Dude sounds like a hustler or an auctioneer or something. I’m not sure if the speed at which he does it makes it more or less technically impressive, but from a non-technical impression, it just seems like he’s doing something too fast to allow you to catch what he’s doing more than that he’s doing something magical, so it doesn’t seem as impressive.
I have no idea, in principal, how it’s done.
That’s his character. Watch some of his other videos. He is one of the best card magicians out there. Some of his stuff he does super slow and I have no idea how he does it.
Yes, but how? He leafed through almost all of the yellow book on camera, and it looked like it had one uniquely titled song per page. It could be that all the facing pages of the other books had nothing but “The Star Spangled Banner” and some fictitious song title that the participant wouldn’t recognize and therefore wouldn’t pick. But what if the participant had picked the yellow book?
I’ve read some things that indicate that the editors on shows that display magical acts will do their best to hide things that you probably wouldn’t catch if you were a regular person in the audience but which you can see on film, either because it’s not an angle that the act can handle or because you can slow it down, ignore the misdirection, etc.
Right before the book is handed to the guy, they cut to a view of some other nonsense, and then back to the magician handing over the sheet music.
I’m reasonably certain that a swap happened during the cut.
I’m guessing that, like last week’s Lion Fludd, the trick involves a concealed printer. But unlike Fludd, she’s got help offstage. An assistant overhears the participant’s memory and selects a suitable photo for it. I’m guessing that 99% of the time, the object chosen is something conventional, or at least something predictable. (When devising the trick, they could have polled hundreds of people, and then prepared a photo catalogue of the most commonly selected objects.) If a totally unexpected object was chosen, the assistant does a quick pen illustration and scans it. (In such cases the magician’s patter can be extended for a minute.) The image is then beamed to the portable printer in the magician’s pocket.
I’ve found this explanation of Javi Benitez’s trick, and you don’t have to know Spanish in order to understand it. There are also several versions of this trick on Youtube, just type “Four Blue Cards”.
So, basically there are not 4 but at least 9 cards involved, and that explains the most of the transformations. But I still don’t know how he changes the cards behing his hand in the beginning of the trick and in the end. It’s obviously a very powerful sleight of hand, but how exactly is it done?
Ep 11 (in quicky format)
The mirror trick: I was greatly disappointed to notice very clearly a wire attached to the book (I assume it was to pull the hat? Either way - one of those things the closeup camera ruins. I was glad to see a decent trick/routine after the slightly lukewarm intro. I think the fundamental question that fooled P&T, even if they did notice the move after he adjusted the mirror, was how /that much/ stuff was concealed and replaced. Those eight bags are all hidden back there and they appear to take up a lot of space… and it doesn’t look like he had that much space to work with… either way, whatever organizational system he has back there must be pretty good, because he obviously can’t be fumbling with much in those short periods with only one hand… Really nice touch that some of the bags have the printed in reverse. Teller’s sense of awe was really nice. I think perhaps P&T under estimated him because the leadup seemed fairly mundane… When he pulled the candle out I was like… is this the trick? That’s pretty obvious… It wasn’t until after he showed the back of the mirror that it started feeling impressive…
Kyle Littleton:
Out of This World has already been called out, but this guy still runs a much greater risk. The usual trick is red vs. black - that’s 26 v 26. This is a ‘preference’ test. He would seem to run the risk of someone loving all of those movies. I wonder if that’s why Allison was called in because Ralphie was a little too gung ho about all of the movies. What happens if someone loves them all? I’m not sure what the chips are in this version of the trick, other than misdirection. He doesn’t use them as markers like the original trick. He also doesn’t have a marked split point. But basically he counts down on the no pile through all the yesses to where he knows the ‘nos’ start and reveals the those… then he rattles off the yesses on the yes pile until he knows the ‘nos’ start. Then he just swaps the two piles. The real trick is ensuring the yes v. no ratio is fairly even… not sure what he does when that’s not the case.
Lion Fludd:
Pretty cool effect… My only complaint, if not a minor one, is that the polaroid photo with the image of a card simply superimposed on it just doesn’t quite have that ‘finished’ feeling to it… Penn’s comments suggest a marked deck. Presumably he then inputs the card into the customized camera that also prints out the doctored photo… having it sealed in the envelope is a nice effect.
The Beckers:
A very Copperfieldy feel. There seems to be a lot of “stuff” she has to do to secure and move and latch down the machine… I get suspicious with that stuff… but it sounds more like all there is to it is that the original metal sheet is actually inserted far enough back that he’s in front of it, and there’s the second sheet (with holes in it) hidden behind the rubber screen… the ‘end pieces’ being code for the ends of the rig and spacers and the thinly veiled references to the architecture of the box.
P&T:
While he was doing the trick, I thought “Electro magnets?” and that the vintage story was to misdirect from the fact that such a trick couldn’t have been done that long ago… Interesting punchline (also suggesting that such a trick could have been done that way at the time)… I kind of assumed from Teller’s absence that he would be in the box, but I feel stumped at how he got in there and the box is still so easily liftable…
I look forward to catching up with Ep 12
I think you’re right, except that when the solid metal sheet is inserted, it isn’t already far enough back that the magician can stand in front of it. We can see that on insertion it’s flush with the frame. But after it’s inserted it gets pulled back behind the black curtain at the back of the box. (Probably it’s on some sort of rig or railing.) We don’t notice the movement because it’s concealed by the fake end pieces and the sides of the black box.
Once the solid metal sheet has been pulled back, the magician gets into the box. Unseen by us, he removes the black cloth sheet on his side of the front screen, exposing the metal sheet with holes in it. He puts his arms through the holes and waves them around before and after the front screen is removed by the assistant.
The front screen is then replaced by the assistant. The magician replaces the metal sheet with holes on the back of the front screen (which he is careful not to show us). The solid metal sheet is slid forward again just as the magician steps out, making it seem as though he walked through the solid metal sheet.
I suspect that this is done in a similar way as David Copperfield’s flying illusion. When the box is wheeled onstage, Teller is already inside, sitting on a platform. Several fine wires, invisible to the audience, link the platform to a rig above the stage. The wires pass through the top four corners of the box. When the box is too heavy to lift, the wires are slack, and Teller’s platform simply rests on the floor of the box. When it’s time to lift the box, the wires get pulled taut, lifting Teller’s platform a few centimetres off the ground. Penn is careful not to have the box lifted too far off the ground, lest the bottom hit the suspended Teller, ruining the illusion. The fact that the box rests on a small wheeled platform is also important: besides reassuring the audience that Teller is not climbing into and out of the box via a trapdoor, it ensures the volunteers move the box only vertically.
At the end of the trick, the wires are pulled taut, and Teller opens the lid of the box and emerges. The flaps do not hit the wires because the wires are out of the way, in the corners.
Of course, for the trick to work, the volunteers must either not notice the wires, or if they do notice, they must be trusted not to say anything. But this seems to work for Copperfield, who often flies with a volunteer selected from the audience.
It looks like tonight’s program has been pre-empted–I assume because this not a good time to showcase a light-hearted show from Las Vegas. The CW schedule now says 9:00 Eastern will feature a rerun of “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”. Now that they are starting to shift into the new fall schedule, I wonder when (or if) they will run the final program of this season, since Fool Us is considered a summer show.
It is electromagnets - AND - permanent magnets. When the electromagnets are energized by DC one way, they attract the permanent magnets, making the box unliftable. When energized with a reverse polarity, they repel the permanent magnets - not enough to lift the box with Teller themselves, but to make it easily liftable by Penn.
If Teller is sitting on a metal plate in the box, then the gravitational force he exerts already makes it unliftable. You don’t need permanent magnets to help.
Anyone who has played with strongly repellent magnets knows that they have a tendency to slip laterally when you try to force them together. Teller’s body weight cannot possibly be evenly distributed on the magnet(s), and yet Penn and the volunteers have no problems keeping the box on a vertical axis.
But assuming they’ve found some way around that, how big of an electromagnet (and a battery to charge it) would you actually need to make Teller (or at least a large proportion of his body weight) levitate by thirty centimetres? Perhaps someone with better knowledge of physics could chime in on whether it would be feasible to conceal this equipment in the box and/or wheeled platform.
Another argument against the use of magnets is Penn’s insistence that the box not be lifted higher than a certain level. This restriction makes sense only if the contents of the box are suspended from the ceiling (see my post above). If the box is being repelled magnetically from the floor, then there is nothing wrong with the volunteers trying to lift it as high as they can; it will just feel heavier the higher they lift it.
Is there any news about when the preempted episode might be shown?
Just watching episode 11, never heard of Ralphie May, looking at him I thought he might be wearing a fat suit as part of the trick - googled him out of curiosity, it was a little jarring to learn he died today.
There is no metal plate involved. After watching the act again, it’s even possible that the electromagnet is under the floor of the stage, with permanent magnets in the box, but honestly, with Teller’s 160 lbs (my best guess) and 100 lbs of lithium batteries and electromagnets in the box, it only would take 100A to lift it all a foot off a dolly embedded with neodymium permanent magnets. Add a circuit to vary the current with distance between the box and platform (so the box doesn’t levitate on its own and doesn’t get heavier the higher it’s raised) and the illusion of a nearly weightless box is produced. Penn’s job is to ensure the box doesn’t flip or slide out of the magnetic field. Given that the box has no handles, with the magnet off, I doubt that two strong men could lift even Teller’s weight with their hands at the sides of the box, but it DOES keep the box stable when the magnet is energized and they are allowed to make the lift.
In the original trick, an electromagnet is used to increase the perceived weight of the box. This trick flips the original method on its head by using magnets to repulse and decrease the perceived weight.
My argument against wires is the two closeups of the volunteers in which I see no hint of wires. I can see the gaps in the teeth of the men - no wire strong enough to lift Teller is smaller than that. Of course, they could be edited out, like Criss Angel’s shows, but I don’t think P&T do that.
Wow. Didn’t hear about that. I absolutely had a thought like “kudos on him for being comfortable enough with his body to be a celebrity, but man, that can’t be healthy.” That said, it sounds like it was complications from pneumonia which probably was made more serious by his weight, but wasn’t directly caused by it…
That explains a lot. I was almost certain that he did that to ensure she held it a specific way to conceal something hidden in the cloth, but she was then allowed to handle it freely. Then he made a quick move which almost looked like he added something or swapped something with the cloth… the cloth never seemed to come back into play though, so I was confused. That said, he also handled the ropes in a way that reminded me of the tricks with the hidden knots and extra ends such that it seemed like the ropes were gimmicked. Unless I’m mistaken, this trick is merely about the technique of how the rope is tied… correct?
Yeah, the swap out is not the interesting part of this trick. It’s how she got a picture of a bike there. Much better effect than handwriting “bicycle” which could be done rapidly. Having the motto on the back was meaningless since that was the motto she provided, not something Allison said.
Shaky hands, surprisingly. Disappointingly, the first Joker reveal really seems to have couple off obvious cuts in the camera work. Makes it hard to analyze. It would probably be silly to suggest ink that responds to heat like those kids toys… a lot of the moves appear to be regular slights (but where he loads and ditches from, I have no clue. But the “half card” he really appears to do some rubbing… Then he started changing what the cards were using similar moves and that theory got thrown out the window… very impressive. Shin Lim was really really good, but I could understand his moves even if they were difficult to actually see… I have no clue where this guy swaps his cards. Very nicely done. The Juan Tamariz trick linked to here is a similar effect, but it doesn’t appear to be “the same trick” in the sense that his is very rapid to confuse and all the cards are closely concealed in his palms meaning pulling two (or five) cards at once or flipping cards, or concealing the thickness of “one” card is much more possible than with Javi’s trick. There may well be similar origins/roots/techniques, but I suspect Javi has added his own techniques.
First thoughts: He picks two bells for each person but only rings one for each pair - both of the ones he gives a choice of may ring the same note (so it doesn’t matter which one she picks). This seems to work out because he rings Orange, Grey and L. Blue in his opening speech. Then he rings Purple while paired with grey and it matches the tone of the grey; and he rings dark blue while paired with light blue and it matches the light blue. He shows red and grey do NOT match, but then basically self-selects where they will go. He does give an option to change… but he offers to change the red and black (which we know are the same - they play G) and then grey and purple (they play E) which were the first two pairs he offered. It’s pretty obvious what’s going on here. He has made some nicely fashioned bells with springy clappers so they don’t ring unless very deliberate or we’d notice all this pretty obviously with all the passing of bells. Clearly there’s a force on the song… whether it’s instant stooge or every page being the same or only one song being a real one that he might know or whatever… Interestingly, When I heard the notes the guy selected, the anthem was the first song I thought of. The first three bells he picks are, in fact (in retrospect), the opening three notes. I wonder if there is some subconscious cue there.
All the bells except the remaining blue one play a high C instead of a low C… it’s still a C. The low C will be less dramatic had she picked blue, but since it was already part of the trick, odds are she would pick one off the others that are probably all the high C (we already know the orange one is from his initial demo). PS: the 5 bells held play G-E-C-E-G (symmetrical) - so for the same reason he can switch 1-5 and 2-4, it also doesn’t matter which end they start with … a fairly hollow trick to anyone trying to figure it out, imo. Damn that was a long way to go for that trick…
I know someone mentioned that we don’t all have perfect pitch, but that doesn’t negate logic that he only plays both bells when it’s convenient - and for the last two people he doesn’t use the 5 other bells on the table - he goes back to red and grey and reuses two bells that have already been in play… also, he puts a lot of faith in people not noticing that the final bell that he “contrasts” with the blue bell is the same note an octave off - there are enough people with at least that amount of musical sense.
Penn is too generous with the “this is a great trick” compliment. Note 100% sure what he meant by “equivoque” - it might possibly be referring to the bells that were equivalent, but I’m not sure.
Unrelated note: Has the guy with the blue bell (Nate) been a volunteer before? He looks familiar.
simple sleight. Kinda like their cups and balls trick. Penn slips up at one point early on and reveals a palmed ball fairly clearly in his right hand.
Correct.
easier than that. He shows the first book to be full of different songs. Then he puts it on top of the 3 gimmicked books. Likely people aren’t going to pick the top (although I’m sure he has something if they do) and they pick a gimmicked one, where the first few pages are different songs but the remaining are all the anthem. Note how the person never sees the other pages.
I did give ‘every page the same’ as a possible solution; though something about the way the volunteer looks at the page that is selected mixed with the magician’s words led me to think that whatever page he ended up one had the names of multiple songs or more text than just one song title (which is why I thought instant stooge might be the case… perhaps there is a message on the page for the audience member)
Any update on the last episode actually airing?