so late. He really rushed through the payoff. It made the whole thing very anti-climactic. And the jokes were mostly lame.
Yeah, technically the illusion was done well but unfortunately it wasn’t funny and everyone was already in a hurry to be done with it, so it fell incredibly flat.
Can someone please describe what exactly the trick was to someone who didn’t watch the show?
Edit: Never mind; looked up a video
NPH started the show by saying a couple days previous he had written his Oscar predictions in an envelope, then gave the envelope to the people who have the results (so he didn’t touch them). He then had the envelope put into a clear, padlocked box and had some actress watch it to make sure he didn’t touch it.
At the end of the show he read his predictions which weren’t “Best Actor is Keaton” but were specific things that happened in the show (someone thanked their dog…this person would cry…etc.)
It was a bit of a swerve on the “predictions” aspect, but it was a prediction magic trick
ETA: damn you videos lol
If you are referring to this article, it’s only one of the writers saying there was no sleight of hand–at the same time he alleges NPH has genuine precognition. “It’s not sleight of hand; it’s precognition” doesn’t sound like a truthful statement. Does NPH himself ever actually say there was no sleight of hand? Or at least does someone else say it under less dubious circumstances?
Also, it’s on the official site, so I see no reason not to directly link the clip of the trick.
Based on that, I have a problem with the eInk explanation beyond it cheapening the trick: I’ve yet to see an eink screen that thin that isn’t shiny, or that doesn’t have a bit of a grayish tint. These look like paper.
My best guess is that he didn’t actually pull the prediction out of the case, but through the case via a slit. He had the predictions on him when he came out, and positioned them behind the case and pulled them through. There’s a reason the case is not transparent, and a reason he added that little bit about not knowing how to open the case, giving him time to set things up.
Nothing in magic is purposeless. Any part of the patter is planned, especially anything that seems to be improvised contemporaneously.
Haha, well your effort was appreciated regardless–thanks!
The things like Travolta touching a face were obviously scripted for Travolta to touch a face. Duh. I’m generally opposed to telling the magic secret, but this was supposed to be so obvious that it was a joke.
I think you are reading that completely wrong. Travolta was just being weird. He’s an odd guy. It certainly wasn’t so it could be part of the trick.
Here is my theory.
[spoiler] It wasn’t sleight of hand. It certainly wasn’t electronic pads. NPH is too much of a magic fan to do that.
Watch when he removes the satchel. He tilts it forward from the top then slides it to the front. It is not a natural motion. The clear case had a hidden mechanism that allowed an envelope to be slid in from the bottom. Someone backstage was able to slide the envelope through. The chute or whatever from backstage was hidden by mirrors.[/spoiler]
Rewatching that makes me realize how badly written it was. They had the opportunity to put in some actual jokes. Only two were amusing. Horrible writing.
It is true that Travolta rehearsed the hand touching on the chin during the rehearsals. It was known before the show.
I see a lot of articles stating that with Travolta’s representative being the source. This Eonline article says at least one source refutes that. I didn’t look more than a couple of pages in to google but all of it read like spin.
I didn’t think about mirrors, but that would work, too. I went with it being on NPH’s person by default, not because I saw an easy way for him to actually do that.