Banachek on John Edward, Project Alpha

[Voob]

Here's a great clip of a Banachek interview with everything--spoon bending, talking about John Edward etc
A must see!

caution--it's 28 megabytes
http://www.zeiros.net/Banachek%20on%20Unscrewed.wmv

[CFLarsen]

Very nice! He sure tells it like it is!

[Darat]

I couldn't see how he cheated and he seems such a nice person so he must be for real.

I just hate it that the cult of science has obviously made it impossible and unsafe for someone with super-psychic powers like him to come out and be truthful. Instead he has to pretend he's just a mentalist...

[Eos of the Eons]

The card was flipped over when he removed the cloth (revealing the word that was underneath), but he must have been manipulating the cloth somehow (maybe a something solid on the cloth or in the cloth that could be lifted somehow.

The girl must have been given the word at some point for the show.

The spoons can have some soft metal on it that could bend when heated by body heat? Maybe not the whole spoon is made of it, but certain points to cause it to bend?

Can anyone else form a hypothesis about how he did all that?

[Yeah_Right]

You couldn't see how he cheated because he's a brilliant magician. After some thought you could probably see through the trickery, rather than come to the erroneous conclusion that he's a real psychic and is covering that up so he doesn't offend the "cult of science" as you put it.

[wert]

Originally posted by Eos of the Eons


The girl must have been given the word at some point for the show.Bad assumption. The effect is quite readily done with no "pre-show" work.
The spoons can have some soft metal on it that could bend when heated by body heat? Maybe not the whole spoon is made of it, but certain points to cause it to bend?Think occams razor here. You're complicating the issue and that's all I'll say.

Can anyone else form a hypothesis about how he did all that? The rules of this forum ask that we not expose a working performers repertoire.

[Eos of the Eons]

Originally posted by wert
Bad assumption. The effect is quite readily done with no "pre-show" work.
Think occams razor here. You're complicating the issue and that's all I'll say.

The rules of this forum ask that we not expose a working performers repertoire.

I didn't say pre-show, I said at some time...could have been during the show,

Otherwise,
Rats, you're no fun :p

Must go read rules again...

[Clancie]

Posted by Yeah Right

You couldn't see how he cheated because he's a brilliant magician. After some thought you could probably see through the trickery, rather than come to the erroneous conclusion that he's a real psychic and is covering that up so he doesn't offend the "cult of science" as you put it.
Relax, Yeah Right! Darat is a skeptic, too.

He was just channeling !Xx-Credulous-xX! for a moment (apparently a risky thing to do without the right nick....)

[wert]

Originally posted by Eos of the Eons

I didn't say pre-show, I said at some time...could have been during the show,He was told the word openly during the interview. The routine he did requires no extended previous knowledge of the word chosen. (and yes, it was likely a freely chosen word that he didn't hear until you saw her mention it to him in the course of the effect) Something to consider while honing occams razor.

[Voob]

The spoons can have some soft metal on it that could bend when heated by body heat? Maybe not the whole spoon is made of it, but certain points to cause it to bend?

Wrong!:D
Hey, just sit back and enjoy!

[!Xx+-Rational-+xX!]

It should be obvious that I’m a skeptic not a believer because I can’t bring arguments to an end!

[Eos of the Eons]

Originally posted by Voob


Wrong!:D
Hey, just sit back and enjoy!


No, it drives me nuts, I hafta know :p

The girl musta known what word to say. It was written down before he put the paper under the cloth.

Heh.

[T'ai Chi]

The girl was in on it, that's easy enough.

[wert]

^^^ I wouldn't bet the farm on that.

[Yeah_Right]

Relax, Yeah Right! Darat is a skeptic, too. He was just channeling !Xx-Credulous-xX! for a moment (apparently a risky thing to do without the right nick....)


Sorry about that, I don't spend that much time on the forums so I jumped to an erroneous conclusion. Sorry to Darat if he reads this post.

[T'ai Chi]

Originally posted by wert
^^^ I wouldn't bet the farm on that.

^^^^^^I would, and would still have a farm to come home to. :)

I'm saying the girl was in on the 'bean' part, not the other tricks.

[Darat]

Originally posted by Yeah_Right



Sorry about that, I don't spend that much time on the forums so I jumped to an erroneous conclusion. Sorry to Darat if he reads this post.

No problem - made me think of this thread http://www.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33637

[Kerberos]

Originally posted by wert
He was told the word openly during the interview. The routine he did requires no extended previous knowledge of the word chosen. (and yes, it was likely a freely chosen word that he didn't hear until you saw her mention it to him in the course of the effect) Something to consider while honing occams razor.

I suppose he could have written it after he heard the word, I just don't see how he had time. His hands only were out of view for half a second :con2: :confused: I think I know how he does some of the spoon bending though. Still it is impressive.

[wert]

Originally posted by T'ai Chi


^^^^^^I would, and would still have a farm to come home to. :)

I'm saying the girl was in on the 'bean' part, not the other tricks. You're obviously unfamiliar with methodology here.

I'll leave it at that.

[T'ai Chi]

OR you are.

[wert]

Originally posted by T'ai Chi
OR you are. I wouldn't be quick to make that assumption either.

But hey, whatever gets you through the night.

[T'ai Chi]

Originally posted by wert
I wouldn't be quick to make that assumption either.

But hey, whatever gets you through the night.

Ok Sparky. You have to explain how he got 'bean' without the girl or the host being in on it.

We're waiting. :)

[wert]

In accordance with Randi's wishes (which I agree with), I won't expose a working performers repertoire here. Nor will I expose these secrets privately to those I feel have not done the proper work to obtain them and merely want secrets handed to them on a silver platter. The clues are right there in the video if you look closely enough. If you have a serious interest in this type of work, I suggest you get cracking and do a little research of your own.

*Remembering why I used to have you on my "ignore list" back before you changed your name from "whodini"*

[T'ai Chi]

Originally posted by wert
The clues are right there in the video if you look closely enough.


In other words, you either don't know, or think you know but are wrong.

Please, give a plausabile way of how he got 'bean' if the girl and/or the host weren't in on it? If you know anything, you should be able to do this without giving away the trick.

I am skeptical of your claim.

[wert]

Originally posted by T'ai Chi

In other words, you either don't know, or think you know but are wrong.

Please, give a plausabile way of how he got 'bean' if the girl and/or the host weren't in on it? If you know anything, you should be able to do this without giving away the trick.
Nope, not at all. The techniques in use here are so fundamental, that tipping them (in even the vaguest of terms) would certainly give away the effect. Please do not put the onus on me to expose a working performers repertoire (which the rules here prohibit) solely because you seem unable/unwilling to research said matter on your own.

Since you obviously made little effort to actually read/understand my previous post.

In accordance with Randi's wishes (which I agree with), I won't expose a working performers repertoire here. Nor will I expose these secrets privately to those I feel have not done the proper work to obtain them and merely want secrets handed to them on a silver platter.
I recognized a well known technique (or two) in use in that particular effect, but I won't be peer pressured into revealing a working performers secrets in defiance of the forums rules (and my own ethical beliefs). I seem to recall a post from you (in another thread) saying that you found it fun to expose secrets to your friends. As such, I'm not overly concerned with whether or not you believe me. If you think I'm going to expose Banachek's (Steve Shaw's) material merely to whet your curiosity (or perhaps give you fodder to impress your friends), you are mistaken.

If that is beyond your ability to understand/respect, and you really want to know how such effects are done, I suggest actually conducting some research of your own.

If you really believe that effects of that type require a stooge, then it's fairly evident that you haven't done your homework. And I have no intention of doing it for you.

Plonk.

Wert's ignore list welcomes Whodini (I mean Ta'i Chi) back into its warm embrace.

[NoZed Avenger]

Originally posted by T'ai Chi


In other words, you either don't know, or think you know but are wrong.


Banachek is a working mentalist, and a good one. From seeing him at a couple of TAOMs, he also appears to be a nice guy. To suggest that he couldn't pull that effect off without a stooge is borderline insulting, especially after knowing how badly he fooled mutliple scientists in Project Alpha -- and that was when he was 18, for Ed's sake. He's now a full-time pro, and has been for years.

The above taunt by you seems to be merely a juvenile attempt to have someone disclose part of Banachek's act for no good reason. Maybe that would work on someone in 7th grade, but Wert already made clear that he takes Randi's request on this seriously.

N/A

[billydkid]

Originally posted by wert
In accordance with Randi's wishes (which I agree with), I won't expose a working performers repertoire here. Nor will I expose these secrets privately to those I feel have not done the proper work to obtain them and merely want secrets handed to them on a silver platter. The clues are right there in the video if you look closely enough. If you have a serious interest in this type of work, I suggest you get cracking and do a little research of your own.

*Remembering why I used to have you on my "ignore list" back before you changed your name from "whodini"*

Look, nobody figures this stuff out for themselves. Everyone who knows these tricks were mentored by somebody. Magicians do not figure out how to do the tricks on their own.

[NoZed Avenger]

Originally posted by billydkid


Look, nobody figures this stuff out for themselves. Everyone who knows these tricks were mentored by somebody. Magicians do not figure out how to do the tricks on their own.

T'ai Chi is not asking for mentoring.

[Aoidoi]

Originally posted by billydkid
Look, nobody figures this stuff out for themselves. Everyone who knows these tricks were mentored by somebody. Magicians do not figure out how to do the tricks on their own. Er... if nobody figures them out on their own... where do they come from? :D (yes, I realize that most tricks are taught, just found the comment amusing)

[T'ai Chi]

Originally posted by wert

I recognized a well known technique (or two) in use in that particular effect, but I won't be peer pressured into revealing a working performers secrets in defiance of the forums rules (and my own ethical beliefs).


If you understood what I wrote, I'm not asking you to expose anyone. In fact, I'm not asking for exact methods at all. I said give a plausible way. Thus, I left it up to you to decide if, how, and how much.

I am entitled to my opinions on how he accomplished it, just as you are with your opinions. I could be wrong, sure. At least I admit I could be wrong, unlike you in this matter.


If you really believe that effects of that type require a stooge, then it's fairly evident that you haven't done your homework. And I have no intention of doing it for you.


I don't want D's on my homework, so its good that you aren't doing it.

I have a pretty good idea of when some trick requires a stooge and when one doesn't. I could be wrong, sure, I'll admit that.


Wert's ignore list welcomes Whodini (I mean Ta'i Chi) back into its warm embrace.

That's unfortunate you run from a discussion. The cool sand probably feels good against your head.

Although, we all know you're reading this right now. :D Feel free to come back.

[wert]

Ah, the sweet sounds of silence from Whodini (Ta'i Chi).

Before I take my leave of this thread, I wanted to provide another excellent performance video of Banachek. For a fun clip (with some additional routines) go to the following link and click the "video" button.

http://www.banachek.org/banachekmain..htm

Interestingly enough, the routine we've been discussing is performed here in a much clearer manner. For those interested, it's about 5 minutes into the video clip.

The clues are there for those willing to see beyond their cherished misconceptions. (In this case, the second clip more clearly clues in the very standard methodology being used here.)

And with that, I bid this thread a cheerful "Adieu". :)